Girl not laying and red belly

[marlene cross]

Hi there thank you for allowing me to join the group. I have a chicken who is my main egg layer .She has suddenly gone off laying . I picked her up before and her vent is very dirty and has dried poo on it.She also has a red underneath her and has lost some feathers from there. She is eating and drinking fine having her dirt baths and seems normal .I don’t want to loose her her mate is ok except she sits in the nest with or without an egg in it trying to hatch the egg .She also makes a brooding noice while sitting there .Any advice appreciated .

 

[Abriana]

Definitely a broody! They pluck their belly feathers to create "brood patches" so that the eggs sit right against the skin and are nice and toasty. She is totally fine, don't worry! Do you want to break her broodiness or hatch some cuties?

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[feathermaid]

If you have a picture of the affected area, you can post a thread here:
Emergencies, Diseases, Injuries and Cures

If she has crusty stuff on her bum, a warm epsom salt soak in a plastic tote for about 15-20 min will loosen all that up so you can rinse her feathers clean. Towel her off and use a blow dryer. I did this a couple times with one of my hens and she actually enjoyed it. A dirty bottom can cause other problems that you don't want to happen...
Vent Gleet aka Nasty Chicken Butt
Flystrike

If she's just broody and you don't want her to hatch babies, then you'll need to break her of her broodiness. When A Hen’s Mood To Hatch Should Be Interrupted If you do want her brood, just clean her bottom and let her sit.

Some chickens also like to sleep in the nest box at night, a time when they poop a lot, so all the poop sticks to her... and to the eggs. Check every night and lift her onto the roost or completely block the nest boxes before dusk to break that habit. And open the boxes after everyone has roosted for the night.

Best wishes!

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome! I'm glad that you joined. Good luck with your girls!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to our community.

This is a useful link of BYC guides to take a look at announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3 I’d suggest including your location using the guide in that link. You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find your State's thread.

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[drumstick diva]

Flappy Feathers have given you excellent information and advice. So I will just say,

Welcome to Backyard Chickens, the pulse beat of the Chicken community.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
It does sound like she is broody.

 

[N F C]

You've already received some good advice and information, so I'll just say hello

 

[Kiki]

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