How poopy is too poopy?

[Wildgrass]

Hi, chicken friends! I am in need of some guidance. I am...on my fourth year of keeping chickens, I think, and I need some help on what to do/not do for poopy butts. I have 8 hens with a run and free range access, who in the last year or so will have a bit of white poop tracking down their butt-feathers, or sometimes a messy streak of it, or very occasionally that full yucky "sick bird" looking butt. Last summer, one of my hens had "sick bird" butt for a good week, so we caught her and found she had a wound from the rooster that we think was making her unwell. We cleaned her up and kept her protected and the sick butt went away. What seems to be happening currently, is one or two of the hens will have a pretty unclean-looking undercarriage at a given time, but it goes away, and none of the birds are acting under the weather.

So, my question! What is the responsible thing to do here? Should I take someone into the vet? Should I be deworming my birds? I haven't stumbled across enough information to feel like I know what to do, and it's past time to figure out how to handle internal parasites. Help is much appreciated!

 

[Tookie]

If your flock is acting fine and they all seem healthy I wouldn't worry about it. I have a couple hens that have dirty butts a lot and I just give them a bath. I think mites can cause them to have dirty butts so you should probably inspect them. To find mites you'll want to look around their vent.

 

[Wildgrass]

Thank you! I haven't noticed anything casually, but I could definitely stand to inspect them more closely.

 

[Tookie]

How's your flock?

 

[Wildgrass]

The same as usual! We had guests here last week and they got lots of table scraps, so if anything, we are a little poopier. But no mites, and no one's acting funny. I just need to decide if I'm up for bathing butts.

 

[Tookie]

The same as usual! We had guests here last week and they got lots of table scraps, so if anything, we are a little poopier. But no mites, and no one's acting funny. I just need to decide if I'm up for bathing butts.

I bathe my chickens butts when they need it!

 

[Baileybunchx5]

I bathe my chickens butts when they need it!

How do you go about bathing your chickens? Just looking for proven techniques. In case I need to do this in the future.

 

[LaFleche]

I would deworm them properly and keep their butts clean ( wash and dry, then trim back the fluff) to prevent deadly flystrike.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

How do you go about bathing your chickens? Just looking for proven techniques. In case I need to do this in the future.

I hold them like a football, butt out head tucked between my elbow and waist (secure their legs between your fingers), as long as weather is permitting, I turn the hose on and get to spraying, then I give them a trim and send them on their way.

 

[Tookie]

How do you go about bathing your chickens? Just looking for proven techniques. In case I need to do this in the future.

What I do is fill a bin up with water, and add some dawn dish soap into it. I put the chicken in the bin, then have them in between my knees to hold them. I then get their bottom wet, put some soap on it, and clean them up. After all that I just take them out and let them go, I don't dry them. I do only do it in warmer weather.
So that's how I do it.