Pasty Butt

[NancyKay]

I have a couple of hens that have pasty butts the other hens seem fine. These hens are 10 months.
I also have a few hens that have feathers missing and "bald" spots just behind their tail feathers.
What could be wrong with the pasty butts and how do I fix it?
Is the bald spot normal for chickens at this age?

 

[CHlCKEN]

Pasty butt is something baby chicks get. At this age, you are most likely looking at chickens with ‘lazy cloacas’. Simply, a chicken does not expel the poop all the way, and it becomes stuck to the surrounding vent feathers. Likely this attracted attention to other chickens who pulled out these feathers creating the balled spot you see. Seeing as there are multiple chickens with the issue, it could be dietary. In other words, what you are feeding them could cause there poop to be more watery and sticky, and therefore more likely to stick to their backsides.

Chickens that have a bald spot will draw attention, as the pink will stand out causing the other hens to want to peck. As they do this it can cause irritation which may lead to cannibalism. If you are seeing the birds being pecked, separate them immediately until the ares heals.

Go ahead and try to clean the girls with poopy butts. Soak their back ends in warm water to loosen the clumps. Then with gloves, pull apart the chunks and clean up their rears. If this doesn’t work, cut the clumps out with scissors.