Dirty Little Bum

[Acornewell]

I have a broody hen for the first time. I have noticed her behind is caked in stinky broody poop. Can I take her off her nest and clean her? Or should I leave her be?

 

[krista74]

First up, is she getting off the nest at all to poop, or is she pooping in the nest box every day? Some broody hens are so devoted to becoming a mother that they refuse to leave the nest for anything. If that is the case with your girl, you will have to establish a routine of quietly lifting her out of the nest each day and encouraging her to eat, drink and poop.

If she is getting out of the nest once a day to do these things, and she just has a very fuzzy butt and a really bad aim (!) you might want to clean her up a bit. Bacteria is not good for hatching eggs so better safe than sorry.

I would get some scissors and VERY CAREFULLY trim away her fuzzy butt feathers and most of the muck. Trim a little path through the fluffy feathers so that when she poops it can fall away without getting caught up in the fluffiness

I'd do this as quickly as possible, and preferably at dusk - they seem to tolerate us messing with them better in the evening. Be quiet and calm, and return her to the nest as soon as possible afterwards. You might like to remove any dirty hay or chunks of poop from the nest at the same time.

Best wishes

- Krista

 

[Acornewell]

Great! Thanks, I did just that. Freshened her nest with some fresh bedding too. She drank some water and ate some. Makes me feel better to know she probably feels better...I clipped her feathers around her bum too. But she was determined to get back to her nest asap! Silly girl, although she is super sweet aven being broody!

 

[krista74]

Good job