Poopie Tail Feathers

[sharijune]

Hello there - my Plymouth Rock is healthy as can be (8 months old and laying daily), but oddly she collects poop in her bottom feathers. The poop is no where around the vent (its not "pasty butt"). I wash it out every couple of weeks. I'm just wondering why this might be happening on her and not my other two birds (Sussex)? And should I leave it alone? The washing doesn't appear to stress her in the least ... and she even still greets me when I come to the gate and lets me pick her up. I'm just thinking ahead to winter. I don't think I should have a wet bird in Colorado winters! Thanks in advance for your feedback!

 

[gander007]

Alright

great to have you joining the BYC flock

BYC has a very useful learning center

Sounds like she is some how crawling over poop somewhere
and no I would not wash her in the winter as it gets real cold there ..

 

[sharijune]

"crawling over poop"... nope. Meaning, she poops, and it falls to her feathers instead of the ground. Weirdest thing...

And looking at this thread, it appears I've posted this question in the wrong place. It says "New Member Introduction" so I'll rewind, and start with an introduction

Colorado IT Professional, with my first three girls last September. The were outside by November, and then, to my horror, we had the coldest temperatures in January I have ever seen in my 20 years in this state! 17 degrees below for an entire week. Egads! I brought them right into my house, even at 4 months! Despite that rocky start, they are one of my greatest joys, and I've now got 4 more in the brooder box: Orpington, Austalorp, Wellsummer, and Ameruacana.

I've got BYC on my FB feed, and have learned a LOT from this site! Thanks to you all!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sounds like you are putting a pretty little flock together! You might try trimming the BRs butt feathers, as long as she seems fine otherwise, some birds just have a lot of feathers or don't seem to squat quite right when they poop to stay clean.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Try using probiotics in the water. I have a hen that always had poopy butt. I tried trimming the feathers and the poop still managed to stick to some feathers. She is a very healthy hen except for this poop stuck to her butt! I tried some good probiotics on her and wow....poopy butt GONE!! Not all probiotics are created equal. I tried a couple of them and found these to really do great things for the entire flock and their pooping....

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/store2/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29925

Enjoy your babies and welcome to our flock!

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

You got some good advice here. Best of luck and hope it helps!

 

[chickie farmer]

TwoCrows x2. Probiotics in water. Prefered plastic waterer not metal. This will help her form getting soft stools and cause them to be more firm. Thus, not sticking and rolling off the feathers.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Good advice on the probiotics.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC.