Chicken diarrhea help

[IsabellaRBM]

Hey all. So i have yet another lovely mystery sick chicken, same one that had sour crop a few months ago. She has been oddly obsessed with drinking water, she eats her food, I’ve checked her crop, it’s full during the day, she has weight on her. Buuuut she has diarrhea and it’s been a bit longer than i would hope it would last. I find her just standing in one place kinda of falling asleep alot, when i let them out she runs around and scratches like the others. Everyone else seems perfectly fine. I don’t think it’s the vent gleet? Is that what it’s called? Because her poops aren’t white, at first i thought she was getting sour crop again so i started treating her for that with yeast meds that i used before, however no real change. Any advice? Insight?

 

[David61]

Oatmeal is the first move i make. I feel dry oatmeal helps. Along with a warm, soapy, salty sit in a bath twice a day. Clean and bleach the water and feeders. by the time you clean up the coop, feeder, water, bird and make sure you have done your job you can start thinking at meds. If medication and withholding eggs is needed, so be it. but look for the signs of bloody stool or other birds getting the runs.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

I'm just curious about your caveat about molting and de-worming - should you not de-worm with one of those if they're molting, or just use something else, or did I misunderstand? I was just about to de-worm my flock with Safeguard and one is coming off of a molt (she no longer has bald patches, but she's still looking less fluffy than usual) and it's all for the molting one bc of unexplained diarrhea (tried Corid first and it made no difference).

You shouldn't deworm with Safeguard if anyone is still growing feathers if possible because it can cause feather damage. Valbazen (or anything without fenbendazole) is fine. Not the end of the world if you go ahead with Safeguard, but do be aware that some of your girl's feathers might not grow back normally. Since it's not an emergency I'd wait to use the safeguard or use Valbazen instead.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Thank you. So what does that mean? Or what’s the protocols with that?

If you haven't dewormed your flock recently (in over six months or so) I would consider deworming everbody with Valbazen or Safeguard (if no one is molting). If they free range they almost certainly carry some worms and even if a heavy worm load isn't causing your girl's thirst/diarrhea it won't hurt. You could also get a fecal float test done by a lab or vet to see if they detect any worms, but those can be expensive and are not always accurate. Do see if probiotics helps first as sour crop can throw off the balance of bacteria in their digestive tract... a little yogurt plain or mixed into their feed to make a mash is a good treat, but I wouldn't give it to them more than a couple times a week as too much yogurt can upset their systems as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She has been oddly obsessed with drinking water, she eats her food, I’ve checked her crop, it’s full during the day, she has weight on her. Buuuut she has diarrhea and it’s been a bit longer than i would hope it would last. I find her just standing in one place kinda of falling asleep alot, when i let them out she runs around and scratches like the others. Everyone else seems perfectly fine. I don’t think it’s the vent gleet? Is that what it’s called? Because her poops aren’t white, at first i thought she was getting sour crop again so i started treating her for that with yeast meds that i used before, however no real change.

If it’s still possible they got worms I’ll just de work them and introduce occasional yogurt them thank you.

Her crop is full during the day, but is it empty first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink?

Obsessed with drinking water, usually this is a digestive/crop issue, but there could be something else going on. What do you feed including treats? How old is she? Does she lay eggs, what are they like?
A photo of her overnight droppings?

Re-check that crop to see if it's emptying.
Look her over for lice/mites - look around the vent, tail, wings, etc. all the way to the skin, move the feathers around and look really well.

If you feel she may benefit from deworming, then use an anthelmintic. DE is not a dewormer so she will not benefit from your giving that to her. Yogurt in very small amounts can be given, but it needs to be a quality plain yogurt, but it's not that effective in treating sour crop.
You can find Safeguard 10% liquid goat dewormer at most feed stores. Dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
Alternatively, you can use Valbazen (order it online) dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10 days.

If the crop is not emptying, read this article and follow the treatment protocols.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Gotcha. They don’t really free range… i let them out of the coop for 15-30 min a day… we have rocks and trees in the area, but it’s more of a get out and stretch their legs and brains for a bit …. If it’s still possible they got worms I’ll just de work them and introduce occasional yogurt them thank you.

Chickens can get worms either directly from the droppings of another infected bird or through an intermediate host which includes most bugs (flies, ants, earthworms, slugs, etc), so if they've ever eaten an insect, they could have picked up worms. If probiotics don't help and you can't find anything else wrong, deworming would be my next step.

 

[IsabellaRBM]

Her crop is full during the day, but is it empty first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink?

Obsessed with drinking water, usually this is a digestive/crop issue, but there could be something else going on. What do you feed including treats? How old is she? Does she lay eggs, what are they like?
A photo of her overnight droppings?

Re-check that crop to see if it's emptying.
Look her over for lice/mites - look around the vent, tail, wings, etc. all the way to the skin, move the feathers around and look really well.

If you feel she may benefit from deworming, then use an anthelmintic. DE is not a dewormer so she will not benefit from your giving that to her. Yogurt in very small amounts can be given, but it needs to be a quality plain yogurt, but it's not that effective in treating sour crop.
You can find Safeguard 10% liquid goat dewormer at most feed stores. Dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
Alternatively, you can use Valbazen (order it online) dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10 days.

If the crop is not emptying, read this article and follow the treatment protocols.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Don’t know about the crop. She gets an all organic feed, occasional all organic scratch, mealworms, live worms, oatmeal and herbs with chia seeds and berries sometimes, fresh veggies and lettuce occasionally…… hard to find her dropping since there’s ten of them, and they all huddle in the coop. I use Saturday lime in their run and dust baths and coop under the shavings which i clean out every 2-3 days … in their nesting boxes as well. Vitamins in their water. She used to lay, don’t know if she is still, again there’s ten hard to tell, and we always get 8 eggs a day, that’s stayed consistent from what I’ve noticed. So i really don’t have any other info than what I’ve provided. We live in Las Vegas and I clean up the the run and coop multiple times a week. I’ve never noticed mites or anything on them. Never noticed worms in droppings.

 

[IsabellaRBM]

Best i could get a pic of her bum. Sorry it’s gross

 

[ChickNanny13]

Have you changed feed? Are you sure it's not the cecal poop and she's just a messy pooper? I've had a couple of those, would clip the feathers back there so it wouldn't accumulate and cause an issue with flies. They looked funky but helped. Drinking excessive water will cause watery poop, you could try giving her some PLAIN yogurt (probiotic) won't hurt.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Sounds like the diarrhea is just due to drinking a lot of water, which could be due to a number of things, but one of the more common and easily treatable issues is a heavy worm load. Chickens that are or have been sick with something else often have trouble keeping worms in check and start showing symptoms of a heavy load before other members of the flock.