Adult hen with pasty butt

[Schoolchicks]

We have a small mixed flock at our school. One of our students noticed a hen with a particularly dirty butt. When I checked her, her vent was nearly blocked by dried poop. I cleaned her up, but the tissue surrounding the vent was red, swollen, and bleeding, so I have separated her. Each time I clean her, within 24 hrs. poop is sticking to the tissue around the vent again (not sticking to the feathers, sticking to the tissue immediately around the vent). I have been alternating putting neosporin and Amoximast on the tissue around the vent each time I clean her. She is eating (Layer Crumbles) and drinking fine. Any suggestion on how to break this cycle of the poop sticking? Thank you!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

She just may not be drinking enough, even if there's plenty of water. Adding probiotics may help; if possible, try feeding her fermented feed and/or adding raw ACV to the water source (non-metallic waterer only).

Best of luck!

 

[Schoolchicks]

Great! I'll give the acv a try over this weekend. Thanks so much for the suggestion!

 

[Isaac 0]

She just may not be drinking enough, even if there's plenty of water. Adding probiotics may help; if possible, try feeding her fermented feed and/or adding raw ACV to the water source (non-metallic waterer only).

Best of luck!

x2.Heat Lamps in the coop will also cause a pasty butt.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post a picture of her vent area after it has been cleaned? Is she being vent pecked by the other hens? From the sound of her vent being red, swollen, and red, I would wonder if she may have a prolapsed vent or has been vent pecked. Vent pecking can lead to cannibalism. A prolapse happens when the red internal tissue is sticking out of the vent, and it can invite pecking. To help keep the vent area clean, you may want to trim any excess feathers, since they can catch the droppings. Usually when there are runny poops, they tend to stick to the feathers. Plain cultured yogurt or Probios powder from your feed store are good choices for probiotics.

 

[Schoolchicks]

Well, I kept my little poopy hen in my room for a week, cleaning her twice daily, giving her mild antibiotics and acv in her water, and using neosporin or amoximast on her butt after each cleaning. She seemed much better after a week, so I put her back in with the flock on Friday. Unfortunately, on Monday my weekend feeder found her dead, with an egg part way out of her (she had not laid an egg the whole week she was with me). Hope this isn't something that will affect my other hens. Sad to lose her after all the work. Thanks, everybody, for your helpful suggestions!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Well, I kept my little poopy hen in my room for a week, cleaning her twice daily, giving her mild antibiotics and acv in her water, and using neosporin or amoximast on her butt after each cleaning. She seemed much better after a week, so I put her back in with the flock on Friday. Unfortunately, on Monday my weekend feeder found her dead, with an egg part way out of her (she had not laid an egg the whole week she was with me). Hope this isn't something that will affect my other hens. Sad to lose her after all the work. Thanks, everybody, for your helpful suggestions!

Oh, no...so sorry to hear she passed despite your best efforts.

I had a lovely Rhode Island Red hen (she laid the prettiest brown, speckled eggs) die from egg yolk peritonitis last year, and now I can't help but wonder if your hen may have been eggbound. My RIR was a prolific layer - anecdotally, the high-volume layers seem more likely to develop laying issues like this - and she developed a very messy rear, too, at least partly due to passing broken egg contents. Just thought I'd include a link to some info in case it's of interest: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-binding-symptoms-treatment-and-prevention.

Thanks for the update (albeit a sad one)!

 

[Schoolchicks]

Thanks so much for that additional info. I'm still pretty new to various things that can happen to chickens, so I really want to learn more. Thanks for that link--I'll check it out!

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm sorry to hear that she died. You may find that you can learn a lot by just reading the forum every day. Most people try to give links to back up their posts or to keep from writing a book when aswering questions. Much of the info is practical from people actually taking care of chickens, and BYCers love to share new inventions or suggestions. If you Google common poultry diseases, there is a ton of information from poultry colleges and professionals. Here on BYC, you can find pages of older threads on most any subject concerning chixkens. The Learning Center has good articles as well. Articles written by BYCers are strictly opinionated, so it's always good to read advice from multiple sources, then make up one's own mind.

 

[AcornAcres]

I'm so sorry to hear that your hen died Schoolchics. I have a hen with pasty butt as well, though she is laying every other day or so, which makes me feel fairly confident that she's not having laying problems. The poop is stuck to her feathers, and her vent looks fine. I gave her bottom a wash and then made sure her feathers were clean and dry, but within a couple days I could see a bit of poop on her again, which just gets bigger every day. I give them Big Ole Bird probiotic in one of their waters (they have two) and I feed fermented feed. Any ideas? Thank you for the help!