Salmon Faverolle hen with dirty chin and neck

[JEN4444]

This is our first year with chickens. We have four hens of 4 different breeds. They're all doing great, our Salmon Faverolle and Easter Egger are laying. They have a comfy, protected but ventilated coop and a safe run (hardware cloth buried around 3.5' x 10' perimeter) on the ground that has a layer of straw and most days I let them out into a larger run for 30 minutes or so that's not so safe when we're outside to watch them. It rains a lot where we are and the Salmon Faverolle has lately been consistently muddy and wet on her chin, neck, face, comb--clearly she can't clean these areas. The other three hens are nice and clean--no mud anywhere. I gave her a bath and blow dry, which went well, but I can't do this every day and she was muddy and dirty again within a day. Should I trim these feathers that are long and hang down into the waterer and touch the ground when she forages? Should we stop letting them out into the larger run that's pretty muddy? Will being wet and dirty for long periods of time between baths (might be able to do this weekly at most) cause her to get sick? Is it better to have feathers for insulation even if they're wet, or better to be cleaner and dryer without the feathers? Am I worrying too much? Thanks for your thoughts!!

 

[LaFleche]

She looks as if she tried to take a dust bath in a mud pool.

Do they have a nice and dry dust bath in their protected/covered run?

I would not wash her again, as this will take off the protective coat their oil glad provides, leading to brittle feathers.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd look into fixing the mud issue in the larger run. Mud isn't good for you or the chickens.

Post more photos of the run, if that's something you'd consider.

 

[JEN4444]

I've tried putting sand in their smaller run, but they just cover it with straw. I use straw in their smaller "safe" run (3.5' x 10') and in their coop. The coop is very dry and I clean it every other week or so. The run I clean less frequently, adding straw regularly. But I gave both the coop and run a thorough cleaning and gave them lots of fresh, clean, dry straw yesterday. The 3.5' x 10' run is quite dry, but yesterday my husband tacked plastic over the end that does allow some rain to get in. I also dug out an area about 2' x 3' and buried a shallow box and filled it with clean "play sand," but even though I placed the faverolle in the sand, I don't see her bathing in it. Though there is lots of fresh straw, the hens go to work immediately, trying to get down to the dirt below, and the faverolle's beard, which gets wet at the waterer then ends up muddy when she drags her beard through the dirt beneath the straw.

I'd look into fixing the mud issue in the larger run. Mud isn't good for you or the chickens.

Post more photos of the run, if that's something you'd consider.

But, lo and behold, our salmon faverolle has been using the sand and the fresh straw seems to have helped. She's much less dirty now and they all seem to be doing well. Thank you, Rosemarythyme and LaFleche.

 

[Roxanne06]

I've tried putting sand in their smaller run, but they just cover it with straw. I use straw in their smaller "safe" run (3.5' x 10') and in their coop. The coop is very dry and I clean it every other week or so. The run I clean less frequently, adding straw regularly. But I gave both the coop and run a thorough cleaning and gave them lots of fresh, clean, dry straw yesterday. The 3.5' x 10' run is quite dry, but yesterday my husband tacked plastic over the end that does allow some rain to get in. I also dug out an area about 2' x 3' and buried a shallow box and filled it with clean "play sand," but even though I placed the faverolle in the sand, I don't see her bathing in it. Though there is lots of fresh straw, the hens go to work immediately, trying to get down to the dirt below, and the faverolle's beard, which gets wet at the waterer then ends up muddy when she drags her beard through the dirt beneath the straw.

But, lo and behold, our salmon faverolle has been using the sand and the fresh straw seems to have helped. She's much less dirty now and they all seem to be doing well. Thank you, Rosemarythyme and LaFleche.

yeah! !!