Chronic diarrhea in 5 week old chick

[Benanjoe]

Hi all! I have two 5 week old Speckled Sussex chicks. Both seem to be healthy and have completely normal behavior. They are curious, friendly, active, eat well, and drink well. I am just at the end of a CORID treatment as I was concerned it could be coccidiosis, but it has not improved the diarrhea. One in particular has the worst diarrhea, sometimes it contains undigested food and is extremely watery. It does go through changes, where it sometime looks almost normal, but then back to diarrhea again.
I just ordered a different starter thinking it may be the food that doesn't agree with her? I am using an organic starter. I am wondering if there are any other ideas. I have not been super concerned because she seems so happy and healthy except for this extreme diarrhea. At this point it does seem it has been going on too long though.
I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what they have done. Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

What feed are you using? Does it contain probiotics? Are they drinking a lot of water? How hot is the temperature?

 

[Benanjoe]

Hi! Thank you so much for your response! Yes, the one with the worst diarrhea does seem to drink the most water. I feed scratch and peck organic starter..it does contain probiotics. It is a milled feed with whole grains in it..not a crumble so wondering if this is an issue? And before starting the Corid treatment, I was giving probiotics as well as some ACV. I was monitoring the temp in their brooder very closely for the first 4 weeks. I started at 95 and moved down about 5 degrees each week. I have stopped using the heat lamp for the most part when they are in their brooder at night because they are in our office in the house and it is about 70 degrees inside. I will turn it on if it is a colder night. They have also been going outside during the day because the highs have been about 80 degrees and sunny.

 

[Eggcessive]

Scratch and peck type feeds usually have a lot of seeds and grains, and chickens can peck out the favorite bits they like most, and leave the things they don’t. A crumble feed is more uniform and prevents eating just the most tasty parts. I don’t know if that is the problem with watery droppings or having undigested food in them, but if they are experiencing the warm weather, they might be drinking more which tends to make droppings more watery. Be sure they have granite poultry grit appropriate for their age to help grind up the food.

 

[Benanjoe]

Thank you so much for this! Yes, this makes a lot of sense. My chicks from last year were on a crumble starter and never had this problem. I have ordered them a new feed so we will see how that goes. I really appreciate your response! I have been giving them chick grit. I was grinding their food down quite a bit when they were really little because it seemed so big, but now give them grit.
I also feel they are a bit small so I really hope I didn't stunt their growth at all by not giving them a crumble feed! They seem smaller than my BO were at their age. This is a pic of one of my sweet SS chicks this morning. I put a normal 15 ounce can next to her for reference.

 

[Benanjoe]

Just wondering your thoughts on her size?

 

[Karanoga]

I'm having a similar problem. I have 2 ISA browns that are 2 weeks younger than their 6 RIR flock mates They are constantly bullied, but not to the extent they are attacked. The others just like to keep them away from the group. I have been feeding them inside the coop, and they are active, eating and drinking well and growing. Could the diarrhea just be stress?
They are on Purina Medicated Crumbles

 

[Henhouse Harlot]

The problem with the chicks "hunt and pecking" out the tasty bits is familiar, very much so! Fermented feed is something I'm just beginning to experiment with, and so far I LOVE it!!! The Scratch and Peck whole grain works best fed this way. "Lactic fermentation" means that you need 4 buckets, a towel to keep the dust out, hungry chickens, chicken food, water....something to stir with. Yep! Not something I should try to explain!
Check out "fermented feed" for chickens, it's full of benefits aside from preventing the aforementioned issue..
I'm positively positive there's information about it right here! Good luck!
P.S. It sounds like you are doing a truly fantastic job caring for your babies, keep up the good work!