Hi there!
So, we have a few groups of younger chickens - three ISA Brown roosters and a single pullet, about four months old. They're sort of their own gang in a sense that they don't hang out with our other hens at all (we have five adult Australorps and eight 8 week old hens/roos who have their own separate groups as well), though they do roost with the adults (the younger group pile up in the bushes).
Anyway! About a day or two ago, I noticed one of the ISA Rooster's bum was really messed up looking. He has a big trail of white, wet looking poop stuck all down his butt and it looks like he's lost a few feathers too. I've watched him poop normally a few times but I've never seen him have diarrhoea, and he seems to be eating and drinking just fine. He's still scratching around with his siblings though he does seem to take a few more breaks than they do.
We're planning on catching him tonight while he roosts and isolating him so we can give him a look-over tomorrow, give him a bath and trim the feathers off. He's very difficult to catch - his entire 'group' aren't very social despite our others being happy to come over to us so it's been hard to get close enough to get a close look.
Should we keep him isolated as a precaution? Every other chicken seems very happy and I don't see a single poopy butt elsewhere. His siblings are all in perfect health too - it's just him. Could it just be a 'him' problem or is it likely we have something lurking around illness-wise?
So, we have a few groups of younger chickens - three ISA Brown roosters and a single pullet, about four months old. They're sort of their own gang in a sense that they don't hang out with our other hens at all (we have five adult Australorps and eight 8 week old hens/roos who have their own separate groups as well), though they do roost with the adults (the younger group pile up in the bushes).
Anyway! About a day or two ago, I noticed one of the ISA Rooster's bum was really messed up looking. He has a big trail of white, wet looking poop stuck all down his butt and it looks like he's lost a few feathers too. I've watched him poop normally a few times but I've never seen him have diarrhoea, and he seems to be eating and drinking just fine. He's still scratching around with his siblings though he does seem to take a few more breaks than they do.
We're planning on catching him tonight while he roosts and isolating him so we can give him a look-over tomorrow, give him a bath and trim the feathers off. He's very difficult to catch - his entire 'group' aren't very social despite our others being happy to come over to us so it's been hard to get close enough to get a close look.
Should we keep him isolated as a precaution? Every other chicken seems very happy and I don't see a single poopy butt elsewhere. His siblings are all in perfect health too - it's just him. Could it just be a 'him' problem or is it likely we have something lurking around illness-wise?
