Baby Chick Poop Concern.

[AshleyB97]

Hi!! Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
I have 5 baby chicks. 3 weeks old. All pullets. One of them is having watery brown poop and I'm not sure why. I will post pics and maybe you guys will have a solution or maybe its normal? Idk, thank you for your help!!
I couldn't get a pic of her poop yet but it I do I will update one photo is of my set up the other is of the chick in question she is the one closes to the wall.
Also any advice on my setup for my brooder would be great.

 

[AshleyB97]

Also could it be I dont have enough feeders? And should I put in a dirt bath? And if so how?

 

[aart]

Need to see a pic or poop in question.
I don't see any feeder in there but one should be plenty for 5 chicks.
What all and how exactly are you feeding them?

When do you plan on taking them out to the coop/run?

Make sure they are not too hot.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

 

[AshleyB97]

Thank you. Yes there is a feeder in there it's on the side kinda in the middle I'm feeding them purina organic chick starter crumbled. They have a metal round 5 hole feeder. I planned on taking them out at 5 weeks I live in Wisconsin so it still gets in the 30s at night right now so I'm hoping it will warm up. I'll work on getting a pic of the poop I question.

 

[MGG]

Could it just be a normal cecal poop? Those sometimes look alarming at first

 

[AshleyB97]

Could it just be a normal cecal poop? Those sometimes look alarming at first

Now that you say that I lookss that up and it dose kinda look like that its light brown and dose hold its shape so it's not completely liquid but it didnt look like my other chicks poop so I was concerned.

 

[aart]

Applies to chicks too.
Good visual references for all kinds of poops,
just don't jump to any terrible conclusions too quickly:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/?topic=17568.0

 

[MGG]

Now that you say that I lookss that up and it dose kinda look like that its light brown and dose hold its shape so it's not completely liquid but it didnt look like my other chicks poop so I was concerned.

All birds do it. It usually is excreted every 10-12 poops. How many have you seen? Also, are you giving any supplements? Nutri-Drench or anything? Sometimes those can cause diarrhea

 

[MGG]

Some birds just always have small poops, big poops, watery poops, etc. it varies on the bird. Does she act off at all?

 

[AshleyB97]

All birds do it. It usually is excreted every 10-12 poops. How many have you seen? Also, are you giving any supplements? Nutri-Drench or anything? Sometimes those can cause diarrhea

No I'm not just water and organic chick starter it seems like she is pooping fine now thankfully!