Question about dirty butt feathers

[Stephanie R]

I've noticed the last few days that my BR has some poop on her fluffy butt feathers - it almost looks like mud, but it's dry here so it must be poop. I checked her vent today. It looks good - pink and healthy, no sign of mites or lice or anything else. She doesn't have diarrhea that I've seen - in fact she has really healthy looking poops. Nobody is picking at her - no one picks on Kate. She is alert, eating well, getting lots of exercise. I cleaned her off with a soft cloth and warm water. Should I be looking for or doing anything else?

Thanks for your responses.

 

[Cacique500]

Both of my BR's get little "nuggets" stuck to them and about once a month they go into the bathtub where I shower their butt with warm water and slowly work it lose (with gloves on of course). Only takes maybe 5 minutes per bird and they really seem to enjoy it. I'm deathly afraid of fly strike after reading some of the horror stories on here and we have horses behind us, so flies are always a problem. More piece of mind for me to just stick them in the tub quick when they need it.

As to the cause, I'm sure that for mine it's most likely diet related (too many treats from somebody else in the house!) - and we also noticed that this summer there were a lot of runny poops due to the very high heat and them drinking lots of water.

 

[chickmomma03]

Sometimes mine get a run off. They have long beautiful fur, it happens. Thankfully they seem to watch out for each other and work to help clean each other gently. I noticed my cochin had a little poop further down on her fur tonight, but my roo REALLY hates the girls being picked up because they squawk so I will have to get him into the coop to clean her if it's still there in the morning (doubtful though)

 

[Stephanie R]

Both of my BR's get little "nuggets" stuck to them and about once a month they go into the bathtub where I shower their butt with warm water and slowly work it lose (with gloves on of course). Only takes maybe 5 minutes per bird and they really seem to enjoy it. I'm deathly afraid of fly strike after reading some of the horror stories on here and we have horses behind us, so flies are always a problem. More piece of mind for me to just stick them in the tub quick when they need it.

As to the cause, I'm sure that for mine it's most likely diet related (too many treats from somebody else in the house!) - and we also noticed that this summer there were a lot of runny poops due to the very high heat and them drinking lots of water.

I think if it happens again, I'll give her a butt bath in the farm sink in the laundry room. She doesn't like to be picked up, but was surprisingly calm while I wiped her rear end the other day. I wonder how calm she'll be when I blow dry her little keister.

 

[KayTee]

My hens don't like to be picked up much either, but when you do something like cleaning their butts they seem to know that you're doing something to help them, and tend not to struggle too much. I had to give two of my girls full head-to-toe baths recently (for bad red mite infestations), and I was also extremely worried about how they would react to the hairdryer. I start it off on slow speed, holding it away from them, and once they got used to it I picked the speed up. They absolutely loved it! One of them even started purring and almost fell asleep on her feet!

 

[Stephanie R]

My hens don't like to be picked up much either, but when you do something like cleaning their butts they seem to know that you're doing something to help them, and tend not to struggle too much. I had to give two of my girls full head-to-toe baths recently (for bad red mite infestations), and I was also extremely worried about how they would react to the hairdryer. I start it off on slow speed, holding it away from them, and once they got used to it I picked the speed up. They absolutely loved it! One of them even started purring and almost fell asleep on her feet!

Oh good. I'm hoping I won't have to give her a sponge bath, but if I do, I sure hope she reacts like your girls.