elizardbreath
In the Brooder
Hi there,
I'm fairly new to chicken keeping and while the internet is a great place for information, sometimes I like "talking" to people who know more than I do, so I'm hoping you folks out there can help me...
I've noticed some diarrhea lately, but it's been warm (mid to high 80s) and since it wasn't bloody I chalked it up to increased water consumption. (But I did give them plain yogurt for a few days.) This morning I noticed what looks like blood in a poop I saw in the chicken yard. After looking through other poop photos, it I don't think it looks like intestinal lining,so I got concerned.
Some background:
We are on an island in Northern Michigan and we've got 4 hens - 2 IB, 1 BSL 1 Ameraucana. The IBs are about a year and a half old, the BSL is older and I don't know how old the Ameraucana is. They technically are owned by a friend of ours who lets us "borrow" them for the summer. (She has about 20 - 25 and sells eggs.) All four were actively laying when they left my friend's farm (where they fee range.)
Currently they are in a 4 X 4 coop within a 10 X 10 fenced-in run. Attached to that is an additional area with a low fence area that they are let into when we are in the backyard and can supervise them (since its just a flimsy fence.) They are let out into this area pretty much every day, usually twice a day. The coop gets afternoon sun, but the coop is raised so they can get shade during that 2 to 5 pm warm time. Inside the coop they have two roosting bars and two nest boxes.
The hens moved in on April 1st and we started getting eggs in early June. Generally we get one brown egg a day. For a while there were a few green ones and in early June there was a week or two where we had a number of two egg days. No eggs for the last three days.
We're feeding layer crumble with oyster shell and wormer mixed in, occasional table scraps (after making sure they are safe,) they also have water in the coop as well as out in the run.
It's been very dry this summer. A few days ago we had our first day of significant rain since early June.
I keep the area clean. I scoop the poop from the coop and the run virtually every day. (We have close neighbors on one side and I don't want them complaining about any smell.)
There are horses in a corral around the corner from us.
I called my friend for her advise to see if she had ever dealt with this before and her attitude was essentially that chickens are cheap and they sometimes die. I'd rather treat them humanely. If this was my cat, I would take her to the vet, but the nearest vet that I can find that deals with poultry is several hours away. So I'm turning to you all for advise.
Any thoughts / suggestions you have for me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I'm fairly new to chicken keeping and while the internet is a great place for information, sometimes I like "talking" to people who know more than I do, so I'm hoping you folks out there can help me...
I've noticed some diarrhea lately, but it's been warm (mid to high 80s) and since it wasn't bloody I chalked it up to increased water consumption. (But I did give them plain yogurt for a few days.) This morning I noticed what looks like blood in a poop I saw in the chicken yard. After looking through other poop photos, it I don't think it looks like intestinal lining,so I got concerned.
Some background:
We are on an island in Northern Michigan and we've got 4 hens - 2 IB, 1 BSL 1 Ameraucana. The IBs are about a year and a half old, the BSL is older and I don't know how old the Ameraucana is. They technically are owned by a friend of ours who lets us "borrow" them for the summer. (She has about 20 - 25 and sells eggs.) All four were actively laying when they left my friend's farm (where they fee range.)
Currently they are in a 4 X 4 coop within a 10 X 10 fenced-in run. Attached to that is an additional area with a low fence area that they are let into when we are in the backyard and can supervise them (since its just a flimsy fence.) They are let out into this area pretty much every day, usually twice a day. The coop gets afternoon sun, but the coop is raised so they can get shade during that 2 to 5 pm warm time. Inside the coop they have two roosting bars and two nest boxes.
The hens moved in on April 1st and we started getting eggs in early June. Generally we get one brown egg a day. For a while there were a few green ones and in early June there was a week or two where we had a number of two egg days. No eggs for the last three days.
We're feeding layer crumble with oyster shell and wormer mixed in, occasional table scraps (after making sure they are safe,) they also have water in the coop as well as out in the run.
It's been very dry this summer. A few days ago we had our first day of significant rain since early June.
I keep the area clean. I scoop the poop from the coop and the run virtually every day. (We have close neighbors on one side and I don't want them complaining about any smell.)
There are horses in a corral around the corner from us.
I called my friend for her advise to see if she had ever dealt with this before and her attitude was essentially that chickens are cheap and they sometimes die. I'd rather treat them humanely. If this was my cat, I would take her to the vet, but the nearest vet that I can find that deals with poultry is several hours away. So I'm turning to you all for advise.
Any thoughts / suggestions you have for me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
