How should I go about cleaning a poopy chicken

[TOPChickens14]

One of my hens has a clump of dried poop under her vent on the feathers. It is about 2 inches long and I know that I need to clean it off. The hen is healthy. She is definitely overweight though, she eats everything! I have been doing some research into seeing what is up with her and I think she may have vent gleet. She doesn't like being held very much so I haven't yet gotten a close look at her vent to determine if she has vent gleet. I do put ACV in their water all the time and I saw that that can help with vent gleet.I know that I have to give her a bath in order to clean up her rear end and I am not sure how to go about doing that. Here's how I was thinking about going about cleaning her up. Fill a small tote with warm water, plop her in there, hoping that she doesn't freak out. Then soak her in that water for a bit, then try to rub/massage the poop off with gloves. Once I got the poop off, then trim the feathers that were in the clump of poo. I would then dry her off and put her out in the sunshine. How does that sound? Does anyone have some more advice on cleaning her up? Thank you!

 

[Show Sebright]

One of my hens has a clump of dried poop under her vent on the feathers. It is about 2 inches long and I know that I need to clean it off. The hen is healthy. She is definitely overweight though, she eats everything! I have been doing some research into seeing what is up with her and I think she may have vent gleet. She doesn't like being held very much so I haven't yet gotten a close look at her vent to determine if she has vent gleet. I do put ACV in their water all the time and I saw that that can help with vent gleet.I know that I have to give her a bath in order to clean up her rear end and I am not sure how to go about doing that. Here's how I was thinking about going about cleaning her up. Fill a small tote with warm water, plop her in there, hoping that she doesn't freak out. Then soak her in that water for a bit, then try to rub/massage the poop off with gloves. Once I got the poop off, then trim the feathers that were in the clump of poo. I would then dry her off and put her out in the sunshine. How does that sound? Does anyone have some more advice on cleaning her up? Thank you!

Soak it for a little bit and try to get it off. I will take dull scissors and just ‘cut’ it in half or quarters. This doesn’t damage feather more then they already are. From there work the poop off. If that fails cut the feathers that are connected off.

 

[TOPChickens14]

 

[Sally PB]

What do you do if the hen *does* freak out when you put her in the tote with the water? How do you calm them down?

 

[TOPChickens14]

What do you do if the hen *does* freak out when you put her in the tote with the water? How do you calm them down?

I'm not sure what I would do. I was going to slowly put her into the water and if she started to freak out I would just stop and then try again after giving her some treats.

 

[NatJ]

One of my hens has a clump of dried poop under her vent on the feathers. It is about 2 inches long and I know that I need to clean it off.

Is the lump close to the skin, or dangling?

If it dangles away from her skin, you might be able to just cut those feathers and have the lump fall off. That would be faster and less stressful than trying to soak it off.

(If the lump is stuck to her skin, of course that won't work.)

 

[TOPChickens14]

Is the lump close to the skin, or dangling?

If it dangles away from her skin, you might be able to just cut those feathers and have the lump fall off. That would be faster and less stressful than trying to soak it off.

(If the lump is stuck to her skin, of course that won't work.)

It is more close to the skin. There is a lot of bits of poo around her vent area too so I think the best thing for me to do is to give her the bath.

 

[pame5duff]

One of my hens has a clump of dried poop under her vent on the feathers. It is about 2 inches long and I know that I need to clean it off. The hen is healthy. She is definitely overweight though, she eats everything! I have been doing some research into seeing what is up with her and I think she may have vent gleet. She doesn't like being held very much so I haven't yet gotten a close look at her vent to determine if she has vent gleet. I do put ACV in their water all the time and I saw that that can help with vent gleet.I know that I have to give her a bath in order to clean up her rear end and I am not sure how to go about doing that. Here's how I was thinking about going about cleaning her up. Fill a small tote with warm water, plop her in there, hoping that she doesn't freak out. Then soak her in that water for a bit, then try to rub/massage the poop off with gloves. Once I got the poop off, then trim the feathers that were in the clump of poo. I would then dry her off and put her out in the sunshine. How does that sound? Does anyone have some more advice on cleaning her up? Thank you!

This has happened to my chickens too! Even in the winter!! I have found it best to let them get on the roost at night, set up my spa table and set to work. I have a plastic dish tub that I put warm water in and place the tub on a small table. I place a towel next to the tub and have a spare to help dry her after her bath. My hair dryer is plugged in (at the other end of the table from the water). I secure the chicken so that she is facing away from the tub between my arm and my side. It seems to help to move slowly and talk to her all the time? Gently place her in the warm water pushing her down to make sure her vent gets in the water. I try to loosen the pooh with a gloved hand of course. Then I use scissors to trim off as much as I can, ALWAYS holding her as close as I can to me. I take her out of the tub and set her on a towel and begin to dry her feathers the hair dryer on low and on warm. Never use hot air. For as long as it takes I continue to dry her feathers. When she is dry I set her back on the roost! This is what works for me. I hope something might help you!

 

[Sally PB]

I had to clean Lark's butt a few weeks ago. I took her off the roost at night by draping a towel over her, putting her in a tote, putting the lid on, and carrying her into the house. I had a basin of warm water all ready to go.

It helped that I was home alone. DH and our dog were on vacation. I had the lights off, except for one light in another room, so the room I was in was very dim. I have a headlamp with a red light, so I could see pretty well.

I massaged the poop lump to break it up, trimmed off the affected butt fluff. I had another towel and put Lark on it, and blotted as much water up as I could, then used a hair dryer on low to dry her the rest of the way.

Whenever she got agitated, I just draped the towel over her head, and she calmed down. When she was dry, I put her back in the tote, lid on, carried her out to the coop and put her on the roost.

Having a dim room, no one else around, talking to her quietly, and covering her head when she got agitated made it go well.

 

[TOPChickens14]

This has happened to my chickens too! Even in the winter!! I have found it best to let them get on the roost at night, set up my spa table and set to work. I have a plastic dish tub that I put warm water in and place the tub on a small table. I place a towel next to the tub and have a spare to help dry her after her bath. My hair dryer is plugged in (at the other end of the table from the water). I secure the chicken so that she is facing away from the tub between my arm and my side. It seems to help to move slowly and talk to her all the time? Gently place her in the warm water pushing her down to make sure her vent gets in the water. I try to loosen the pooh with a gloved hand of course. Then I use scissors to trim off as much as I can, ALWAYS holding her as close as I can to me. I take her out of the tub and set her on a towel and begin to dry her feathers the hair dryer on low and on warm. Never use hot air. For as long as it takes I continue to dry her feathers. When she is dry I set her back on the roost! This is what works for me. I hope something might help you!

I already bathed her more than a month ago. Thanks for replying though! I did exactly what you do except I didn't blow dry her or do it at night. It was warm enough out and she lets me pick her up.