Runny poop, seems to only be drinking rain water, lighter chicken — help!

[MamaHen1616]

One of my chickens (we’re pretty sure she’s a Rhode Island Red) has been acting kind of strange lately. She’s had runny poop for about a week, but today when I went out to check them and put them to bed, she got out (no surprise) and walked right over to a moderately sized bowl/ sculpture thing that has been collecting rainwater and stood there for about a minute, just drinking. They definitely have clean water in their coop, and I’m sure that the water in the bowl (filled with leaves and dirt and who knows what) was probably dirtier than what they have in their coop. She's always been a good size, and when I picked her up to take her back to the coop, she seemed a bit lighter than usual. Another thing—when I went to pick her up, I wasn’t really expecting to be able to, but she let me. She wasn’t all submissive, though—when we gave them treats for going into the run, she competed with her 2 sisters as much as she ever had. I gave them some Greek yogurt before I came inside tonight.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

 

[azygous]

More often than not, a chicken losing weight will have crop issues. It's a good place to start, and if she has an issue with her crop, it's relatively easily fixed.

Begin by checking her crop during the day and especially at night to make sure it's full, signifying she's eating. Then check it again first thing in the morning while she's still roosting. It should be empty. If it's not, feel the contents. Are there hard lumps? Or is it soft and spongy? Do you detect an odor coming from her head?

Does this hen have an overly large crop? Does it hang low and heavy like a water balloon? Or does it appear normal size, barely visible?

Sometimes excessive water consumption is an attempt to flush a full crop, so it's important to rule out issues with it.