Dirty bottom

rick

rick

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Happy new year!
I'm wondering what is the best thing to do about Brownie, my hen that seems to perpetually have dirty feathers below her vent. She lost all the feathers there during the autumn and I had some cappallaria worms around that may have made her runny but all that is clear now.
I've washed her several times but she just gets dirty again. Was wondering if trimming the feathers around there shorter would help but too far might cause an infection?
 
Hi Rick, and a happy new year to you, too.
Have you been able to identify any droppings that are definitely from her? The consistency and colour may help you with diagnosis. Either go down when they're asleep and notice where she is on the perch, or pen her off in the run for a few hours on her own.
I think trimming her feathers may help to keep her comfortable until she gets better, but won't do any good to cure the problem if she has an infection and is doing green or runny poo.
 
We have some Orpingtons that get dirty bottoms Rick so we also wash and blow-dry them to avoid fly strike. You could try Avipro Avian to improve the gut flora. It has the effect of firming up the poos so they are less watery and don't mess the feathers as much and has worked well for us. Trimming the feathers may be necessary, but then that's losing insulation at the wrong time of year. Not an approach we have ever taken, except when breeding in Spring to get better contact from the cock.
 
Thanks Chris. I'll order some Avipro Avian and bath her again.
She's the heaviest of the sisters and lays XXL eggs so I guess she's built a little differently.
When I've bathed her before its been very difficult to get the dried poo off the feathers. Going to try spraying with some warm water a half hour before to soften it I think.
 
She most probably is just one of those birds who isn't fussed about preening Rick, the couple of cases of a constantly dirty rear I have had have come from birds who would rather do something more interesting than clean themselves, like you I started bathing them only to find it made no difference, I then observed that while the other birds would spend time each day on their perch preening, the guilty one would be scratching about nearby instead. With a bird like this I clip the feathers below the vent and it does improve the situation (I don't think it will make a huge difference to insulation as the encrusted feathers tend to separate anyway), I also wait until the poo has dried and crumble the big clumps off the feathers with my fingers and try to gently remove the tagnuts from the immediate area of the vent on a semi regular basis and this minimises the chance of flystrike.
 
Thanks dinosaw. With such pleasurable chores I really don't understand why more people don't keep hens! :)

Ah - I seem to have ordered Avipro Plus rather than Avipro Avian. Reading around it seems to be virtually the same stuff (maybe the Avian also has calcium?)

Apparently good for every creature you can think of from chickens to rabbits to geckos. (probably have a spoon myself! Not really!)
I'm sure I'll find out with the instructions but is it a one shot treatment or regular supplement?
 
Never knew chickens could get fly-strike! Happy New Year Rick! Is there a chance she could need worming? I wonder if she's a bit run down if she isn't preening as much.
 
Lot of confusion with Plus and Avian Rick. Avipro Plus, until early last year, was a pre-biotic and probiotic mix. Pre-biotic is probiotic food. Then they got the avian licence for the probiotic and decided to re-brand the products. Now the new Plus is only pre-biotic and Avian is the old Plus containing both pre-biotic and probiotic.

Sure the Plus will help to multiply existing probiotics in her gut though. Won't see any difference for at least a week, perhaps two. The best stuff to get is Beryl's Tonic (Beryl's Friendly Bacteria), but it is expensive and you need to be in to collect the chilled packet.
 
OK. That is confusing Chris, but I think I get it. The plus will be arriving soon from BHWT. Maybe older stock - soon find out.
Worms I do know Chickenfan because I've been counting them! Barely trace amounts a.galli for the past month (really interested to see how the population rises again after the last dose of wormer.)
 
That was a suprise! - Though listed as Avipro Plus on the BHWT site it's labeled Avipro Avian on the container that's just arrived.
 
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