HELP! Hen with pasty butt?

[Laughing Crow Farm]

Hi, I have an older hen (buff orpington) that's had a problem with sticky poop covering her vent -- it starts on the edges, sticks there, then fills in the whole area to the point where she cannot poop anymore and strains. I've had to clean her back end every two days or so for a few weeks (yuk) and am considering putting her down somehow if I cannot remedy the situation. She's been wormed and she once had maggots there (probably because when she pecks at the poop to remove it, the edges of her vent bleed), but otherwise she's acting normal. I separated her from the flock last week for a few days, fed her yogurt and other goodies, but the situation didn't improve. She was glad to be back with her buddies in the coop, free-ranging during the day on grass, so I just put her back there. She doesn't lay anymore since she's too old. Any ideas on what is wrong with her? Thanks!

 

[easttxchick]

I wish I could help, but I have only dealt with the pasty butt in baby chicks and I'm just not sure if it means the same thing in an older hen. I know you are doing the right thing by keeping it clean, though, that is a must do with pasty butt.

Someone will come along and give you some much better advice than me.

Also,

from Texas!

 

[ghillie]

First

I have a Barred Rock that always gets pasty butt. She doesnt seem to drop her fluff out of the way when she goes. When it builds up I just wash her butt, use the hairblower to dry her off and she is good to go for a while......

 

[Lollipop]

Believe it or not, Pasty Butt is a symptom of constipation. The cure is molasses in their drinking water. Molasses is a natural laxative for fowl. Mix it like weak tea and give it to them for 2 days. Naturally you should clean their little butts with a warm damp cloth before you start the treatment. Failure to cure this condition could result in a painful death for your chicken. This treatment is for adult birds as well as chicks. I`ve been keeping chickens for 51 years and this is the best treatment I`ve found. I stopped posting this here because of folks that read a lot and know more than me. I don`t know it all, but when something works, I try to pas it on. Good luck......Pop

 

[Laughing Crow Farm]

THanks everyone! I'll try the molasses trick -- just can't manage cleaning her every two days! She's a sweetie, though, and I've never had to put a hen down yet...

 

[meganB1]

Please let me know how you get on with the molasses. My Orpington also has some problems here and I am using warm soapy water with a little surgical spirit to try and clear everything for her. Very aware that as it is getting warm, the flies will be attracted to any poo left and I certainly dont want maggots.........Other than this she appears very alert, is laying and wandering around the garden.

It has been suggested to try and put a little olive oil in a pippet and syringe it in the rear end to hellp things along. May try this, this evening!

Good luck

 

[Pete fernBonnie]

well i had a hen like that and the problem could be she isnt gettin enough water or grit. what i did was she had a giant plug and i got some plastic tweezers and being very careful i pushed very easy on the outer egde of the vent i pushed inwards and sqeezed with the tweezers the plug and pulled out gently adn she has recovered completely. hope it helps