Just had to chop the belly feathers off my stupid chicken

[NotSoChickenLove]

I have one chicken that constantly manages to get herself in a mess. This week's effort resulted in all the the feathers down her belly glued into one hard plate of egg yolk, matted feathers and bedding material. I assume she's sat on her egg and broken it. Anyway, had to hold an outraged chicken in one hand while carefully cutting off the plate feather by feather with a pair of scissors! It all came away in one big dried crust and left the fluffy under feathers, so she's not completely bald. That was NEVER going to come off or resolve itself without help.

I honestly did not expect chickens to be so much like messy toddlers!

 

[PD-Riverman]

I honestly did not expect chickens to be so much like messy toddlers!

Where you all get all them messy chickens---LOL. I hear of baths, etc from a lot of chicken owners. I was just thinking after reading your post----I have never had to do what you just did---never had a chicken to get like that. Thinking-----I might have washed one chicken off with a water hose----but I am not sure---but if I did its been many, many years. Keep in mind I been raising chickens over 50 years and had over 1200 in 2015---maybe 150 right now with some eggs in the incubator. I do not know----just wondering here??

 

[NotSoChickenLove]

Where you all get all them messy chickens---LOL. I hear of baths, etc from a lot of chicken owners. I was just thinking after reading your post----I have never had to do what you just did---never had a chicken to get like that. Thinking-----I might have washed one chicken off with a water hose----but I am not sure---but if I did its been many, many years. Keep in mind I been raising chickens over 50 years and had over 1200 in 2015---maybe 150 right now with some eggs in the incubator. I do not know----just wondering here??

I think this one chicken is just particularly stupid. Her last episode was trying to dust bathe in mud. People told me to just let it flake off naturally, which I did, but this one was egg yolk dried hard like glue. She's only young, so maybe she'll work all this stuff out of her system but honestly I think she's just not blessed in the brain department.

 

[aart]

AwCrap....just when you were starting to find some love.
Gawd what a mess!! Agrees cutting it off the best option.