Chick shakes her butt before pooping

[Jenjens]

I cannot catch it on camera, but I have a chick who shakes her butt before she poops....kind of like part of the chicken dance. It probably is the cutest little thing I have ever seen, but I want to see if anyone else has seen this? She has a dirty behind, but I checked and it is not pasty butt.

Thanks!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I assume you have other chicks and she is the only one doing it? Perhaps her dirty vent is irritated and pooping irritates it even more. If it were my chick I think I would wipe a little petrolem jelly on her vent to soothe the irritation, morning and night for a few days and see if that helps. I am not an expert, this is just my best guess based on her body language. Good luck!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Because of this exact dance you're referring to, anytime I see someone twerking or shaking their booties I get so tickled thinking about a human doing the "chicken poopy dance" and how silly the human looks. I just can't see dancing the same way anymore

If the chick's butt is dirty, it'd be a good idea to get her cleaned up. Tis the season for the ever dreaded and utterly horrible Flystrike. I haven't heard of it happening to chicks, but I'm not an expert and will be the first to admit that I don't know. I do know that a chick has sensitive skin, especially around the vent area, that can easily become irritated from the acidic buildup and cause problems and possibly discomfort/pecking from flockmates. Plus pasty butt happens more quickly with an already soiled vent area.

Some of my birds still do the poopy dance as adults, so hopefully she'll continue to entertain you with her antics

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Have you checked her vent thoroughly for the presence of lice, mites or maggots? Just thinking out loud here, but you mentioned messy tail feathers and it's obvious something is irritating her ... How about you give her a nice bath (that area, anyway) with warm water with a little Dawn dish soap in it, rinse her really well, and when she's completely dry, dust hr with some Permethrin? And maybe take some scissors and clip the feathers around her poopy path so poo doesn't get stuck there, and finally grease up her bottom with some vaseline so her poo doesn't burn her skin. That should give her some relief.

 

[Tiggerstails]

I cannot catch it on camera, but I have a chick who shakes her butt before she poops....kind of like part of the chicken dance. It probably is the cutest little thing I have ever seen, but I want to see if anyone else has seen this? She has a dirty behind, but I checked and it is not pasty butt.

Thanks!

My rooster does this as well

 

[RooStar Chicken Gang]

Have seen em shake there bum n body after being mounted by rooster. But shaking before poo is unique!