Diarhea with my Easter Egger

[Stephen1152]

I'm starting to get concerned about my Easter Egger which I hatched. When she was about 1 week old she got pasty put. She was very sick. I bathe her and cleaned her vent. Within 2 days she was fine. I assumed it was because she is a glutton and ate everyone's meal worms. Now she is about 22 weeks. She started laying nice blue eggs at about 18 weeks. But she occasionally gets diarhea. I bathe her and she is fine for a week. Her eggs are mostly clean. First I thought it was that she ate too much kale, last week I thought it was from her once again eating everyone's meal worms. (I only put about 2 tablespoons in the coop for all four) This week I only let them out of the coop once. I limitted the food to only layer pellets with very small amounts of rice crispies or a very little bit of bread just to give them a little something after I clean the coop. I just got home after two days where they only ate layer pellets and she layed a dirty egg and it was necessary for me to bathe her again and clean her vent. All four are otherwise healthy and happy. She eats like there is no tomorrow. Could it be just the heat? It has been close to 90 here in NY and in the coop it must be over 100. She was in there for at least 2 hrs. laying. Could it just be the heat? I don't have the luxury of isolating her. What can I do if anything? What if this happens in the winter when I can't bathe her? Sorry so long.

 

[MagpieDucks]

It could be that she just is drinking a lot more water in the heat than she normally does. Can you get a fecal test done by a vet to check for worms? Are any of your other birds showing symptoms?

 

[azygous]

If this EE is otherwise healthy and acting and laying normally, she's probably just fine in spite of the runny poop.

You're probably right that the runny poop could be related to the heat spell since drinking a lot of water or eating things with a high water content, such as kale or squash will produce runny poop.

There are also individuals that are, what I call, lazy poopers. They lack the force to propel the poop beyond their butt feathers, thus they require frequent butt baths.

Also, there are those rare chickens that have runny poop as their default poop quality. I have one of those. She has had squirty splorts from the day I brought her home from the feed store six years ago. If she produces a solid poop, it's a rare occurrence. Her butt feathers often require cleaning. But she's never been sick a day in her life and has been a very regular layer even at age six.

 

[ChickNanny13]

If they had only layer for 2days & she got messy, I'm thinking maybe your enclosure is lacking in ventilation? Heat would cause them to drink more water. Is it diarrhea or cecal? Mine do get softer poop when I give them too many treats
I had 5 Wynadottes that came to me with messy butts. I clipped the feathering cause it was bad, fed them Flock Raiser (fermented) with Oyster Shells on the side, added ACV (with Mother) to their water. I stopped the ACV after a month, their butts cleaned up but one started with dirty butt again but not as bad. I figure it's her, eggs were clean & that was fine with me.

 

[Stephen1152]

If this EE is otherwise healthy and acting and laying normally, she's probably just fine in spite of the runny poop.

You're probably right that the runny poop could be related to the heat spell since drinking a lot of water or eating things with a high water content, such as kale or squash will produce runny poop.

There are also individuals that are, what I call, lazy poopers. They lack the force to propel the poop beyond their butt feathers, thus they require frequent butt baths.

Also, there are those rare chickens that have runny poop as their default poop quality. I have one of those. She has had squirty splorts from the day I brought her home from the feed store six years ago. If she produces a solid poop, it's a rare occurrence. Her butt feathers often require cleaning. But she's never been sick a day in her life and has been a very regular layer even at age six.

What do I do in the winter when she needs to be bathe?

 

[Stephen1152]

If they had only layer for 2days & she got messy, I'm thinking maybe your enclosure is lacking in ventilation? Heat would cause them to drink more water. Is it diarrhea or cecal? Mine do get softer poop when I give them too many treats
I had 5 Wynadottes that came to me with messy butts. I clipped the feathering cause it was bad, fed them Flock Raiser (fermented) with Oyster Shells on the side, added ACV (with Mother) to their water. I stopped the ACV after a month, their butts cleaned up but one started with dirty butt again but not as bad. I figure it's her, eggs were clean & that was fine with me.

I think you are right. For some reason once I removed the heat lamp from the coup a few months ago, all but one stopped going in the coop to roost at night. After a few good rain storms, I put some plexiglass up where they are roosting to keep the rain off them. I did notice a definite increase in the temperature in the coop when I did that. I removed the plexiglass this morning. Not sure why they won't go in the coop anymore even during a wind driven rain at night. Thanks.

 

[azygous]

What do I do in the winter when she needs to be bathe?

I bring the dirty butt into my house and rinse her off under warm water in the kitchen sink. I don't use the dish towel to dry her butt, though. I have high standards of hygiene.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Blow dryer on low

@Stephen1152 Where you had the plexiglass to block rain, you could try some shade cloth to help cut the rain from coming in IF it's that bad. IF possible move the roost? Or hang something outside to block the rain, like a hinged door?
They may not go in due to the "difference", I'd put them in & keep them in there for a day or two. My girls were 18wks & weren't roosting at night, they'd roost during the day. So one night I put them up & they got the message.

 

[azygous]

That'd work.

 

[Stephen1152]

Blow dryer on low

@Stephen1152 Where you had the plexiglass to block rain, you could try some shade cloth to help cut the rain from coming in IF it's that bad. IF possible move the roost? Or hang something outside to block the rain, like a hinged door?
They may not go in due to the "difference", I'd put them in & keep them in there for a day or two. My girls were 18wks & weren't roosting at night, they'd roost during the day. So one night I put them up & they got the message.

I tried putting them in at night for a few nights. It messed them up and resulting in a lot of broken eggs. Thanks for the suggestions. I will try the drop cloth. Not sure where you are form but we had no idea it would be hitting 90 degrees this time of year in NY. I think I was roasting them. I removed the plexiglass like I said. I don't care about giving her a bath in the sink, but what do you do with a wet chicken in the winter?