Poop!

[Harmoni]

We just bought these 2 hens yesterday. I'm completely new to raising chickens. Is it normal for poop to be stuck to them? Not sure what their diet was like before. I am feeding them layer feed from rural king and fresh kale from my garden.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Welcome to BYC!!
Sometimes poop does get stuck on the feathers. You will need to clean it off with warm soap water/bath. If it is cold outside, you will have to dry her off completely before returning her outside but if it is summer and during the day, she will dry off in the sun.
You will want to inspect her vent to see if anything is odd and check for mites or lice.

 

[Harmoni]

Welcome to BYC!!
Sometimes poop does get stuck on the feathers. You will need to clean it off with warm soap water/bath. If it is cold outside, you will have to dry her off completely before returning her outside but if it is summer and during the day, she will dry off in the sun.
You will want to inspect her vent to see if anything is odd and check for mites or lice.

I just noticed 2 odd looking poops. I have no idea how to look for lice or mites. do I just grab the tail and lift to look? Here are the 2 odd poops that one of them just did. they both have poop on their butt, one a little more than the other.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I would stop feeding kale to see if the poop becomes normal.
There are certain foods that can cause alarming poops.

 

[CluckerFamily]

You can check for lice and mites at night time when they are roosting and you have a headlamp on. Check around the vent, under the wings, and under the neck feathers. Any little critter will quickly run away so keep your eyes peeled.

 

[Harmoni]

I would stop feeding kale to see if the poop becomes normal.
There are certain foods that can cause alarming poops.

Thank you! I will try that. I want to try cleaning them. We are in FL so it's not cold, high of 80 for the next 3 days. They are new to me though so I don't want to traumatize them.

 

[CluckerFamily]

If they weren't eating layer feed at the time, a change in feed can cause diarrhea also. Do you know how old they are?

 

[Harmoni]

If they weren't eating layer feed at the time, a change in feed can cause diarrhea also. Do you know how old they are?

I was told they were eating layer feed. Not sure on age. I was just told they would be laying soon. They laid an egg during transport yesterday.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I was told they were eating layer feed. Not sure on age. I was just told they would be laying soon. They laid an egg during transport yesterday.

That’s exciting!!
How long was the transportation trip?
Wondering if this could be why they have poop stuck to them.

 

[Harmoni]

Also, We have a temp coop for a week or so (Getting adult hens was a last minute thing) and the roosting bar in this piece of crap coop is only like 2 inches off the bottom . The coop is also not very accessible for me to get in there and check.