hi new friends!

[cubcadet]

I would like to start by saying i have been reading and studying this site for about 3-4 years. I have a flock of 4 chickens two buffs, one RIR, one Delaware. all about 3 years old. so i decided to go to a local breeder to get four new birds. i couldnt make it for the pick up so i sent my wife. the guy just gave her what i asked for but she did not inspect like i would have. my fault not hers. she brought them home and i put them in my quarentine pen and imediatly noticed that they were ratty. two of the four had pale combs closer to white than orange, legs were white too. oh breed is red stars or so i was told. i have lost 3 chickens over the last three years all older and established but to young to die imoo. they exibited a closed eye, head tucked, and eyes closed. two of my new red stars are showing this. these two have an appitite. actually they all have an appetite and are drinking well. they all 4 have diarhea. but its water, clear like water, no muddy black or brown. clear with a couple of specks of poop. i have inspected the poop to look for signs of parisites but have seen none. so i checked them for external parisites. they were heavy whit lice and maybe a mite or two. no sign of eggs. i did a round of seven dust one day ago on those and my flock. i also did a day of garlic and rice and a day of red cell. no diff in diarhea. chickens are about ten months old. i did not deworm yet because i didnt see stool signs of worms. what am i not covering. i want to gain knowledge should i take them to my vet for tests. what would you all do?
thank you
Billy

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Dang. That is not cool. For starters, I'd be calling and getting pretty upset with the guy who sent you obviously unhealthy birds! But then again, they are probably better off with you.

It's my understanding that once you actually see worms in the poop, that the infestation is well underway. Therefore, considering how ill kept they were, might not mean anything.

 

[dawg53]

You can take fecal samples to a vet and have them take a look under a microscope for worm oocysts and see if the slide is loaded up with cocci oocysts, shouldn't cost much. Or you can skip the vet and go ahead and worm them with valbazen or safeguard. Don't forget to redust your birds in 10 days.

 

[chickisoup]

Have you considered just taking the birds back? I also agree with Dawg. Worm them. I had a similar situation happen to me last year (long story) bottom line was they looked ok, but within days it became clear one was critically ill and loaded with round worms and more. I kept them and spent a LOT of time and money getting them healthy again only to discover too late that they were carriers of CRD.

 

[cubcadet]

ok quick update. i brought a chicken to the vet and we gave some fecal samples. vet gave us dewormer and we started that. then today got a call that the fecal samples came back negative for worms. so now im am not really sure what to do. they all still have the watery diarhea.
to answer a few of the questions. i contacted the breeder. he apologized and then stopped answering my texts and then stopped answering the phone.
im hoping that they get better because i rid them of the external parisites but im not sure that would give them diarhea. can a vet do blood work to find disease?

 

[ten chicks]

Did vet just check for common worms or was coccidiosis(protozoan parasite) included,ask vet. High temps can also cause watery diarrhea. Are they eating/drinking?