Poor Ester! Whatever the ultimate problem is, I am sure you will also make her more comfortable if poop has been sticking against her skin irritating it.Hi everyone. Ester isn’t feeling well. She’s standing around, has a poopy back end, does not seem to be eating much, and I think she is swollen. Not a good combination. Her posture is good while she is standing, but she is pretty inactive and (barely) scratches heartlessly.
It’s too cold to wash her bum, so I trimmed some feathers, gloved up, and pulled poop off. I also generously dusted her back end with cornstarch in hopes it would help me crumble the poop off (I think it helped).
I checked her crop when she went to roost and it was not empty. I hope that means she’s been eating when I’m not looking and not that it’s slow. I’ll check in the morning.
Her vent was VERY messy and tiny. I may bring her in for a couple hours tomorrow morning so I can properly wash her vent and surrounding area. A few months back she was messy in the back and seemed not to feel well, but was much better after I washed her off. I hope that’s what happened here… messy butt feathers backed her up, but I fear she has a reproductive problem. She never really came back into lay after her ordeal last winter at this exact same time.