Chicken with watery diarrhea

[mitthenstate92]

Hi all,

I have a 6 month old Black Australorp who has had watery stools for the past few days. I am in Michigan and we had a bit of a heat wave the last couple days, but today it is only in the high 60's and cloudy. I thought it may be due to the heat wave, but the diarrhea is continuing today and it isn't hot outside. The stools consist of a large volume of clear liquid and then some softish solid brown material. My other chickens (I have 4 total) seem to be fine now that the heat is gone, so I am wondering if there could be something else wrong with the australorp. She seems to be acting ok and did eat when I let them into their run this morning. I feed them Purina layena crumbles with occasional mealworm or wheat grass as treats. They have not had any wheat since the weekend and do not have access to anything outside of the run including grass due to hawks and other predators.

Should I be worried at this point or does anyone have any suggestions? I was also curious after reading that a diet too high in protein can cause kidney damage and subsequent kidney damage, if anyone knew if Purina Layena is too high in protein and if so what feed is better?

Thanks in advance!

PS I would get a photo for reference but its so watery it is soaking right into the dirt almost immediately so I don't think it would be terribly informative

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I'd wait a day or two. Sometimes chickens will drink excessive water when they are hot which can cause watery poo. I am not sure how common this actually is though. Observe her and make sure she's eating. Is her crop full before bed and empty in the morning? If it's not emptying she could have maybe an impacted crop impeding digestion. If it's doesn't improve with the weather or the crop, I'd be concerned about other digestive issues. Maybe someone else on here will see this post and offer up some suggestions.