Chat room for non religious poultry keepers! :D

[ChickyCh00k]

messy bums

Ok. What do we mean by "messy bums"? Are we talking about wet poo-covered butt fluff or little dried turd balls (or both)? Because I have 2 barred rocks that have had the wet kind and I give them butt baths when that has happened, but I have a some buff orps with the little dried turd balls... do we need to worry about ALL of the kinds of "messy"?

 

[fluffycrow]

Ok. What do we mean by "messy bums"? Are we talking about wet poo-covered butt fluff or little dried turd balls (or both)? Because I have 2 barred rocks that have had the wet kind and I give them butt baths when that has happened, but I have a some buff orps with the little dried turd balls... do we need to worry about ALL of the kinds of "messy"?

Hm. Can't really explain it well. Maybe someone can explain it better, or might even have photos

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Just speaking from my own experience, but dry messy bottoms are the ones that I'm referring to. Wet messy bottoms are the ones that tend to indicate something is going on in my experience. Sick birds tend to have wet messy bottoms as opposed to dry, but that doesn't mean all birds with that kind of messy bottom are sick. For instance, sometimes some of my free-rangers find and eat something that gives them loose droppings and their bottoms end up messy. Or, if it's very hot and the birds are drinking a lot, the same can happen. In neither case are the birds actually sick, just something happened to trigger it. Wet messy bottoms are the ones that draw in flies and can quickly lead to fly strike, so those need to be cleaned up pretty immediately. Dry messy bottoms maybe can wait if you're busy, but should be cleaned up at some point as they can end up turning into these big masses of poo that can rip feathers out or, in extreme cases, block up the bird so that they can't pass any more droppings or even eggs.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Just speaking from my own experience, but dry messy bottoms are the ones that I'm referring to. Wet messy bottoms are the ones that tend to indicate something is going on in my experience. Sick birds tend to have wet messy bottoms as opposed to dry, but that doesn't mean all birds with that kind of messy bottom are sick. For instance, sometimes some of my free-rangers find and eat something that gives them loose droppings and their bottoms end up messy. Or, if it's very hot and the birds are drinking a lot, the same can happen. In neither case are the birds actually sick, just something happened to trigger it. Wet messy bottoms are the ones that draw in flies and can quickly lead to fly strike, so those need to be cleaned up pretty immediately. Dry messy bottoms maybe can wait if you're busy, but should be cleaned up at some point as they can end up turning into these big masses of poo that can rip feathers out or, in extreme cases, block up the bird so that they can't pass any more droppings or even eggs.

Very helpful! This is what I suspected was the case, but thank you for explaining so succinctly.

 

[RebelFord81]

My lavender Orpingtons have notorious messy bums those girls have hefty booty feathers so it comes with the territory lol

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Very helpful! This is what I suspected was the case, but thank you for explaining so succinctly.

Of course! Always glad to help when I can.

My lavender Orpingtons have notorious messy bums those girls have hefty booty feathers so it comes with the territory lol

Haha, yeah, it's usually my Cochins that end up with dirty butts, especially my large fowl Cochins. They have a lot of junk in the trunk as well.

Not all of them do, though, so I still suspect something else other than abundant fluff is the root cause.

 

[RebelFord81]

Apparently one of mine is molting heavy cause I have plots of feathers throughout the yard that looks like a non bloody murder scene lol

 

[Canadian Wind]

Yup, 'tis the season! I've had sporadic moulting for a couple of months, but it's in full swing now and my yard looks like a pillow fight at a sleepover!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yeah, my coops and yards look like the scene of some sort of crazy mass pillow fight, the piles and piles of feathers everywhere! You could easily make a whole new flock of chickens out of all the feathers lying around!

my yard looks like a pillow fight at a sleepover!

Oh my goodness, I had already typed the above when your post came up! It's a good descriptor for it!

 

[RebelFord81]

I've had one in full molt but the others have decided to follow through between the yard and coop I can make a comforter lol