Clostridium Perfringens

I am not sure what is going with a couple of my babies but I have been looking at different photos of poop from normal to not normal. There is one that looks like what I have been finding on the poop board for a few days. The caption of the picture is " this chicken is suffering from Clostridium Perfringens". It also said it is treated with antibiotics but what kind?

Is that picture from your chickens or the one from online? Pictures online are a great starting point but many different things can cause droppings to look a certain way.

What other symptoms are they having?

Do you have a vet that will do fecal tests for you? Most vets will do a fecal, regardless if they are a poultry vet or not. If you do take a fecal sample to them, ask them to do a culture and mention your suspicion of clostridium. It might cost a bit more than a regular fecal, but shouldn't be much.

I wouldn't try to give any antibiotics without a definitive diagnosis though. If it isn't a bacterial infection, you just wiped out any competition for something fungal or viral.

In the meantime, you should separate any that are showing symptoms, keep them warm, and make sure they are drinking and eating. You can add apple cider vinegar to their water to help their immune system and try feeding them probiotic rich foods, like fermented feed or plain greek yogurt.

That is from my chickens. They are not having any other symptoms at all. They all eat and drink just fine. Their combs are bright red and when I go out to the yard they all come running. That is what is so weird..I thought there would be more signs of something wrong. I have put probiotics in their water the last three days. We do have a small creek that runs through our property and they drink out of it. My husband thinks maybe there is something it there that is giving them the runs. We have had so much rain lately I need to get them rubber boots. I also thought maybe I was giving them too much protein ( scratch) and maybe that was going them the runs...I really appreciate your help, I am fairly new to sick chickens so it is driving me crazy...

If they aren't having any other symptoms, they might just have eaten something weird. I would still try to get the fecal culture done though, since birds are great at hiding illness until they are really ill. Now is the best time to start treatment if there is something going on, so it's good that you are concerned, even if it turns out to be nothing.

I would also really look into the fermented feed. It will help give them firm, less smelly droppings. Which reminds me, may sound weird, but have you smelled their droppings? If there is something bacterial going on, there will probably be a funky smell, not like normal chicken poop smell but more offensive. I had an African Grey that had a clostridium infection and it smelled pretty terrible and looked a lot like that picture. He was very ill from something else (PDD) and so he had a compromised immune system. I haven't heard of any chickens with it, although that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

A running creek shouldn't be an issue until there is something nearby contaminating it (something industrial or maybe the carcass of an animal). Do you know what is upstream from the creek?

I have called all the vets in the area and they all want to see the bird that I think is having the problem. the cost is at least 60.00 plus what ever they think needs to be done. The poop does not smell unusual, maybe I should get a little closer. lol. I am not familiar with fermented feed. Is that something you can get at a feed store? The little creek that we have is basically from the rain although since we live in the country there is run off from land. There are no fields that grow anything nearby so I am not sure what runs off of other peoples property. I really appreciate all your help. DO you know anything about a fecal test you can do at home? I read on another site there is one....

This is from a small animal website, but does list the drugs that can be used to treat it.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/clostridium_perfringens.html

-Kathy

Check out post #115
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/941872/byc-poo-page-warning-pictures/110#post_15322458

-Kathy

Entrobacter

Yea, it might be gross but you might not be able to smell it unless it's fresh and you can get within a couple inches of it.

Fermented feed is something you can make yourself with whatever you are already feeding them. Basically all you do is mix your feed with enough water to cover it, add a splash of apple cider vinegar and let it sit out overnight (or maybe a couple nights if it's cold). It will start to smell like sourdough a bit. Take some out to give to your girls and replace whatever you took out with new feed and give it a stir. If you do a search on here, there is a ton more information.

You can do a fecal at home, if you have a microscope, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to find clostridium. You should be able to find cocci though, which is also a possibility that that is what is causing the runny poops.

Have you ever weighed them? Might not be a bad idea to get a weight on them so that you can monitor it and make sure they are not losing weight...

Many will have both coccidiosis and clostridium.

-Kathy