Very watery poop

[keltown]

Hi my chicken has had extremely watery poops for the last 5 days, I haven't seen any normal poops from her. She seems ok but today I noticed she wasn't eating her feed. Does anyone know what could be causing this? I can't seem to find any info. that suggests what it would be.

She is molting and I've put probiotics in the water as well as ACV.

Thanks!

 

[coach723]

First thing to do is check her crop. It should be full when she goes to roost tonight, and it should be empty in the morning before she eats. So check at those two times and see if the crop is functioning normally, and feels normal, it should not be very hard and not soft/squishy like a water balloon. You can compare with a healthy/normal bird if you are not sure. I would isolate her in a crate if possible so you can really monitor her eating and drinking and droppings. Is she acting sick or lethargic?
There a lots of reasons for runny droppings, the trick is narrowing down the possibilities.
Can you post a picture of her droppings? That sometimes helps.
How old she is, what you feed, how many birds is she housed with and are they acting normal, how they are housed and do they free range, is she laying or was she before molt, when was she last wormed if ever and with what, would be helpful information, and would likely get you some more input. Sometimes molt can make them feel kind of down so it could be as simple as that, but I would rule anything else possible out before making that assumption.

 

[keltown]

Thanks for your reply. She is 2 years old, just stopped laying about 2 weeks ago for her molt. I only have 3 birds and they are in a large coop, could probably have 15 in there. She free ranges during the day. I've never wormed her. Asked about that yesterday at the store and was told if I worm them I should never eat the eggs so I didn't. Never have seen any sign of worms. I don't have a picture, but it is just water with a little white mixed in, she shot some out when I opened the coop door this morning. I've seen that on the dropping board for the last 4-5 days. The others seem to not be eating as much and less poop to clean up lately but they all look as healthy as can be. I will check her crop tonight and in the morning. I noticed today she didn't eat her feed in the morning, she just pecked around the ground. I've been giving yogurt and oatmeal and she eats that.

If the crop is mushy in the morning should I try to massage it and turn her upside down? That is what I've heard before. What if it's hard?

Thanks so much for your help, I would hate for her to get sick

 

[coach723]

If it's hard then she may have eaten something that is stuck in the crop and won't pass.
If it's mushy it could be sour crop or slow crop. Both can be crop problems or caused by something lower in the digestive tract slowing or stopping things. See what you find before worrying to much about what may or may not be. As for the worming, the recommended withdrawl period for eggs for most common wormers is 14 days after dose, so most commonly, they are dosed twice, 10 days apart so total withdrawl from eggs would be 24 days. Most of the time worms will not be visible in the droppings, the eggs are microscopic. If you have a vet that will do a fecal float test for you that will rule that in or out for you and save you from treating needlessly if that's not an issue and if it is you can use the best medication for whatever parasite is identified. Just as added info if you do decide to or need to worm at some point, I would not use wazine as a first time wormer, especially if you don't know for sure if/what worms are there. Wazine only kills round worms and it kills all at once. If a bird is carrying a heavy load of worms there is an increased risk of overwhelming the bird or causing a blockage. Just my 2 cents on that, hope it's not too much info at this point.
Here is a very good article on crop problems in the event that it seems to be going that route, it's just one possibility to rule in or out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

 

[keltown]

If it's hard then she may have eaten something that is stuck in the crop and won't pass.
If it's mushy it could be sour crop or slow crop. Both can be crop problems or caused by something lower in the digestive tract slowing or stopping things. See what you find before worrying to much about what may or may not be. As for the worming, the recommended withdrawl period for eggs for most common wormers is 14 days after dose, so most commonly, they are dosed twice, 10 days apart so total withdrawl from eggs would be 24 days. Most of the time worms will not be visible in the droppings, the eggs are microscopic. If you have a vet that will do a fecal float test for you that will rule that in or out for you and save you from treating needlessly if that's not an issue and if it is you can use the best medication for whatever parasite is identified. Just as added info if you do decide to or need to worm at some point, I would not use wazine as a first time wormer, especially if you don't know for sure if/what worms are there. Wazine only kills round worms and it kills all at once. If a bird is carrying a heavy load of worms there is an increased risk of overwhelming the bird or causing a blockage. Just my 2 cents on that, hope it's not too much info at this point.
Here is a very good article on crop problems in the event that it seems to be going that route, it's just one possibility to rule in or out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

Thank you for this article, I am following it for impacted crop. Hoping for good things!

 

[coach723]

Best of luck with her.