Advice/Help Needed - Bright Green Poop

[tarahharlin]

This poop is from my 2 1/2 year old RIR. Just a few days ago, she was completely fine and it wasn't until Friday afternoon that I noticed something going on with her. Here's a little history....

Friday afternoon, I noticed she seemed a little off and didn't come running when I scattered some treats for them. I didn't think too much of it because the weather that day had dropped like 30 degrees, so I thought she may just be cold. However, I still thought it was a little odd because she normally takes her food very seriously and is very food motivated. The next morning was cold and when she got up, she just stood there like she was trying to stay warm and didn't seem to be very interested in eating, or drinking much. I cleaned out the poop from under the roost and noticed hers was pretty bright green in color and not the green kind from something they ate. That is when I decided to bring her inside because I felt like something else was going on with her. I scrambled her an egg and added some nutria-drench and she did eat the entire thing, along with some wet layer mash. She was also drinking on her own.

Today, she isn't eating much, but she is drinking. I noticed this morning that her crop didn't fully empty and I am assuming that this is secondary to what is going on with her. Her mood seems to be on the lethargic side, but if I open her cage, she does want to wander around and she still does have a little bit of her spunk. I am thinking by her poop that she may have some sort of bacterial infection going on? I plan on trying to get a poop sample from her to bring in for a fecal test tomorrow morning on my way to work. My question is, if it's something that needs to be treated with antibiotics, is there something I can buy from a feed store to treat infections like that?

Any advice, or thoughts would be great appreciated!

Kathy-I know you are very knowledgable at diagnosing poop pictures and I always value your opinion....any thoughts on this one? @casportpony



Here's a photo of Henny Penny. You can see that she still looks pretty alert and isn't completely withdrawn.




-Tarah

 

[Eggcessive]

Hopefully Casportpony will see this and answer your question. It's good that you are getting some fresh droppings examined by a vet tomorrow. They can look for cocci and worms. I have seen some of those same symptoms before in older hens--the sluggish crop, the lack of appetite, less activity, sluggishness, and green poops. We never know answers for these illnesses usually. I would look for possible laying problems such as internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis. Is she laying eggs? You might look her over for mites or lice on her skin, especially around her vent. Feed her some egg daily, and offer some plain yogurt with her feed.

 

[eleaserek]

Following. I'm very interested since my 9month old brahma seems similar.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1144297/well-this-cant-be-good

 

[tarahharlin]

Hopefully Casportpony will see this and answer your question. It's good that you are getting some fresh droppings examined by a vet tomorrow. They can look for cocci and worms. I have seen some of those same symptoms before in older hens--the sluggish crop, the lack of appetite, less activity, sluggishness, and green poops. We never know answers for these illnesses usually. I would look for possible laying problems such as internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis. Is she laying eggs? You might look her over for mites or lice on her skin, especially around her vent. Feed her some egg daily, and offer some plain yogurt with her feed.

Thanks for replying to me and I apologize for the delayed update. On Monday, I ended up bringing her into the vet because I was so worried about her. Her fecal test came back negative and the vet said the bright green poop was bile. Her crop hadn't emptied that morning either and was basically full of water. The vet did a rectal on her and really thinks she more than likely has some sort of reproductive issue. They gave me an estimate for the tests to run to know for sure, but they were just too expensive and I can't afford to do them, which I hate having to make that decision. She last laid an egg early last week and has been one of those workaholic girls. From the time she started laying, she has never really taken a break from laying. Her eggshells over the past year have become pretty thin. Anyhow, the vet prescribed her some Clavamox, so we are doing 1 tablet twice a day. He also said to get her to eat. She hasn't been eating much on her own, so we starting syringing her food and she has been doing pretty well with that. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, her crop had pretty much emptied. Yesterday, she started to drink lots of water on her own and her crop was so full of liquid....now this morning it hasn't emptied. It just feels full of liquid and I can hear it gurgling at times. She keeps wanting to eat grit too. I'm not sure what to do for her now and it makes me feel so helpless. At the vet's office, she still had a good weight on her and she still has life in her. When I open her kennel up, she wants to come out and wander around a bit. It's just so hard to know what to do at this point.

