[welshthistle]

hi

just looking for a bit of advise,i have 3 chickens a cochin,orpington and cochin cross all got fluffy bottoms.only one will perch at night the rest prefer the floor.Is this common? i hoped they would copy the other one but no luck yet.the two that wont perch have messy bottoms i remove poo daily to help try to prevent this.all faeces are normal no diarrhea and all seem healthy.
any advise would be great,also can you just clean them with warm water.

i feed them layers pelletts with occasional veg and corn.

[Chrysalis]

Ours don't perch anymore.  They seem to enjoy a game of sardines in the nest box, with all four girls cramming in together...  They used to roost outside on the top of the coop, but now put themselves to bed at dusk.  The bluebell gets a messy bum, but she doesn't seem to mind .....warm water does the trick when it's really bad, but make sure she's dry before bedtime.....

[Casey76]

Hi, how high off the floor are your perches?

The giant breeds need low perches (a few inches at most), as they are unable to jump up to get on high ones

[swedishchicken]

Hi,
Most healthy chickens will have clean bottoms even when they roost on the bottom of the coop.
If they are cold, they will huddle together, to keep warm, but even then they should be able to keep clean.
If they have messy bottoms it could be an egg related issue.
 The best course of action is to take one of them to a vet and get her checked out.

Do you mind if I ask what size coop you have?
I dont think the cold weather would affect them, but if you have a large coop and just a few chickens, you could help them by putting card board boxes filled with paper or straw in their coop. It helps by acting as insulation and also takes up space, so the space available is smaller for them, so they can heat it up with their bodies.

Let me know how you get on.

Linda

[welshthistle]

thanks for your advise

my coop is average size said suitable for 6 bantams or 4 larger birds.they have a low perch,the one that is perching is the biggest of the chickens.
have taken them to vets and given clean bill of health,havent wormed them yet so started a 7day course with flubenvet.
I will monitor them closely for any changes,dropping normal at the moment