12 week olds with diarrhea

[crazychick26201]

My four twelve week old chicks have developed diarrhea. Their droppings have always been a bit loose, but I thought perhaps they were drinking too much water. I wash their water out every day and give them freshwater. They have been wormed. They are on medicated starter grower feed. And that’s basically all they get for food except that I have been giving them some mealworms to get them to go back inside if they’ve been out. They have been tested for coccidiosis and it’s negative. Their poop is not bloody. It’s just kind of yellowish brown with a white urates. I’ll try to post a picture. I’ve tried putting probiotics in their water. Didn’t help apple cider vinegar in their water didn’t help so I am at a loss to what to do, but they’re making quite a mess and it’s Getting really difficult to clean up and I worry that I might be getting dehydrated or lose some weight. Does anyone have any advice on this issue?

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

@Wyorp Rock

 

[azygous]

You've been pretty thorough with your information, but you left out what their behavior is and what your weather has been like. Also, are they still indoors or are they outside in coop and run?

 

[crazychick26201]

They are acting very normal. Running around, eating like crazy, chest bumping. They are outside in their little grow out coop. It has a raised coop/roost area closed off from the weather, and an attached run. The weather here has been very very rainy. Temps in the 60’s at night and high 70’s low 80’s in the day. By the end of this coming week it’s supposed to get up to 90. I let them out to forage for about an hour most days, but the ground has been wet. Yesterday and today I started putting probiotic powder on their food. They are Buff Orpingtons and I weigh them every week. Three big ones are 12 and a half pounds and I have one tiny one who is gaining weight but very slowly, fully feathered and very active who weighs 12.8 ounces. I think she might be a bantam.

 

[azygous]

Thanks for the additional info. No real clues in there , though.

Behavior is the most important aspect. Poop can vary a lot and not mean much unless it's paired with lethargic behavior. Some chicks simply like to drink water. I had a Speckled Sussex a long time ago that had very watery poop from day one. She had watery poop from then on without ever being sick in her eight years of life. She was always drinking water.