Older Hens... Poopy Butt

[krazychickylady]

Ok I am sure there are a hundred threads on this.. My hens are about 3 years old.. I have 14 of them, about half of them have poopy butt, pretty bad.. now that being said, it has rained here every day, and the run is a little muddy... I have looked for signs in the poop, all poops look normal.. they get Diatomaceous earth weekly, so I honestly don't think its a worm problem... I don't see any skin issues, no mites.. just poopy butt... is this normal or does it have something to do with the age of the hens?? Also I know the ladies are older, so their feathers are starting to look pretty raged...now they are laying excellent .. out of 14 hens I get 11 to 12 eggs per day... and at 3 years old.. I think that is just amazing.. Should I be worried about the poopy butt and feathers??? I feed them only a 20% layer and then they free range some but not all day.. Thanks.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It isn't normal. It isn't age and DE has no effect on worms. The feathers get ragged every year and in about 3 months they'll molt and grow a new winter coat during which time, they'll stop laying so start saving up eggs for when they stop.
20% is a little high unless you feed a lot of scratch and kitchen scraps which brings that percentage down.
There is clearly something wrong in the digestive tract. It could be worms or it could be some bacteria, virus or other parasite.
The only way to know for sure is to collect fecal samples and have them read by a vet or your state poultry lab.

I had the same issue with one flock of chickens a couple years ago. I suspected roundworms but rather than treat, I had fecal samples read. It turned out that they didn't have worms but a bad clostridial bacteria infection. The vet gave me tetracycline which took care of it but I had to discard eggs for 2 months. That was a lot of eggs to throw away.

 

[krazychickylady]

I guess I assumed if it was worms or some sort of infection, why only part of the folk, not all the hens are like this??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Some are healthier and naturally more resistant to parasites and infection. Not all of the hens in that particular flock I wrote about were affected nor the rooster but I had to treat all.

 

[krazychickylady]

Can I give them baths or do something to get it off of them?? I don't want their butts to stay that way.. I will see if I can find someone to test the poopy.. we don't have a livestock vet in my area...that I know of anyway...

 

[krazychickylady]

I don't feed a lot of scraps, the last time I feed scraps it seemed to give them the runs.. which is where I think all this got started... I do feed the 20% because they do free range quite a bit, and on the lower protien they just didn't lay very good.
I will check into our department of agriculture and see if they can do testing.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't feed a lot of scraps, the last time I feed scraps it seemed to give them the runs.. which is where I think all this got started... I do feed the 20% because they do free range quite a bit, and on the lower protien they just didn't lay very good.
I will check into our department of agriculture and see if they can do testing.

Every state has at least one poultry lab. Free range this time of year won't necessarily lower the protein. If there are lots of insects, worms and other animal protein sources, that will increase protein. 16-17% should be sufficient. Excess protein has to be processed by the liver and can lead to gout.

Can I give them baths or do something to get it off of them?? I don't want their butts to stay that way.. I will see if I can find someone to test the poopy.. we don't have a livestock vet in my area...that I know of anyway...

Yes, you can bathe them as long as it is warm enough. Most vets SHOULD be able to read a fecal sample, it's just that many won't unless they can see the patient.