Lady Gallina
Chirping
Hey there,
It's no emergency, just some advice would be appreciated
One of our wyandotte hens has trouble pooping. She's about a year old and started laying in January. All the hens get layer food/pellets and are free ranging a few hours per day. It's going on for a few weeks now. All the mess tends to get stuck to the vent. Sometimes it even looks like one big poop ball is blocking it, but she drops it with the next poop.
We cut her feathers back, and clean her a few times a week, but she will just poop on herself the very next day. So far there's no inflammation to the skin, though it looks a bit irritated. I'm not really happy with the situation, but the hen seems fine so far (eating, drinking, moving... She's low in the pecking order, but she's been down there the whole time). However I'm really worried about the rising temperatures. Spring is hitting us now, soon it will be warm enough for the flies and all the other insects. In Sommer it will be so hot, that the larvae of flies will develop within hours. I'm afraid, that if they find her poopy vent, the larvae will get their and start eating her alive. (I read it about it, it's giving me nightmares ever since).
Any ideas how we could prevent it? We can't clean her multiple times per day...
Thanks for any advice...
It's no emergency, just some advice would be appreciated
One of our wyandotte hens has trouble pooping. She's about a year old and started laying in January. All the hens get layer food/pellets and are free ranging a few hours per day. It's going on for a few weeks now. All the mess tends to get stuck to the vent. Sometimes it even looks like one big poop ball is blocking it, but she drops it with the next poop.
We cut her feathers back, and clean her a few times a week, but she will just poop on herself the very next day. So far there's no inflammation to the skin, though it looks a bit irritated. I'm not really happy with the situation, but the hen seems fine so far (eating, drinking, moving... She's low in the pecking order, but she's been down there the whole time). However I'm really worried about the rising temperatures. Spring is hitting us now, soon it will be warm enough for the flies and all the other insects. In Sommer it will be so hot, that the larvae of flies will develop within hours. I'm afraid, that if they find her poopy vent, the larvae will get their and start eating her alive. (I read it about it, it's giving me nightmares ever since).
Any ideas how we could prevent it? We can't clean her multiple times per day...
Thanks for any advice...
as long as she's happy eating and drinking... then she will be fine. Is she laying? 
