HELP - my chicken has a bare bottom!

[Brookfield Growers]

Any advice on the following problem would be very much appreciated. We have had a flock of 6 chickens since september. A few weeks ago one of the Sussex had a very messy rear end encrusted with droppings. The feathers then fell off. We put this down to the fact that she is the only chicken who sleeps in the nesting box and so she was sleeping in droppings. The feathers are not regrowing but she remains well with a very red comb and regularly produces an egg. We have watched the flock closely and we dont apperar to have a problem with feather pecking.
Today we noticed that one of our ISA's seems to be coming down with the same condition.............help! Could anyone please advise?

[yoanbob]

have you checked for mite? pick them up move thier feathers and see if you can see tiny critters running around on thier skin, or if its the dhiarroea thats the problem try worming them.
I would have said same as you with her sleeping on the floor, have you tried picking her up each nite and plopping her on a bar? if your sure its not feather eating i cant think of anything else. hopefully somone else can help you more

[Brookfield Growers]

Thanks for the advice Yoanbob. Have treated the chicken shed for red mite and the birds for worms. The ISA now looks as good as new and the Sussex is much improved. The combination of treatments seems to have done the trick. Happy hens!

[terrier]

Hi, can't help with the question but I have a query of my own, I have 5 hens that I keep for the eggs, the hens nest on soft straw. Regarding the comment by Yoanbob, should I put bars in the run for them to perch on at night?