Hi all,
I've got a Barred Rock hen 9 months old that's been laying eggs since age 7 months (2 months ago). Lately I've noticed the eggs from this particular hen have dirty streaks on them. I just took a look at her hind end, and there is a mass of partly dried, partly frozen feces, about the size of an egg, stuck to the feathers just below the vent.
If it were midsummer, I'd stick the hen in warm water and give her a bath. However, it is still winter here and I'm sure she would freeze to death if I put her outside wet.
What to do? Pull out the dirty feathers? Bathe her indoors and keep her in the house until she dries off? (I do have a greenhouse that gets warm on sunny afternoons.)
Wait until a warm spell and hope dust bathing takes care of it?
The only problem this is causing right now is the minor one of dirty eggs, but could this lead to health problems for the hen? Is there a way to prevent this happening in the future?
Poppy
I've got a Barred Rock hen 9 months old that's been laying eggs since age 7 months (2 months ago). Lately I've noticed the eggs from this particular hen have dirty streaks on them. I just took a look at her hind end, and there is a mass of partly dried, partly frozen feces, about the size of an egg, stuck to the feathers just below the vent.
If it were midsummer, I'd stick the hen in warm water and give her a bath. However, it is still winter here and I'm sure she would freeze to death if I put her outside wet.
What to do? Pull out the dirty feathers? Bathe her indoors and keep her in the house until she dries off? (I do have a greenhouse that gets warm on sunny afternoons.)
Wait until a warm spell and hope dust bathing takes care of it?
The only problem this is causing right now is the minor one of dirty eggs, but could this lead to health problems for the hen? Is there a way to prevent this happening in the future?
Poppy