Cleaning a dirty butt.....

[Minky]

My very fluffy Buff Orpington has a bit of mess on her butt.....

Is there some way she will be able to clean it? Or do I need to do something about it. I'd rather not get involved. Water bath is out of the question for another 2 months (we have snow).

Thanks

 

[azygous]

Older hens start accumulating fat below the vent, creating a shelf effect which prevents the poop from shooting clear of the feathers. I have a handful of retired hens in this category.

In spite of snow and below freezing temps, they get regular butt baths to avoid the skin inflammation accumulated poop can cause. The procedure is relatively simple.

A warm basin of water, some baby shampoo and a hair conditioner are the supplies you will need. Some hand towels to pat dry the feathers, then a blow dryer to finish drying the hen are also necessary.

I back the hen up to the basin of water. Squirt a dab of shampoo onto the crust after splashing some water on the crust to soften it. Work the shampoo into the dried poop until it loosens, pulling it off the feathers. Rinse well. Then massage some conditioner into the wet feathers and rinse again. I've only recently discovered that the hair conditioner helps to restore feather quality after the shampoo removes critical oils.

Then pat dry and blow dry until the butt is nice and fluffy. Good as new and ready to go back outdoors into the cruel, frozen winter.

 

[Chickassan]

Not going to help with anyone's first poop removal but a little tip to make future removals easier. Dry shampoo, yep after you clean the poo dry shampoo the butt and nothing or nearly nothing sticks. Also if you can't do a full water bath you can use a spray bottle to cleanse the offending orifice. Get in there! Its just poop!

 

[Minky]

I got out the barn scissors and trimmed it off today. It was painless for both of us.

 

[aart]

My very fluffy Buff Orpington has a bit of mess on her butt.....

Is there some way she will be able to clean it? Or do I need to do something about it. I'd rather not get involved. Water bath is out of the question for another 2 months (we have snow).

Thanks

She should be able to preen it off, but sometimes they won't or can't.
It's important to take a look and maybe trim the feathers that have poop stuck to them, cut them carefully with sharp scissors to about a 1/2" away from the skin.

The fluffier butted birds often have more of problem with this, I've had to trim several. Yeah, it's gross, butt(haha!) you'll be glad to have taken care of the problem. The sooner you do it, the better, it'll just keep accumulating making the job harder the longer you wait.

If she has constantly loose poops(more likely to 'stick'), there may be another issue at hand.

 

[azygous]

And maybe you'll find a pony in there somewhere.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

My very fluffy Buff Orpington has a bit of mess on her butt.....

Is there some way she will be able to clean it? Or do I need to do something about it. I'd rather not get involved. Water bath is out of the question for another 2 months (we have snow).

Thanks

Haha me either, I have not touched a chicken butt to date but I will be soon, I have one with a gross poopy but I am planning to trim feathers until no poop left. Tomorrow... yes tomorrow sounds better than today.

Gary

 

[aart]

Do it Gary! It's for the children! I mean, chickens! Latex gloves can help. So would someone willing to do it for you. @aart ... We need some hands on instruction here.

He wanted me to facetime it ....but he just needs to get over his...aversion.
Wonders if showing him some fly struck butts(deep oozing wounds crawling with maggots) would make poops seem like nothing. Sorry to all, especially the OP @Minky for the graphic thread semi-drift.

 

[Stayc]

I have a constant poopy butt girl! I've watched her, she seems to be a lazy pooper. No effort. Just let's it slide on out... i shake my head every time i see her backside in chaos! I do bring her in and clean it, mainly to check her vent and make sure there isn't prolapse. She always has a poopy backside and she is my only white hen. I have trimmed her feathers back there but i dont think i have gotten it close enough. I'm quite timid doing those things. Best of luck with yours

That's not too bad for her^^. She looks alot better from the front

 

[arkansas_ash]

Since you got me thinking about "Miss Doris" and her poopy butt, I too finally did the trim. Trimming was necessary as there were some, how was it said earlier, dingle berries, on her rear.

The after trim below. You can see the reddish skin irritation below the vent from Doris' poop, which as I mentioned was watery and has been since last summer. One has to be careful when trimming to not trim too short or too much as the fluff down there is what acts as skin protection. If it wasn't winter I would have done soak method instead.

The good news is that while taking these pictures, I saw Doris go a solid poop and not the usual watery stuff, so I'm hoping her "diaper rash" will heal on its own without the need of treatment. The last pic is of my Orpington, "Miss Osage" who has the perfect rear. Her poop hits the fluffy feathers and bounces off onto the ground.

Who'd a thought I'd be taking pictures of the other end of my hens
Fun thread, and hope I didn't hijack it. Just wanted to add another experience with hens ends.