Is my chicken sick?

[norbert]

My hen has a large clump of poop stuck to her butt. Is she sick? What should I do?

 

[teach1rusl]

An adult chicken, not a tiny chick, right??? If so, a large clump of poop around the rear area is certainly not an indicator (at least by itself) of illness. Some birds are more prone to clumps than others. Maybe it's that they don't squat back far enough and when the poo is runny it hits feathers...then kind of dries...then builds with each additional runny poo...

I have one hen who has always had issues with clumps. When it gets bad enough to bother ME (because she doesn't act like it bothers her), I bring her in and give her a sink bath - water temps like for a baby - talk soothingly - they generally settle down inside of a minute. You have to work some dishwashing liquid into the submerged clump and work through it. I've also trimmed her butt fuzz area down a little, which has seemed to help...

 

[norbert]

Thank you, this is helpful