Chicken soaking her roosting area with fluid at night... What could be wrong??!

[DixieChick04]

I have an Isa brown hen that basically pees all night. I know chickens don't pee like other animals but I don't know how else to describe it. Every morning when I go to let them out and clean the coop, I'm met by what's in these pictures. I know the pics are gross, and I'm sorry, but I'm at my wits end trying to figure out what's going on. She completely soaks the sand around her and then there's soft brown poo amongst it. You can tell by the last pic how badly she wets everything..clean up is a pain and a lot of sand gets wasted every morning. I've searched the internet using every phrase I can think of to describe it and have found no results as to an answer for what the problem is or how to treat it. She always seems to have a rather large ballooned crop (which made me think of sour crop to begin with) but she doesn't have any of the other symptoms and she's active and eating well (the best I can tell) even though she stays small and scrawny. Has anyone here ever had this problem with their chickens and did you find out what caused it or how to treat it? Thanks!

 

[KittyKat3756]

I'm surprised they're not sleeping on the perches… but I have one who insists on sleeping in the nest box so I know the pain of them sleeping in random places.

I don't think that wetness is from one chicken. When did this start? I think it might be a bad case of condensation.

They do have a poo at night and the bits of poo mixed with the sand look about right for what I'd expect: little solid things which mix easily with the bedding. It looks like they go through the bedding in the morning and mix it all up.

Have you tried moving all of them off the flat surface to perches after dark for the night and checking on the state of that bit in the morning?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She always seems to have a rather large ballooned crop (which made me think of sour crop to begin with) but she doesn't have any of the other symptoms and she's active and eating well (the best I can tell) even though she stays small and scrawny.

How old is she?
Does she lay eggs?
How many chickens are in that space and how many perch on the sandy area?
I agree, you may want to check to see if all that wetness is condensation instead of from one hen.

Is your hen's vent feathers dirty/poopy? Photos of your hen and the her bum would be good.
If she is expelling all that kind of liquid, then I would expect her vent and surrounding feathers to be a soppy poopy mess every morning.

You mention that she always seems to have a large ballooned crop and that she is scrawny- have you checked to make sure the crop is empty first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks?

Hopefully we can give you more suggestions with additional information and photos.

 

[DixieChick04]

This has been going on for at least a few months. She used to do it off and on throughout the summer while laying but it's been an every night occurrence since she started molting and even though she's done it's still happening. I know it's not condensation because it follows her wherever she sleeps and the sand around where she splatters is always dry. If I put her on the roost she ends up soaking the ground. There are 5 chickens in the house and each one has its own favorite place to sleep that's why I can tell what each chicken does, and no one else sleeps by her. Two sleep on the roost bar, one sleeps on the left window ledge, one on the back window ledge and she alternates between the front window ledge and right window ledge. Everyone else poops normal 90% of the time.

She was a young adult when I got her so I'm guessing she's about 1.5 years old. She used to lay but she hasn't started back yet after molting. I've checked her crop after waking and it's always flat and empty. The tips of her fluffy under bottom feathers are wet in the morning but her vent is clean aside from being stained yellow around the edges. You can tell by the splatter patterns that she projectile poops in the night so that probably explains why her bum is not soaked. I wasn't able to get a picture of her when I let them out but I have attached some pictures from a distance of her and the other ledge where she sleeps, showing the mess she leaves behind..and also a pic of what the original ledge looks like when she doesn't sleep there. Thanks for the replies !

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She used to do it off and on throughout the summer while laying but it's been an every night occurrence since she started molting and even though she's done it's still happening.

She used to lay but she hasn't started back yet after molting.

The tips of her fluffy under bottom feathers are wet in the morning but her vent is clean aside from being stained yellow around the edges.

Sometimes a hen won't come back into lay after molt until spring and some do shoot the poop on out there. It almost sounds as if she is leaking a little bit though, but maybe not much since her bum is not poop covered.

Only thing I know to do is get some testing to rule our worms and possible infection.