Hen with dirty butt....

[New chicken family]

I have a year old hen with a dirty butt. She is our friendliest hen and she is avoiding me.... She's always the one to run over and see what treats you brought her.
Can I use ACV?
How much per gallon?
Thanks!!

 

[chickenlady]

She might have a dirty butt for a reason, check for mites and lice around her vent area. Look real close, they are hard to see but will cause dirty butts everytime. Good luck.

 

[Southern Gardener]

As in a poopie butt? I have a buff orp that gets a poopie butt - I just bathed her last night. You'll need to bath her - the poop can get stuck on the feathers, grow hard and weigh her feathers down and can be a haven for bugs.

 

[Riparian]

Quote:
hahaha "poopie butt"

not sure how else you could describe this...

 

[airmom1c05]

You can clean just her rump with a warm washcloth. If it is stubborn, add a little mineral oil to the washcloth. As for ACV, make sure you buy the organic (I get mine in the organic section of Kroger) with the "mother" (cloudy) in it. You can use 2 Tblsp. per gallon of water. Buff Orpingtons are famous for needing their rumps cleaned with or without the ACV, however.

 

[illinichick]

I have this problem with one of my 8 month ol BR hens. I noticed that all of her "fluff" is matted with poo. almost looks like pasty butt. None of the other 9 have it. What do I need to do?

 

[New chicken family]

I now know why!!!!
She had a paper thin deflated egg shell stuck in her vent!!!
No wonder.
My husband checked her out but I guess not well enough.
She is doing much better today.
Hooray!

 

[bangor777]

I'm so glad she's better!!! Wow, who would have thought that we'd all be getting so 'up close and personal' with chicken's rear ends? Reminds me, when my niece was little (3 or so?) She loved saying "What's up?...............Chicken Butt!!!" if she only new the truth of it!

 

[woolwell]

Thank all of you so much for the info re: dirty butts. I've got Buff Orps and I just finished cleaning two very messy behinds. (Back when I lived in San Francisco, I never imagined I would end up doing such a thing.

It's really good to know this is a common problem for Buffs. I'll keep a close eye on things. If the problem returns quickly I'll check for mites/lice. Thanks again for the help!

 

[tudiechick]

I have an 8 month old golden buff with a dirty butt...she is also not laying. Any suggestions? She seems to be separating herself from the other hens when I let them out to roam.