Diarrhea/dirty vent in mature hens UPDATE

On of my 2 year old hens was not acting herself the other night-- lethargic and poofy, and her rear/vent was covered in diarrhea (the vent was not pasted though). Her crop was swollen and gurgly and I figured it was sour crop. I cleared out her crop, kept her isolated for 2 days with only ACV and yoghurt with a little oats mixed in. The crop went down and she seems okay except the diarrhea is still there, and her appetite is not back to normal.

THEN, I noticed one of my year old Barred Rocks has the same issue with diarrhea-- her back end is covered with it. Her crop looks normal but I'll keep an eye on it.

Does anybody have any idea what this could be? I'd really appreciate any advice. I've read through my Chicken Health Handbook and have done a search here, but I'm still at a loss. ..

Have you checked for worms? My BR had watery poop for a long time before we realized that she had a heavy load of roundworms. Grab a stick and sift through a fresh poo. If there are white, segmented worms in there, then they've got roundworms and need to be treated with Wazine immediately. If they're acting lethargic it will require additional treatment - vitamins and electrolytes - to save them.

Good luck & keep us posted.

ETA - roundworms aren't the only parasite possibility but they're common enough in the dirt to be a very likely problem. Other parasitic worms may also be present. Also check for the presence of blood in the poop, as this would indicate coccidiosis. cocci + roundworm often happen together.

Thanks for the reply, JennsPeeps! Yesterday I washed off both of their rear feathers (that was an experience!! ) and today they still look clean. So I hope the diarrhea part is over. The RIR though (the one that had the sour crop) still doesn't seem to have her appetite back. A couple of times I've thrown out some BOSS for them and while the others go crazy pecking it up, she wanders off. Can it take some time for their stomachs to get back to normal?

Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it!

If the RIR isn't eating well, she's still sick. birds are vacuums when it comes to food. You'll need to take a close look at & evaluate her health. Is she skinny? Does she have parasites, internal or external? Is there blood in fecal matter? Has the sour crop returned?

Today I isolated her again so I could examine her droppings. There were only a few and they were VERY small! Like marble-sized, but otherwise normal looking (brownish with white cap). It makes sense that she would not be pooping much if she is not eating a lot. She did eat some of the food I left in the crate with her, but left a lot. To answer your questions specifically:

-she doesn't appear to be skinny. In fact, she appears healthy, bright-eyed, and curious (not lethargic). Just not interested in food.
- I examined her feces and didn't detect any parasite presence to the naked eye, but I will have a look under the microscope later tonight.
-I did an external exam and found no evidence of external parasites.
-no blood in the fecal matter.
-her crop appears to be back to normal-- no foul smell, not swollen.

My only other thought is that maybe she got into something that upset her stomach?

Once again I really appreciate your advice, JennsPeeps. There aren't any avian vets nearby and I don't have anyone locally I can ask. So your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Mine have all had watery diarrhea off and on for the last two weeks. I think it is largely that the snow has melted and they are finally foraging, and eating anything they can (dirt, grass, feathers, seeds, mud....) Mine aren't acting sick though.

Update today-- last night I took the sick RIR (Lucy) out of isolation and put her in with the other girls. This morning when I let them out, I was so relieved to see she went after the BOSS I tossed around just like the others. So, crisis seems to be over for now. I will keep an eye on her and post if anything changes, but I just wanted to say a big thankyou to JennsPeeps and Tellynpeep for your thoughts/help!

You're welcome!

It just occurred to me that maybe she was depressed/lonely, which may have been why she didn't eat.

Glad she's a-ok.

Quote:
How do you clean out the crop?

I was wondering the same thing. And what is BOSS? Thanks.