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?

 

[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.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Does her crop empty at night?

 

[IsabellaRBM]

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.

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

 

[IsabellaRBM]

Does her crop empty at night?

Not entirely sure

 

[IsabellaRBM]

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.

Haven’t changed anything… but she was never a messy pooper before. One other chicken had a messy backside but it was only for like a week then she seemed to go back to normal. This one is taking longer and still acting kind of off, not like super off but off? I will try yogurt though and see if maybe that helps.

 

[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.

 

[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.