active, laying chicken, but dirt bum - what to do?

[nmayhew]

Hello

One of my 5 Light Sussex hens has had a dirty bum for more than 10 days or so now.

She is otherwise very active and shows no signs of illness that I can see - she eats and drinks etc as the others, which all are snow white at the back.

Moreover, she is the only one laying - I know for certain it's her. The eggs are perfect with very thick shells.

Diet is mash, some corn / kibbled maize in afternoon, when they normally get to free range for a couple of hours.

Her bum shows no sign of getting better, and her poo is usually 'korma' at best, if you know what I mean.

They were all wormed about 2-3 weeks back.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Kind regards,

Nick

[RichmondHens]

Assume they were wormed with Flubenvet? If not do so now. Is her poo actually runny or is she just soiling her feathers when she poos? This can happen with very fluffy bottoms (my Buff Orpingtons do this occasionally) where the fluffy feathers under the vent literally catch the poo on the way out and it ends up sticking to the feathers and making a real mess. I remedy it by plucking or trimming the feathers back a bit.

Also have you checked for lice under the vent. Occasionally hens will deliberately soil themselves to try and repel the irritating insects. If I see a hen with a dirty bum it's usually the first thing I check for. And do the sniff test (yes really). If it really pongs she may have an infection and will antibiotics.

I would try feeding plenty of garlic, both in the water and as a paste on small pieces of bread, for a few days and see if there is improvement. This is a good pick me up as well as an internal cleanser.

[nmayhew]

thank you Richmond - had not thought of checking for lice; will do so tomorrow; will also give things a sniff!

she's definitely got runny poo - i have seen it; the others are if anything fluffier than her, but since their poo is relatively dry / solid, it just rolls out and leaves no soiling

usually give them garlic every now and then but will make sure i up the dosage

thanks again

Nick