Where, if not BYC, can one shamelessly discuss poop? So, let's do it!
Often, the topic of poopy butts comes up, and how to clean them. I have several hens that are not blessed with solid, dry urates, but often squirt a wet, white liquid out along with the turd, which eventually builds up on their fluffy butts, making a real smelly mess that no amount of dirt bathing will remove.
So on nice days, I will fill a few wash basins with warm water, back the butt up to it and wash it. I try not to do it too often as it removed natural oils from the feathers and that only seems to attract the poop buildup all the more. But when a hen wants cuddles and she reeks of a soiled tail end, it takes a lot of joy out of the encounter, let's just say.
Well, I think I've solved the problem of how to keep poop from sticking to fluffy butts. It started last week when my Black Cochin Morgan laid two eggs on two successive mornings and both eggs stuck to her butt feathers. I noticed the first one by chance as I entered the run and saw her with an egg hanging off her rear. The next morning I was cleaning the coop when she laid her egg and was exiting through the pop hole with another egg hanging off her butt feathers.
Her feathers are so fine that the wet egg sticks to them like glue. I thought, I wish there was a teflon spray for chicken butts. Then I got to thinking about hair products and if there might be something that would act in the way teflon does. So I went shopping.
I just happened to pull the first thing off the shelf I saw, and it turned out to be L'Oreal "Sleek It" Strand Smoother Serum-spray. Heck, for $3, it's worth a shot. So I bought it and took it home and tried it on Morgan's butt. She has not had an egg stick since.
But even better, the poop, and she has the white dribbles, just brushes right off! It was just like I had sprayed her with teflon. I decided to do the entire fleet. I washed butts, and sprayed them all with "Sleek It", carefully shielding the vents from the spray, and the feathers dried fluffy and conditioned, and the poop either doesn't stick in the first place or it just comes off with a little flick of my fingers.
Yes, the run does have a very slight aroma of "salon" in the air.
Okay. Let the ridicule begin!
Often, the topic of poopy butts comes up, and how to clean them. I have several hens that are not blessed with solid, dry urates, but often squirt a wet, white liquid out along with the turd, which eventually builds up on their fluffy butts, making a real smelly mess that no amount of dirt bathing will remove.
So on nice days, I will fill a few wash basins with warm water, back the butt up to it and wash it. I try not to do it too often as it removed natural oils from the feathers and that only seems to attract the poop buildup all the more. But when a hen wants cuddles and she reeks of a soiled tail end, it takes a lot of joy out of the encounter, let's just say.
Well, I think I've solved the problem of how to keep poop from sticking to fluffy butts. It started last week when my Black Cochin Morgan laid two eggs on two successive mornings and both eggs stuck to her butt feathers. I noticed the first one by chance as I entered the run and saw her with an egg hanging off her rear. The next morning I was cleaning the coop when she laid her egg and was exiting through the pop hole with another egg hanging off her butt feathers.
Her feathers are so fine that the wet egg sticks to them like glue. I thought, I wish there was a teflon spray for chicken butts. Then I got to thinking about hair products and if there might be something that would act in the way teflon does. So I went shopping.
I just happened to pull the first thing off the shelf I saw, and it turned out to be L'Oreal "Sleek It" Strand Smoother Serum-spray. Heck, for $3, it's worth a shot. So I bought it and took it home and tried it on Morgan's butt. She has not had an egg stick since.
But even better, the poop, and she has the white dribbles, just brushes right off! It was just like I had sprayed her with teflon. I decided to do the entire fleet. I washed butts, and sprayed them all with "Sleek It", carefully shielding the vents from the spray, and the feathers dried fluffy and conditioned, and the poop either doesn't stick in the first place or it just comes off with a little flick of my fingers.
Yes, the run does have a very slight aroma of "salon" in the air.
Okay. Let the ridicule begin!
