RIR with vent drainage

[Dave Z]

I have a 1 year old RIR that has developed a wet tail, like something is draining from her vent and running down to the end of her breastbone. All the feathers between her vent and breastbone are soaked and matted. And it does NOT smell good. Her poop is dark and wet - the consistency of chocolate syrup or something. Been like this for a couple of days. Today she is holding her wings away from her body, but then today is a lot warmer than the past week or so - close to 80 degrees, and some of the other hens look warm too.

Otherwise, she looks OK - active, eating and drinking. I can't tell if she is laying but I suspect she is not. No obvious mass in the abdomen.

I'm going out now to soak her in warm water if just to clean her off.

What else should I look for?

 

[Dave Z]

I cleaned her up yesterday, but the problem is back - all the feathers on her belly are wet and matted. I was able to examine her droppings last night and this morning and they look more normal. She's still active and eating and drinking normally and had what looked like a very enjoyable dust bath this morning, but still, something is not normal.

Any ideas?