 

[tarahharlin]

Following. I'm very interested since my 9month old brahma seems similar.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1144297/well-this-cant-be-good

I hope your girl is okay!

 

[Rozzychick]

This poop is from my 2 1/2 year old RIR. Just a few days ago, she was completely fine and it wasn't until Friday afternoon that I noticed something going on with her. Here's a little history.... Friday afternoon, I noticed she seemed a little off and didn't come running when I scattered some treats for them. I didn't think too much of it because the weather that day had dropped like 30 degrees, so I thought she may just be cold. However, I still thought it was a little odd because she normally takes her food very seriously and is very food motivated. The next morning was cold and when she got up, she just stood there like she was trying to stay warm and didn't seem to be very interested in eating, or drinking much. I cleaned out the poop from under the roost and noticed hers was pretty bright green in color and not the green kind from something they ate. That is when I decided to bring her inside because I felt like something else was going on with her. I scrambled her an egg and added some nutria-drench and she did eat the entire thing, along with some wet layer mash. She was also drinking on her own. Today, she isn't eating much, but she is drinking. I noticed this morning that her crop didn't fully empty and I am assuming that this is secondary to what is going on with her. Her mood seems to be on the lethargic side, but if I open her cage, she does want to wander around and she still does have a little bit of her spunk. I am thinking by her poop that she may have some sort of bacterial infection going on? I plan on trying to get a poop sample from her to bring in for a fecal test tomorrow morning on my way to work. My question is, if it's something that needs to be treated with antibiotics, is there something I can buy from a feed store to treat infections like that? Any advice, or thoughts would be great appreciated! Kathy-I know you are very knowledgable at diagnosing poop pictures and I always value your opinion....any thoughts on this one? @casportpony Here's a photo of Henny Penny. You can see that she still looks pretty alert and isn't completely withdrawn. -Tarah

I'm having the same issue with my 9 month old RIR. Just noticed today, a watery poop while I was feeding kale to everybody , she also wasn't interested. I part-time free range and she also only came out for a minute and then went up to roost. I'd i bring her in will she get used to the warmth and have a hard time going out again? This is my first winter with chickens , I'm so nervous.

 

[tarahharlin]

I'm having the same issue with my 9 month old RIR. Just noticed today, a watery poop while I was feeding kale to everybody , she also wasn't interested. I part-time free range and she also only came out for a minute and then went up to roost. I'd i bring her in will she get used to the warmth and have a hard time going out again? This is my first winter with chickens , I'm so nervous.

Sorry to hear about your RIR. I initially brought my girl in because she seemed really off and the bright green poop she was passing. I wasn't sure if she had something that could be passed to the others. If you think your girl seems unwell, you might want to bring her in just to monitor her eating, drinking, and pooping. As far as going from warmth to cold, I'm not really sure. This is the first time I have had one in the house sick. Is it just the watery poop you noticed that seemed weird, or is she also acting sick?

 

[tarahharlin]

Thanks for replying to me and I apologize for the delayed update. On Monday, I ended up bringing her into the vet because I was so worried about her. Her fecal test came back negative and the vet said the bright green poop was bile. Her crop hadn't emptied that morning either and was basically full of water. The vet did a rectal on her and really thinks she more than likely has some sort of reproductive issue. They gave me an estimate for the tests to run to know for sure, but they were just too expensive and I can't afford to do them, which I hate having to make that decision. She last laid an egg early last week and has been one of those workaholic girls. From the time she started laying, she has never really taken a break from laying. Her eggshells over the past year have become pretty thin. Anyhow, the vet prescribed her some Clavamox, so we are doing 1 tablet twice a day. He also said to get her to eat. She hasn't been eating much on her own, so we starting syringing her food and she has been doing pretty well with that. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, her crop had pretty much emptied. Yesterday, she started to drink lots of water on her own and her crop was so full of liquid....now this morning it hasn't emptied. It just feels full of liquid and I can hear it gurgling at times. She keeps wanting to eat grit too. I'm not sure what to do for her now and it makes me feel so helpless. At the vet's office, she still had a good weight on her and she still has life in her. When I open her kennel up, she wants to come out and wander around a bit. It's just so hard to know what to do at this point.

