Silly newb questions, I’m sure...

[Soon2BChixMom]

How much poop is ok by the vent? I re-powdered my girls for mites. I see a little poop on each - varying amounts, but still a little on each in my opinion.

Should I have cleaned it off?

Also, the EE has leg feathers and one of them had blood on it like she might have snagged it on something. Should I treat it or just watch it?

 

[coach723]

Chickens often will have poopy butts, and most of the time it's not an issue. If it's really caked then a bath is in order to clean them up and maybe a feather trim if necessary (and an evaluation to figure out why it's so bad). If it's just a little bit, then usually they will take care of it with their dust baths. Honestly, most of the time I don't do anything unless it's really bad or during the warm months when fly strike might be an issue. Some just have lazy cloaca's and it doesn't get pushed out as hard as others and soils the feathers. If you are seeing a lot then it may be time to have a fecal float test for parasites, since that can be a cause for runny droppings. For the bleeding feather, it's likely a blood feather. This is molting season, so probably she's growing new feathers. When new feathers start out they are in a blood filled shaft and if the shaft gets broken it will bleed. You can use pressure to stop the bleeding, or corn starch. They can sometimes bleed a lot, the shaft kind of works like a straw, and if it is one of those then you can pull the feather shaft out (pliers work well for this-it's easier than it may sound) and then the bleeding will stop with pressure. Some feather footed/legged birds seem to be more prone to this, and the leg/foot feathers are more likely to get injured. I had a roo that had issues every molt so I would loosely wrap his legs in co-wrap to protect the feathers until they were in, and changed it every couple of days.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

@coach723 Thanks. There wasn’t a lot of blood. Would I still need to pull the feather out?

 

[Junochick]

I just want to say no question is silly, that's how we learn. Any time you have a question or concern ask. Somebody knows the answer.

 

[coach723]

If it is not continuing to bleed then I'd leave it. If it continues, then I'd pull it. If the feather was nearly ready then the amount of blood in the shaft could have been very little. If the feather shaft was just starting, then the blood can sometimes be a lot. I've found the coop in the morning looking like a massacre happened, and turned out to be a blood feather. Just keep an eye on it, and her. If it continues to re-bleed you can always pull it then. And if there is blood there is always a chance that other birds will peck at it, so watch for that.

 

[Jessdesk]

I bet your EE is very pretty. I would leave the feather.