Poopy butt!

[oldchickenlady]

One of my RIR hens has had a poopy butt. It seemed to take several days to build up to a 'clump' that had to be removed. It doesn't seem to bother her, she eats, drinks, acts normal in everyway...just has doody on her booty! So I washed it off, she was good for several days, then it started over again. So...again, I washed her butt (she doesn't mind at all, sits still while I do it), but now she is building back up again, and I noticed another couple of hens are getting poopy butts, too! I usually free range my birds most of the day, and I just wondered if it could be something they are eating? I decided to keep them all in the run for a couple of days, but not really seeing an improvement. I have never wormed or medicated my chickens in any way, just layer feed, oyster shell, ACV in their water, and sometimes I give treats of scratch or leftover cornbread, vegetables, cottage cheese with ground up egg shells in it, but nothing spoiled or molded...any ideas?

 

[Miss Lydia]

do you keep the feathers clipped around the booty?might help keep off the doody. Lol Looks like you are feeding them good so you might should worm, alot of people on here worm on a schedule. Have you looked for worms, mine free range and seem to pick up round worms.

 

[oldchickenlady]

I had thought about trimming the fluff back there, but didn't do it...I think I will get my boys to leave them in the run until tomorrow while I am out of town and see if that helps. I let them out for a couple of hours yesterday while I refilled feeder/waterers and made my christmas tin water heater. They were sooo happy! They really love their free range time. On a side note...I heard my roo make a funny little noise yesterday and I looked up and there was a hawk flying over. Did it again a few minutes later and looked up again and it was a buzzard going by. So now I know what his 'predator from above' warning sounds like! I think it's kinda funny he has me trained to look up for predators now!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thats cool mine have me trained too. I really don't think free ranging has anything to do with poopy butt feathers though unless it's something they are eating? I just think the feathers catch some of their poop since they have such a range of different poops. ever looked at the poop site? interesting

 

[ND]

IMO, if you've never dewormed them... that could be contributing to the problem. Worms will often make the poop a runnier consistency that catches on the feathers back there. You won't normally see any worms in poop... healthy worms don't leave the host. In a heavy infestation, you may rarely see a worm in the poop if it was sick/died and was pooped out. One can just assume if you've never dewormed any animal/bird that forages on the ground, eats bugs and small critters, that they have worms. It's just a given.

Some people choose to deworm on a regular schedule to minimize the worm load for healthier birds and better feed conversion. Some do it rarely, some don't ever deworm no matter what. I suppose that's just one of those personal decisions.

Having said that, I keep all my animals/chickens on a deworming schedule for their health and optimal feed conversion. I don't want to be feeding worms. BUT, I still have one hen that just doesn't seem to get out of her own way when she poops, and will sometimes get a dirty butt. I clip her feathers a bit back there... not bald, but shorter, and the problem is resolved. Maybe she's just extra fluffy and stuff just builds up slowly. She doesn't even tend to have runnier poops.

It does take her a lot longer than a few days to build up anything significant, even untrimmed.

 

[Gonda]

If you're wondering about worms, you could try putting diatomaceous earth in their feed. That's a harmless way to treat all of the birds without medication. That's a natural, mineral based product made of fossilized water plants, which kills lice, mites and worms when they ingest them. Just be sure to wear a dust mask when you handle it, to avoid getting it into your respiratory tract and irritating mucous membranes. Use about a tablespoon of diatomaceous earth for every gallon of dry feed and mix well if you do not choose to allow them to free-feed DE.
Read more: How to Raise Chickens With Diatomaceous Earth | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5636687_raise-chickens-diatomaceous-earth.html#ixzz16VIhSp3u