Hi @TwoCrows - I have a RIR that has been sick since last Friday evening. As of this point, she is not well despite giving her antibiotics. She hasn't been eating on her own, so we were syringing her some food. On Wednesday, she chugged a lot of water all day, which resulted in a huge watery crop that did not empty Thursday morning, or today (Friday). Her crop wasn't the main issue to begin with, so I think there is definitely something bigger going on and this is a result of it. I don't know if she has a blockage in her intestinal tract, or what. I feel like her body is failing her, but I guess my question is, do I attempt to try to do anything to treat her crop? I feel at a loss because I'm afraid to give her anymore liquid if she's retaining it all in her crop. If I gently massage it, I hear it gurgling around and some must be coming up because she starts sipping. If she leans to far forward, stuff comes out of her. I'm scared this is going to start souring soon. I'm really afraid to try and make her vomit too, so that is why I have just been massaging it gently.

I thought I'd ask you for your thoughts on this because I always refer to your Crop Issue article you wrote and you have helped me successfully treat my BA for a minor crop impaction.

-Tarah

 

[TwoCrows]

Quote: I am so sorry about your hen.

Good that the fecal test came back negative. Do you know if they also tested for Cocci as well? Sometimes they are only looking for the common worms like roundworms in the intestines.

I have had a few internal layers and what seemed to be common with all of them was funky egg laying ALL their egg laying careers....eggs off the roost bar, no shells, thin shells, LOTS of eggs with just a membrane, too many yolks in one day, lots of wind eggs, etc.... And in the end, they had ascites in the belly, water belly. Lots of fluid in the abdomen. So if your girl doesn't appear to have a water belly, and you can compare hers to healthy hens bellies, then I would say this could be something as simple as a yeast infection of course reproductive cancers are common in hens as well.

I am going to guess she doesn't have a grass impaction? Judging from that poop, it doesn't look like an impaction, but I could be wrong. So I am leaning toward yeast infection?? I am learning over the years that Acidified Copper Sulfate is the way to go when treating these yeasty crop issues. I have use my simple methods and home brews, but honestly, Acidified Copper Sulfate WILL treat this if it's a yeast infection, if its an e.coli thing or even canker, it will treat them all. And all of these things are very common to cause a slow crop. So if it's not a yeast thing but an over growth of e.coli, the ACS will take care of it.

So....you might order some Acidified Copper Sulfate. You can get it at most poultry supply places. 1/4 teaspoon ACS to one gallon of water and what I do is make up a gallon of it and use it over the course of the next few days. A mixed up batch will last this long. Give her a new portion daily. Use the ACS for 5 to 7 days. 7 is max.

And I would vomit her to get the gunk out of her. Massaging can help push it through, but if it's sour and yeasty, they really shouldn't absorb all this gunk. Some birds won't release it, some will. Hold her forward and down for ONLY 1 to 2 seconds once the stuff starts to come up. Stand back up quickly so she doesn't aspirate on it. If she won't let it out, so be it. Some don't. Do this first thing in the morning only, I rarely vomit them during the day since they need water and food to be absorbed, even if it's only a tiny bit.

See if this won't help her. These crop issues can be very difficult to figure out because many times these blocked crops are a secondary issue to something else going on inside the body.

I sure hope you can heal her up soon!!

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh and if the vet did not test of Cocci, have that done because Cocci is famous for blocking up the crop and causing green poop too. You would then definitely want to get her on Corid. I have heard, though I am not sure, that Copper Sulfate will also kill off a few species of Coccidiosis as well?? It's pretty toxic stuff when used in this fashion. (Copper Sulfate is used in animal feed as a source of copper, but too much of it is toxic to everything. So always be precise in measuring it out and using it for the specified amount of days. I have used it with no ill effects and am as a matter of fact, using it on a bird with a doughy crop right now. She is healing well and should be yeast free in a couple of days.)