foamy yellow droppings

I have a couple chickens that have loose foamy yellow droppings. I have been watching for a few days and checking it for worms. I have not seen anything that looks like segments or round worms. I was going to deworm everyone Feb. 1 anyway but I want to be sure that the foamy yellow droppings dont mean something else.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/poultryprofit...natomy_and_Physiology/Chapter3_digestive.html
see here at the bottom

I have indeed seen that kind of poo with worms. But University of KY says it means coccidiosis (which can happen to adult fowl when immunocompromised from worms or other things).

You might consider hitting them with some Corid right after worming them to get the numbers down on the cocci. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I had such a hard time getting the diarrhea to go away that time...I should have hit them with some Corid afterwards.

Just a thought!!

Some vets will do a fecal test for worms and cocci for a small fee (just bring the poo)- false negatives are possible with the worms.

Thanks. I was researching last night and ran across something called histo-something or other and went to bed quite stressed. This is so much more manageable than that. Now the birds that are having the issues are 4 months old. They are big size wise. Is Corid something I can put in the water and everyone gets treated or should I separate the ones with the issue and just treat them?

Would Sulmet work like Corid as I have sulmet on hand? Thanks.

chicksooner said:

Thanks. I was researching last night and ran across something called histo-something or other and went to bed quite stressed. This is so much more manageable than that. Now the birds that are having the issues are 4 months old. They are big size wise. Is Corid something I can put in the water and everyone gets treated or should I separate the ones with the issue and just treat them?

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Oh 4 months old!

That is definitely an age that can easily get coccidiosis, although usually it is seen in 8 weeks and under. I had to treat my current bantam flock at 3 months of age with Corid.

Yes - Corid goes in the water and everyone who has had access to the poo of the "sick" ones should be treated. What I do is put 9.5 ml of the 9.6% liquid (in the cattle section of the feed store) in one gallon of water as the drinking water for 5-7 days. Mix new solution daily for freshness. Don't administer vitamins during this time as it is a thiamine blocker.

Sulmet will also treat coccidiosis, but only a couple of strains of it from what I have read, and is harder on them than Corid. But you can go for it if that's what you want to use and have it on hand.

If no improvement seen in 24 hours I'd switch to Corid immediately. With Corid I have always seen improvment in 24 hours.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you don't have evidence of worms at all you might want to hold off a bit on the worming until they are over 18 weeks of age (I see you were going to do that) as their organs are still developing. This is what I have read on BYC.

If after a Corid round the poo is still like that and they are so young I'd take a sample to a vet if it were me to check for worms.

Loose, yellow, foamy droppings are probably coccidiosis in chickens, but it could also be histomoniasis (blackhead). Sulmet only treats two of the many types of coccidiosis that chickens get, so Corid is preferred. Treatment for histomoniasis is metronidazole 30mg/kg once a day for five days and Safeguard for Goats/Cattle (Fenbendazole 100mg/ml) 50mg/kg once and repeat in ten days. However, metronidazole is banned for use in food animals by the FDA.

casportpony said:

Loose, yellow, foamy droppings are probably coccidiosis in chickens, but it could also be histomoniasis (blackhead). Sulmet only treats two of the many types of coccidiosis that chickens get, so Corid is preferred. Treatment for histomoniasis is metronidazole 30mg/kg once a day for five days and Safeguard for Goats/Cattle (Fenbendazole 100mg/ml) 50mg/kg once and repeat in ten days. However, metronidazole is banned for use in food animals by the FDA.

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blackhead was what I was reading about last night. Scary stuff. Pretty sure from lack of other symptoms that it is worms and/or coccidiosis. They are eating and drinking normal and running around the yard. None of my older birds have the yellow foam droppings just a few of the young ones. I added ACV to water for them and hope it will help get us to Feb. when they will be old enough to worm. If anyone starts acting funny I will get the Corid and treat right away for cocci. Thanks for all the info and dosing info.

They are old enough to worm now. I have blackhead, so I'm worming all of the time, young ones, too. I have not seen any information from a veterinary source that says you can't worm young ones.

casportpony said:

They are old enough to worm now. I have blackhead, so I'm worming all of the time, young ones, too. I have not seen any information from a veterinary source that says you can't worm young ones.

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Here is where I learned it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/501208/eprinex-dosing-in-flock-of-mixed-sizes

I have seen my healthy hens suffer after giving Wazine to them (they were totally healthy at the time and no worms that I know of). A lot of them stopped laying immediately and they appeared stressed and depressed the day after giving Wazine. The reason I was giving the Wazine to them at age 6 or 7 months was that I had worms previously on that soil.

In this case (chicksooner's case) I really don't know as I am not a vet - but that link I gave him/her stated the diagnosis might be coccidiosis. So that is what I am going on. However, I have seen that kind of poo with a concurrent worm infestation.

I am no expert but I just wanted to tell of my experience and where I had learned that information.

I appreciate your information.