White stuff, can you help me identify it? :::gross pics, sorry:::

[Jay13]

I got to pick out new chickens from the nice man down the road and when I got home I noticed that one of them has white goop on his/her rear??? Can someone help me identify this? The birds are about 16-18 weeks old, and this is the only one out of 20 that has it. She/he doesn't seem bothered by it and I haven't noticed any extra picking on him/her by the other birds when I watch them.

the only odd behavior I noticed is that he/she laid down on its side to take a poop the one time I saw it do so.


(edited to add pic)

 

[bubbazmommy]

Seriously not trying to be funny but is it poop? If so you need to work on getting it off.

 

[silkiechicken]

I'd quarentine them all first.

Then I'd give that one a real good bath to see if it comes off.

Also check for lice and mites too.

 

[Jay13]

the thought of that being the answer really struck me as funny. Then I tried to imagine catching the rascal and then trying to clean it. its poo isn't white and it is well coated down the back. Also the look of it makes me feel kinda squeamish.

I noticed there is also a picking issue going on with them, they were kind of crowded in their old quarters. Most of the birds are missing the feathers that are right behind their "tail" The 20 of them now share 150 sq ft shed/coop with an additional 200 sq ft of space outside during the day. Problem is no one wants to go outside! Also I think I have identified one of the main culprits of feather picking, am already feeding them some cat food to try and stop it.

 

[Jay13]

thankfully for me, these are my first chickens so no one to "quarantine" as I got them at the same time from the same place. A bath huh? How does one 'bathe' a chicken? (without getting shredded by their sharp toes)

How do I "check" for lice and mites? I haven't seen anything crawling on them...

 

[silkiechicken]

Lift up batches of feathers and look for crawlies. If you see clusters at the bases of feather shafts, that is often lice eggs.

To wash, a tub of warm water and some baby soap would be fine. Dip in to soak and agitate feathers. Rinse in a clean bucket of water. At least that's what I do!

Then dry well with towel, and blow dry on low. I keep hand in front of air stream, so I don't burn the bird.

 

[Biddieacres]

How come cat food? Does that help? I could be mistaken but I thought I read on here somewhere to never feed catfood to chickens.

 

[Jay13]

Sounds like I have a new project for tomorrow afternoon. It may not be serious chiller weather for some of you but to me its coooold outside. (30s-40s) Don't want to put him to bed wet and I don't have a hair dryer.

 

[silkiechicken]

Cat food = protein to build feathers.

 

[birdlover]

Poor chicken. Wash as silkie directed and put her in a dry bathtub to dry before putting her back out in the cold. You can get some of the water off just by towel drying her. Most chickens settle down once they're in the warm water. She'll probably need to soak good to get that goop off. Wear rubber gloves if the white stuff freaks you out because you're going to have to touch it to get it to come off. I bet she can't go to the bathroom in the normal way because it's blocking the normal way out. Let us know how she does. I'm glad you gave these chickens more room and a better life. Welcome to chickendom!