full grown hens with nasty looking butts!

[trunkman]

I have 6 mature white rock hens that have very dirty looking butts. They're good looking chickens when looking at them from the front, but when they turn around, all I can say is gross, is this normal for white chickens? Do they need to be cleaned, and if so, how do I clean them?
Can it be the feed? Is this normal? I feed them layer feed and they free range.

 

[moderndayhippy]

Sorry I don't have any answer for you, but I got a good little giggle out of the title of your thread. LOL

 

[DAVELOVESLORI]

Mine TOO!!
We've had them (5) for about 6 weeks now, and I buried the first one today. They ALL have "funky butt" and we're getting at least 3 eggs a day now. I really don't know what killed this one, but I'm reading some threads to suggest eColi, and how to treat it.

Did you ever resolve your issue?

I'm NOT bathing them. No way!

 

[RedDrgn]

It's not uncommon with very fluffy-rumped birds because it's almost impossible for them to do their business without their business contacting some feathers....and over time, it can build up (especially those nasty cecal poos!). Our barred rock, wellie, and australorp have this problem. We mitigated it by trimming some of the fluff below the vent down and it helped a LOT. The wellie and rock still get a little messy after 2-3 weeks, but cleaning is pretty easy; we just hold them in a large pan of water just deep enough to reach the gunked up area. A minute or so of soaking and then some swishing (wearing gloves) and they're good to go and dry within an hour.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yep, just take some scissors and trim their fluffy rears. Just be careful to not get their skin.