Chat room for non religious poultry keepers! :D

[ShrekDawg]

Yeah, idk either. I think a clean bottom is generally the sign of a healthy hen.

Yeah, true. The weird thing is they all acted and looked healthy otherwise, just had the poop stick. I used to feed a lot of treats so maybe they were just fat and it stuck more or something? I did cut back/stop those eventually but still.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

A sick hen will act healthy until it's at death's door.

 

[ShrekDawg]

A sick hen will act healthy until it's at death's door.

Good point.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

A sick hen will act healthy until it's at death's door.

Or even past then. Had a hen we think had a heart attack midflight a few days ago. All was fine, next thing I know, she jumped down, there was a commotion and she was dead on her back

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I agree, the darker the egg, the more pigment has been laid down over what is essentially a white egg. There are basically only two color eggs, white and blue. As someone above mentioned, you can tell the actual color of the egg by breaking it open and looking at the inside. Green and olive eggs are actually blue eggs with different amounts of brown pigment laid down over them. Brown, pink, tan and cream eggs, etc., are white ones with brown pigment over them. The pigment is a bit sticky, so the darker the egg the wetter it is, like a coat of paint. Hence the bedding in the nest is more likely to stick to the darker eggs.

Yes indeed! There are three factors in what color a chicken egg ends up being; the shell, itself (either white or blue), the outer coating (which can be anything on a spectrum from nothing (so pure white or blue) to super thick (so chocolate brown or olive green) and speckled or evenly coated, and the bloom (heavier bloom makes browns look pinkish or purplish and greens look grayish, and bloom can also cause white, pinkish, or purplish speckles). The genetics for shell color are simple, just one dominant gene, but the rest of it is, phew, a whole lot to try to decipher!

Dropped in to say hi!

Very good points! When I still had them, I tried to keep the nests sparkly lol but occasionally I would get birds with poppy butts or they’d drag mud in there on rainy days, etc. and that would get on the eggs.

That's the one thing I can for sure say is a down side to feather-footed breeds. In the spring, when everything is muddy and the ground hasn't had the chance to dry out and stabilize, those foot feathers paint mud all over my eggs no matter how clean I try to keep the nests!

That’s a good idea! That would probably help a lot. I also thought maybe it could be diet related or something??? Idk though.

Yeah, idk either. I think a clean bottom is generally the sign of a healthy hen.

Diet likely plays a part, and a bird who is sick very often does have a messy bottom, but there must be more to it. All of my adult birds are on the same diet, and some will have clean bottoms and some, though perfectly healthy, will have dirty bottoms, even birds that are full-time contained so cannot be getting into something while free-ranging. I've never been able to figure it out, myself. Just gotta take the scissors out every now and then and trim the mess out so that it doesn't cause an issue.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yes indeed! There are three factors in what color a chicken egg ends up being; the shell, itself (either white or blue), the outer coating (which can be anything on a spectrum from nothing (so pure white or blue) to super thick (so chocolate brown or olive green) and speckled or evenly coated, and the bloom (heavier bloom makes browns look pinkish or purplish and greens look grayish, and bloom can also cause white, pinkish, or purplish speckles). The genetics for shell color are simple, just one dominant gene, but the rest of it is, phew, a whole lot to try to decipher!









That's the one thing I can for sure say is a down side to feather-footed breeds. In the spring, when everything is muddy and the ground hasn't had the chance to dry out and stabilize, those foot feathers paint mud all over my eggs no matter how clean I try to keep the nests!





Diet likely plays a part, and a bird who is sick very often does have a messy bottom, but there must be more to it. All of my adult birds are on the same diet, and some will have clean bottoms and some, though perfectly healthy, will have dirty bottoms, even birds that are full-time contained so cannot be getting into something while free-ranging. I've never been able to figure it out, myself. Just gotta take the scissors out every now and then and trim the mess out so that it doesn't cause an issue.

It’s a very strange predicament!! Hahah

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yes indeed! There are three factors in what color a chicken egg ends up being; the shell, itself (either white or blue), the outer coating (which can be anything on a spectrum from nothing (so pure white or blue) to super thick (so chocolate brown or olive green) and speckled or evenly coated, and the bloom (heavier bloom makes browns look pinkish or purplish and greens look grayish, and bloom can also cause white, pinkish, or purplish speckles). The genetics for shell color are simple, just one dominant gene, but the rest of it is, phew, a whole lot to try to decipher!









That's the one thing I can for sure say is a down side to feather-footed breeds. In the spring, when everything is muddy and the ground hasn't had the chance to dry out and stabilize, those foot feathers paint mud all over my eggs no matter how clean I try to keep the nests!





Diet likely plays a part, and a bird who is sick very often does have a messy bottom, but there must be more to it. All of my adult birds are on the same diet, and some will have clean bottoms and some, though perfectly healthy, will have dirty bottoms, even birds that are full-time contained so cannot be getting into something while free-ranging. I've never been able to figure it out, myself. Just gotta take the scissors out every now and then and trim the mess out so that it doesn't cause an issue.

My araucana and polish bantams are awful with messy bottoms. The araucana i can at least blame about not having a tail bone. My polish have no excuses though

 

[Sally PB]

All of my adult birds are on the same diet, and some will have clean bottoms and some, though perfectly healthy, will have dirty bottoms,

Same here. I have 3 black Australorps. One has a messy bum, one has a clean bum, and the other is a little messy.

 

[ShrekDawg]

My Leghorn of all birds had an extremely messy bum. And one of the Orpingtons. And an EE.

 

[fluffycrow]

A lot of leghorns have had messy bums. ISA brown too. Only one of my Tsouloufati has. All the other birds have clean bums. No bantams have had messy bums yet, and I'd like to keep that up