Chicken with gross bum

WhiteTiger · **Joined:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:01 pm **Posts:** 15

One of my chickens (clover) has quite a mucky bum and is quite gross. I'm not sure what is wrong with it. She is healthy, happy, and we check it every day to make sure its not infected or bleeding and to make sure she hasn't developed fly strike. But I'd still like to do something to fix it. Its fairly clean, like there's a bit of poo there and its made the feathers fall out, but its not caked on and its not covered in it because you can actually see the skin. Does anyone know what this might be? We have this purple antiseptic spray we were going to put on her but it says not to put it on laying chickens so we haven't.

Is there anything else we can do for her? I don't think its bothering her but its quite unsightly and would like it fixed lol

wickedwings · **Posted:** Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:23 pm

I'm afraid you've lost me. First you describe Clover as having a mucky bum and then a couple of sentences later you state "It's fairly clean... but it's not caked on". I can't quite figure out what the problem is you're describing.

WhiteTiger · **Joined:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:01 pm **Posts:** 15

I don't really know how to describe it. The feathers there are missing, but the few that are there are quite mucky like the base of the feathers are black. There is some muck on there, but its not CAKED on like I can see her skin. I did some google searching and it looks kinda like this: (this isn't my photo, just one I found on google)

Except Clovers is a bit worse than that, and a little bit more poo. It looks like she's had diarrhea and its got on her feathers and some of the feathers have fallen out because of it, and the base of some of the feathers are black and its not really healing but not getting worse. I've watched her poo tho, its no different from the rest of our chickens and doesn't touch her bum or anything.

It does NOT look like this (as in theres no caked on poo, another google image):

I hope that helps in trying to describe what its like and what its not like lol. I think she just needs to have the area washed but i'm not sure how to do it or what to use to wash it (as in cloth or even what to add to the water).

Chicka-Dee · **Joined:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:12 am **Posts:** 1194

Hi WhiteTiger

I washed my girls pooy bottom with just warm water & a sponge. I had to leave the warm sponge on her bottom for about 30 seconds each time, so the warm sponge had time to soften any poo left on the site. She sat on my washing machine very quietly while I did so. Obviously she liked the warm sponge & knew I was helping her, so she stayed quite still. If I hit any sore/inflamed areas that is when she would move a little.

I have also wormed her since & her poos have returned to being normal with no stickiness, so if you haven't wormed her for a while then maybe you could do this as well.

I am definitely no expert & have only had my babies since Christmas, but it has been a steep learning curve, that's for sure.

Hope this helps

Chicka-Dee

WhiteTiger · **Joined:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:01 pm **Posts:** 15

This chicken was going good for a few days, but today we noticed she was fly blown

We sprayed the area with centrigal wound spray, and that made all the maggots jump ship. We brought her inside, washed her whole bottom area and found a huge bulge below her vent, and a round wound over it. We've cleaned it up with vinegar and some animal shampoo (I found out to do that on another website). Have dryed the area, and sprayed it with more centrigal wound spray. We now have her inside in a cat box in our bathroom. We're hoping to keep her inside for a few days until she starts to heal to make sure she doesn't get another infestation of maggots.

Is there anything more I can do? What do you think her chances are? What do you think its ultimately wrong with her? I treated her with ivermectin yesterday. Is there anything I can feed her in particular that will help her heal?

kwinagi · **Joined:** Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:58 pm **Posts:** 236

TAKE HER TO A VET

how would you feel with vinegar on a large wound in your private area, and applying shampoo to boot

TAKE HER TO A VET ASAP to get antibiotics, pain relief, and god forbid, maybe needing to put her to sleep.

WhiteTiger · **Joined:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:01 pm **Posts:** 15

I live in the sticks, which means my vet isn't open until Tuesday. What can I do until then?

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:05 pm

Hi, White Tiger,

What state/area are you in? Is there a RSPCA, animal welfare, or wildlife rescue centre with a weekend vet clinic within reasonable driving distance from you?

WhiteTiger · **Joined:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:01 pm **Posts:** 15

I'm in rural WA. The chicken started pooping blood so we've had it euthed. The maggots might have got inside the bird even though we couldn't see them on the outside. Thanks for the help though.

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:42 pm

Sorry to read of your loss

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