4 month old Serama with off and on diarrhea

[Snuggie]

Hello. We just bought a Serama Rooster after our disabled Booted Bantam passed away. We were told he was 9 months old from the breeder. Surprise …turns out his hatch date was 11-14-2022.

We purchased him this past Friday night. He was being fed layer feed. We switched to Flock Raiser by Purina. He is the only chicken/roo we own. He is indoors. He is in a giant crate with roosts, new toys, and new bowls. Everything is new, except the crate. The deceased Bantam slept on towels and would roost on a smaller crate inside the larger crate. The crate was bleached out and aired out for over 24 hours. It’s a giant wire crate. The smaller carrier/crate went into the trash. I don’t think there would be cross contamination is what I’m getting at.

Ever since we got him he has had on and off diarrhea. Could the diet change have caused this? He had diarrhea in his box on the way home. I chalked that up to stress. He was in a box wayyyyy to small for him. And he was being taken away from his chicky friends.

I texted the breeder to ask if he needed worming meds or if this was from the diet change. She’s been raising chickens for 20 years. Go figure…I got a two word reply. “Not sure” Thought the breeder maybe had dewormed recently or this is common. I’m new to owning chickens. ‍♀ FYI, I do have Panacur at home. Powder formula.



Am I over worrying about this or When SHOULD I worry? Stress, food change, lonely??? He has great poo, then diarrhea. It goes back and forth. Sometimes brownish and it’s stinky. I change his bedding and papers three times a day. He’s just getting newspaper right now so I can check the color of his stool. And Wow, young chicks poo a lot. Everything else is fine. Playing, jumping up, wants attention, eats A LOT. Food is being measured now because I think he overeats. He get’s mad when it’s bedtime cause he wants to be by us. He paces until the lights go out. He has no clue how to roost. Made a ramp for him and that’s helping. Little dude is learning the importance of balance. We put a box in the crate thinking he may feel safer in it at night.

Am I doing any of this right? Feel like a bad chicken mommy right now.

Don’t wanna end this on a bad note…(Cause I feel so crappy about all of this) This is the look he gives my husband everynight before bed. Like “Daddyyyyy, I don’t wanna go to bed”

 

[nuthatched]

could be a new diet and stress of a new place, and lonely, chickens are very social creatures and need (both physically and mentally) other chickens. He'll do better, barring any illness, once he's out of quarantine and socializing. most people only worm if they see a problem. What is his diet now?

 

[Snuggie]

could be a new diet and stress of a new place, and lonely, chickens are very social creatures and need (both physically and mentally) other chickens. He'll do better, barring any illness, once he's out of quarantine and socializing. most people only worm if they see a problem. What is his diet now?

Thanks for the response. Flock Raiser crumbles by Purina.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, it may be stress and the switch in feed.

Photos of the poop please? You mention he has a great poop, then a loose one. Is what you are seeing Cecal poop? Cecal poop is a loose pudding like stinky sticky poop that can be from light brown to dark and is seen about once out of every 8-10 "normal" poops.

Why limit his feed? How much is he actually eating? Have you measured it?
Most birds are fed free choice, that means feed is put out and they eat. Chickens usually do not overeat on nutritionally balanced feed.

I also agree very much that once you've had him for a few weeks and have deemed him to be healthy, he will do a lot better outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine doing chicken things. Consider getting a couple of pullets to keep him company. A trio is a very good start with bantams. They will be happy to get in the dirt, dig, sunbath and enjoy life together.

 

[Tonyroo]

The dark loose poop is a cecal poop. Chickens at times need to expel excess byproduct that there body doesn't need. All chickens do it.

Since your both new too each other, it's helpful to keep a routine around your new bird, it helps to build trust. You interacting with him everyday will help it a lot.

You shouldn't limit his feed, chickens don't gorge themselves to death. They know how to regulate themselves. And if he seems like he's eating a lot now, he's probably trying to replace the missing nutrients from his previous diet.

Hope that helps and goodluck with your new bird.

 

[Snuggie]

I agree, it may be stress and the switch in feed.

Photos of the poop please? You mention he has a great poop, then a loose one. Is what you are seeing Cecal poop? Cecal poop is a loose pudding like stinky sticky poop that can be from light brown to dark and is seen about once out of every 8-10 "normal" poops.

Why limit his feed? How much is he actually eating? Have you measured it?
Most birds are fed free choice, that means feed is put out and they eat. Chickens usually do not overeat on nutritionally balanced feed.

I also agree very much that once you've had him for a few weeks and have deemed him to be healthy, he will do a lot better outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine doing chicken things. Consider getting a couple of pullets to keep him company. A trio is a very good start with bantams. They will be happy to get in the dirt, dig, sunbath and enjoy life together.

His stools have improved since I posted. The worst stool was yellow and watery. I know about the Cecal poop. It was not that. It was almost a little puddle of poo. But in the last 24 hours he has improved.

I’m not limiting his feed. Just measuring it out to see how much he is eating cause I was just filling up his bowl to the brim and it was almost empty in a short period of time for his size. Within 24 hours he ate a about 1/2 cup of crumbles and some treats. He did spill some around though. Little man doesn’t even weigh a pound. Seems like a lot of food.

As of Tuesday, He has calmed on his eating though. He realizes that it will always be full and fresh. I don’t think he was eating enough with the other chickens around. He was still in a brooder box at 4 months old. I think he was last to eat. He always checks his bowl to make sure there’s food in it. In an OCD kind of way. He will be out and about then suddenly stop, race into his crate to check his bowl, then race back out. It’s flipping weird.

The roo can go outside when it’s warm. Cold where I am. And we are having snow again soon. I’m not losing another rooster to frostbite. You can read that post if you like. My first ever roo came to me with frostbite and died during surgery.

He also needs to learn how to balance. This roo falls off his roost and falls off the ramp more then he should. He panic’s on both and falls. Wings flapping, feet going everywhere. If this continue’s, he’s going to the vet. A different vet then the last one.

 

[Snuggie]

The dark loose poop is a cecal poop. Chickens at times need to expel excess byproduct that there body doesn't need. All chickens do it.

Since your both new too each other, it's helpful to keep a routine around your new bird, it helps to build trust. You interacting with him everyday will help it a lot.

You shouldn't limit his feed, chickens don't gorge themselves to death. They know how to regulate themselves. And if he seems like he's eating a lot now, he's probably trying to replace the missing nutrients from his previous diet.

Hope that helps and goodluck with your new bird.

I’m not limiting his food. Just measuring how much he eats. Cause it was A LOT the first few days. He has since calmed on his eating. He knows that his bowl won’t be empty. He checks it himself many times a day.

He has a good routine. He seems okay. Except this whole balancing thing. So we will see on that.

Thanks