Chicken diahhrea?

[boxwoman]

One of my eight hens seems to have diahhrea. I cannot figure out which one -- they all look great and healthy. What should I do? Any ideas?

 

[threehorses]

First, what are their ages, what are they eating, and is it very hot there?

What is the color and texture of the droppings. For example:
like bad chocolate pudding
like regular poop that has been mixed with too much water
Mucousy and rusty colored
Etc.

Is it possible that you're just noticing the occassional diarrhea-like cecal droppings that they drop every few droppings to clear their cecum? They're highly stinky and usually more pudding like and of one color, no urates.

I'd try to figure out who's doing it.

In the mean time, please tell us their diet, and their environment - as much detail as possible. INclude whether or not they have had access to soured/wet grain or food, kitchen scraps (especially more watery ones), mud puddles, or compost piles.

Also, if it's very hot there, birds will drink more. Sometimes we find the droppings after the clear urine and solid feces have had time to mix and it will look like diarrhea. I'd maybe take a lawn chair and have a 20 minute watch of the girls and see if you can figure out who's doing it.

Also, you can help boost their gut health by giving them some living-bacteria probitiocs. Plain unflavored yogurt, the contents of an acidophilis capsule or tablet per bird, or prepared livestock probiotics given daily this week would help rebuild the living bacteria in their gut.

The living bacteria in the gut of poultry are what 'crowd out' bad bacteria, additionallyl they are what digest the food that comes ground from the gizzard. When those bacteria get off balance and decrease in numbers, we sometimes see diarrhea.

Hope this helps! Feel free to email me if you have any questions about my post.

 

[boxwoman]

Thanks for the information. My hens are 14 and 12 weeks in age. I have no idea which one has the pooping issue. The poop does look like chocolate pudding. They are all eating grower crumbles and some kitchen scraps (mostly dry cereal and raw veggies). They forage in the yard for half the day and eat worms, bugs and grass. Other than that their coop is very clean and they are all active and healthy looking.