- Apr 4, 2009
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I have been searching the forum for information on causes of bloody droppings for several hours now - and I am just confused!
My hens are 13 weeks old - they free range - look and act very healthy - but I have started noticing bloody droppings, yesterday in fact. I found 2 this morning - out of 39 hens. One dropping was very watery and bloody - one wasn't watery - but bloody.
Other factors - I only fed one bag of medicated feed when they were chicks - then switched to unmedicated. They are on a dirt floor with pine shavings - we have recently been switching over to straw - my dirt is very sandy. Also - we were given a rooster that I only just found out had bloody droppings before - and was treated for worms before being given to us (though I'm not sure they confirmed a worms diagnosis).
I isolated him yesterday after finding large bloody droppings, but still found the 2 under my hens this morning.
So my question is this - how do I know if the bloody droppings are a sign of worms or coccidiosis?
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give - we are new to raising chickens and everything was going so well - we ordered 39 chicks, and haven't lost one yet . . .now I'm in distress!!!
Other factors - I only fed one bag of medicated feed when they were chicks - then switched to unmedicated. They are on a dirt floor with pine shavings - we have recently been switching over to straw - my dirt is very sandy. Also - we were given a rooster that I only just found out had bloody droppings before - and was treated for worms before being given to us (though I'm not sure they confirmed a worms diagnosis).
So my question is this - how do I know if the bloody droppings are a sign of worms or coccidiosis?
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give - we are new to raising chickens and everything was going so well - we ordered 39 chicks, and haven't lost one yet . . .now I'm in distress!!!