speckled sussex and poop on vent feathers - u too ??

[math ace]

I have some very fluffy speckled sussex. Picture BIG Butterball chickens!

I haven't inspected all of them yet, but my biggest speckled sussex has issues with getting poop on her vent feathers.

I looked for lice or mites and did not see any. . . . . Her vent area looks perfectly normal.

Does anyone else have issues with their speckled sussex getting poop on the rear end ? ?

 

[chkinut]

well, not a SS, but my BO had to have a "hair cut" on her butt the other day. she had a line of brown goin' down for about a week and i figured she'd preen it off or somethin'. but no, finally i inspected it....and she had a yucky hard poop ball on the feathers below her vent. funny, cuz her eggs are very clean (thank goodness!) but i cut her butt feathers a bit short and she's been doing fine. i worried about cutting too close to those pin feathers. this may be a VERY dumb question, but does anyone know if blood is in the bottom of feathers? i was afraid if i cut too short, she would bleed.

 

[wood&feathers]

In my flock there doesn' seem to be a reationship between fluffy butts and cleanliness. Quite the contrary. My Australorp is seriously fluffy, a real beauty queen. She squats deeply to poo, plus she is pretty meticulous - her fluff is immaculate. She'll stop and groom in the middle of a treat frenzy, while the rest just merrily splatter things all over themselves. My messiest girls are production reds with skimpy skirts. They don't seem to care, though they don't seem to get big gobs or anything. I did a round of baths for everyone last summer when we had a lice problem, and they've been fine since. If someone had a poop wad I think bathing would be my first approach.

Yes there is blood at the base of feathers, but mostly in growing ones. If the shaft looks black near the base it is a "blood feather" and you need to avoid the dark part of the quill while trimming.

 

[math ace]

This SS is my favorite SS. She is the one who follows me no matter where and what I am doing. She doesn't eactly follow - - she walks with me or ahead of me. Such a little Alpha hen. She is so cute, she squats immediately anytime I want to pick her up. I must be her very favorite roo

Needless to say, I am gonna need to do something over the cling ons . . .

I could trim her fluff . . . I just hate to think about doing that while is cold out. I don't what her fanny to get cold. I Swear ALL my birds have put on a winter coat ( like a cow or horse). They all seem fluffier recently !