chronic poo problems!

[Benanjoe]

Hi all, If you could please help me in brainstorming this issue, it would be so helpful! I have a two 11 week old Speckled Sussex pullets. They have always acted happy and healthy. After a few weeks of having them, I noticed one in particular was having very runny poops and I had noticed some red chunks. I treated them with CORID. This changed nothing with the consistency of her poop. Again, the other one had some diarrhea, but now her poops seem to look normal. I have now noticed in the morning the one has red stringy goo in her poop. It looks like intestinal lining. I do not have a pic, but can try to get one. Every single time she poops, it is a diarrhea fart (sorry for this description!) I do also notice grass fiber, grit and undigested matter in her poop sometimes.
These girls are growing fine as far as I can tell, acting fine, eat and drink normally, and peck about and enjoy themselves just like any other chicken. There are absolutely no other signs of illness. Also, the one seems to be unaffected. Not sure how to help her!

Thank you!

 

[SueT]

Tell us everything you are feeding

 

[Benanjoe]

Hi! I am only feeding their now grower feed which is whole grain, not crumble, because I could not find an organic crumble feed at the local feed store. I say this because I had posted previously and someone mentioned switching to crumble to make sure they are getting necessary nutrients, because in the whole grain, much of the feed dust is not consumed. When they were on start, I did switch them to crumble and her poop consistency did not change Would fermenting help?
Also, they are on grass (so whatever they find in the grass), and an occasional grub or blueberry, but very seldomly do they have treats. They were not crazy about treats as chicks which is so weird, because my older hens looooved getting treats when they were chicks.

 

[LaFleche]

First of all, at their young age they need a balanced diet with high proteins, including animal protein. So a simple whole grain feed does not meet their needs at all.

I would deworm them thoroughly and weigh them and monitor their weight gain closely.
And add a good poultry multi vitamin additive to their drinking water.

Do they have granite grit/sand always awaylable to help with digestion?

 

[Benanjoe]

OK thank you for this info very much! Should I then switch to crumble? I thought that feed meets their nutritional needs. How should I be supplementing their food?

I do add poultry vitamins to their water. Yes, they do have access to grit at all times. And thank you, I will definitely go ahead and deworm them. What weight should they be at 11 weeks? How do I have a good comparison. I have raised chickens only once before so it is hard to know exactly how big they should be at their age.

 

[Benanjoe]

Oh and btw, the feed they are on is scratch and peck grower

 

[LaFleche]

Oh and btw, the feed they are on is scratch and peck grower

How much protein does it provide? I could not find any information regarding the protein content on their website.

ETA: Just found it on their list: 17% crude protein and as animal protein source it does also contain fishmeal.

 

[Benanjoe]

I just started them on a wormer so we will see if this helps. Maybe in the meantime, I will also switch back to a crumble again?

 

[LaFleche]

I just started them on a wormer so we will see if this helps. Maybe in the meantime, I will also switch back to a crumble again?

Hopefully, this will resolve the problem.

Every time you make changes in their diet, do it over the course of several days slowly increasing the amount of the new feed. Abrupt changes in their diet will often lead to digestive disorders.

 

[Tonyroo]

17 percent protein seems to low for growing chicks.

I use 20 percent protein chick feed till they finish the bag. By then they'll be about 2 month old, then I give them 22 percent feed for the remainder of there pre adult life.

Scratch and peck brand is acceptable for adult chickens not chicks, just from reading information on the bag.