Cecal poop or coccidiosis?

[crazychick26201]

Hi. I have 4 three week old Buffs in a puppy playpen brooder. They have occasionally had a butterscotch like poops which I don’t recall from my other broods. I had been giving them medicated feed and a probiotic in their water but for the past two days I have given them plain water. This morning I noticed that there is more butterscotch pudding like poop than usual. I am sending a fecal sample to the vet. Should I start treating them for coccidiosis just to be safe? And what is the dosage per gallon for baby chicks? I have liquid Corid on hand. Also I might just be paranoid . I take them out of the brooder every day to run around a bit while I observe them and most poops are normal looking. But they all are the same breed and I have never caught a specific chick making those runny poops. Please help as I understand that I need to act quickly.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

If you post pics of the feces it would help

 

[azygous]

From my experience, those buttersotch poops are not anything to be concerned about as long as the chicks appear to be behaving normally. A chick with coccidiosis will be lethargic and very droopy.

However, the light colored poops, if they become predominant, could signify a bacterial infection. You would then need an oral antibiotic, not Corid, which is a coccidiostat, not an antibiotic.

 

[crazychick26201]

Also they are acting pretty normal, eating and running around. In this photo which is the sample for the vet, the runny stuff has soaked into the paper towel.

 

[rebrascora]

I agree that it is almost certainly cecal poop and nothing to be concerned about if they are acting healthy, but a photo of the questionable poop may enable us to confirm that.

It would certainly be unusual for coccidiosis to cause such a poop.... it is usually mucous like or bloody with coccidiosis.

"Normal" poop can come in an array of colours and textures, just like with any other animal including ourselves and will change with die,t but also hormones and breed and probably many other factors can play a part.

 

[Shadrach]

What @azygous wrote.
I wouldn't be concerend about poop color and not even consistencey very much unless you are seeing blood in the poop.
A chicken, or chick with coccidiosis is fairly obvious. They look sick with heads withdrawn, lethargic and often isolated from the rest.
If you are going to keep chickens and especially chicks you should always have Corid or similar on hand. Coccidiosis will kill a chick very quickly untreated.