Dirty Bottom

R

Roisin

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Hello

My 3 year old ex battery hen has almost stopped laying and has a dirty bottom. I have wormed her and checked her for impacted crop. Crop is fine at the moment. Her straw is damp in her nest in the mornings. She looks OK and is perky enough. Any ideas? Roisin
 
Have you noticed what her dropping are like? Does she have diarrhoea?
 
I think she had diarrhoea - not sure if she still has. Shes looking a bit better todaym Was wormed two weeks ago. Maybe, if it was worms, it takes a few weeks to see a difference?
 
If she still has diarrhoea maybe a trip to the vet would be wise, just in case she needs antibiotics for an infection. Do you use cider vinegar in the water?
 
A dirty bum is usually a sign of worms, Tim advised my many moons ago to (if u can) gt a bit of her poo and stick it in a jam jar with water and give it a swirl, and if there are any worms left you will see them swirling about, if thats the case then a second does of wormer should do the trick.
Hoping its just an upset tum, maybe give her bottom a quick clean and dust with louse powder to ward off any potential nasties..
Sorry just had a thot, wet damp straw.. could u elaborate.. don't want it to be an internal infection due to a broken egg ???
 
Flubenvet is the reliable wormer.Egg weights rose 5-10% after using Marriages layers feed premix. Vermex liquid, in my experience, seems a bit hit-and-miss. Possibly depends on the weather and the water they drink. Their pellets are loved by some and avoided by others -so only half our birds responded. There are some recent posts on alterntive ways of administering Flubenvet powder but I think the final conclusion was to share a 10kg bag of Marriage premix with another poultry keeper nearby.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I wormed with flubinvet 2 weeks ago. I mixed the powder with layers mash. Some say I should worm again after another week ~ie 3 week cycle - to break the life cycle of the worm. I let them free range about 6 hours a day, but this is London, I have to confine them in their runs too, as very foxy territory. My own feelin is it is probably worms. She looks perkier now, but still slightly dirty bottom. Neither she or my other ex battery are laying as much now, but as they laid non stop since last november they might be due a break! I did wash her bum/belly a few weeks ago - warm water and washing up liquid. Didnt come off too well, so I ended up cutting off some of the dirty feathers. Any tips as to what works well for cleaning dirty bums?
 
We use baby shampoo after wetting the feathers thoroughly, but even that doesn't get the staining out of the lighter feathers. Wouldn't like to use anything stronger.
 
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