Sick Chicken?--Need help in suggested diagonoses

[nuthoney]

I have 3 hens--a RIR, a BR, and an EE. They are almost all a year old. About 1.5 weeks ago, I noticed that the stool produced by my RIR would range from being soft and green to runny (diarrhea-like); her bottom is dirty as a result. Otherwise, she is acting and eating normally, and continues to lay eggs consistently. Can someone please offer some educated guesses as to what is going on/what she might have? I feed my chickens organic laying feed and have consistently added some food-grade safe DE in it to control any potential parasite problems. I also give my chickens some greens, whole-milk yogurt for extra protein, and scratch. I clean their house and run regularly and re-fill their waterer daily. I called the feed store today and the person there thought that my RIR had a bacterial infection and recommended that I give her RIR sulmet. I read the various posts at this site re sulmet and what that is supposed to treat, and those symptoms don't quite match what my RIR is exhibiting. Also, do I need to quarantine her from the other 2 chickens? Finally, if this turns out to be something fatal, what is the correct way of disposing of her carcass (I am hoping that it won't come to this)? Burying her at my property may not be an option. Please help--thank you.

 

[Imp]

Chicken poop varies greatly. Without pix it's hard to tell. Kinda sounds normal to me especially without other symptoms. I'll attach a link to the infamous poop page. Good luck

Imp

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

 

[nuthoney]

Thank you IMP, for that link. It made me feel better. I will see if I can take a picture tomorrow when there is light out. I am just concerned--it is normal to have poop crust over a chicken's bottom? It hasn't happened to my other two chickens so I figured that it was abnormal. I checked the RIR's bottom today and while the feathers around her vent were matted together with stool that had dried and crusted over, her vent and the skin around it looked clean and pink. I snipped off the matted feathers to offer her some relief. I appreciate any further thoughts you or anyone else may have. Thanks.

 

[Imp]

Dirty Butt. Sorry I missed that question last night. Yes it is normal for some chickens to have dirty butts. Just happens to some. You can either clean it up or as you did snip off the feathers. It's important to keep it clean as the ammonia in the poop can burn the skin if left on and/or it can build up and block the vent. I have a Gold Laced Wyandotte that has had dirty butt for four years. I have not seen anything posted that suggests a remedy.

Imp