please check out my butt

[wpchicks]

So last night we got our birds, chicks born this spring (supposedly 20-24 weeks)
They came from a farm about two hours from our home - I haven't been to this place we just felt comfortable from the lady we talked to.
We ordered 4. Got home and opened the apple box they were put in and found 5, with the brahma's legs still taped together.

As you can see one of the buffs has a bit of a problem. Is this just from pecking.
I'm pretty sure that the big pile of diarrhea we found this morning is from the same bird.
It was a bit alarming given the fact that the other poop (which isn't very much) is tiny little poop pellets
then there was this huge pile in the middle of the board.

I don't want five birds, but I'm wondering if this buff is sick or just been pecked to pieces and stressed from
moving to a new home.

These birds came from a very large flock of about 7 thousand (free ranging). Mostly I'm just very nervous
and wonder if we should just take them all back and raise our own chicks in the spring.
Would it be bad to swap birds - from what we can tell the brahma is the most gentle and we're wondering
if we could bring in another brahma today and get rid of two that we have. Ahhhhh, I don't know what to do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million.

 

[geebs]

treat with Sulfa in their water... and Terramyacin..

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

got any side pics of the one with the tushie problem? i'm seeing some saddle feathers but i might be wrong on that!

it looks like there is a bunch of new feathers growing back so the bird may have been plucked at some point, or they could have plucked feathers if the poopy butt was a constant problem on it! some birds that get a large fluffy butts seem to have issues with poop sticking in the feathers. or it could have an egg binding issue going on that will need to be watched for. if egg binding happens at an early age it can be a constant issue i have found.

brahma are a slow breed. i have found the one LF girl i have is not a very consistent layer but she is very funny and gentle. they do lay a very large egg and sometimes i have found them to be speckled!

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

They taped her legs together because?? I am never one to turn away a free chicken, so I would keep it because at this point it has been exposed to any illnesses the others may have...I do see new feather growth on the "butt" in question. My birds occasionally have diarhea when stressed or when they have had too many treats. I would just keep an eye on it and maybe bathe the bird with the rear issue and put some neosporin or vaseline on the area. If the diarhea continues, treat with antibiotics to start.

 

[coloradochick]

Dumb question maybe but why would the Brahma's legs be taped together? And the poop looks similiar to a big broody poop that got stepped in. From the pic the consistency doesn't look that alarming to me. I hope she gets to looking better for you.

 

[Judy]

I would clean her up and watch her for now. No antibiotics (what would you be giving them for? How do you know which one?) Maybe trim some of those tail feathers.

A lot of antibiotics cause diarrhea.

Some probiotics would be good.

Another option, if you don't want 5, of course, is make chicken soup. OTOH you may well lose one anyway.

 

[wpchicks]

I called where we got the hens and they said that the hens go through 5 stages of molting before they start laying. She said that this one could be molting because she was about to start laying. These hens, we were told, are about 20-24 weeks old. Could she be molting and if so, only on the rear? Thanks for all of the help and advice!!

 

[kooltex]

Looks like molting. I see saddle feathers too, could be the angle though. Dunno.

OR it is a Roo and was picked on by other roos.

 

[pips&peeps]

Can we get a different photo of the bird? I also think I see saddle feathers......

 

[wasatusay]

I agree with kooltex looks like this bird has saddle feathers and possibly had his tail feathers pulled out so it would look like a hen or was attacked by something that pulled them out, the skin looks pretty bruised up. Any side photos?