help preening

[mbryan2]

One of my chickens has a deformity that makes it difficult for her to properly preen herself and I have seen quite a bit of dirt residue near her oil gland on her back. I was wondering if I should help her in any way. I try to scratch her when I hold her and she seems to really like that in hard to reach places. any ideas of issues that may come up or should I not be doing anything? Thank you.

 

[1muttsfan]

It might be enough to wipe the area regularly with a warm washcloth. If the oily residue is very heavy, you could bathe that area with just regular dish soap (don't use the antibacterial kind, just Dawn or something similar). Rinse well, then dry her off after - surprisingly enough most chickens really enjoy being blown dry.