Diarrhea caused by egg shells?

[phate008]

I have fed my chickens shells before (and they love them). Usually when molting or as a treat a few times a year I usually bake them and then crush them. Recently I let my chickens out of their run and free range in the yard and garden to look for bugs. I let them out for 20-30 mins every day usually, but its easy to keep up with because I only have 3 chickens. A few days ago they got into my compost bin and I was ok with it because I saw there were tons of worms. I let them have at it. I should mention that the dirt at the bottom of the composter is littered with egg shells. I throw all my egg shells in there. Now 2 of the 3 have explosive diarrhea. I am not sure if they ate a plant they shouldn't have in my garden, if they ate a bug that gave them a parasite, or if its an OD of egg shells. Right now they are all eating and drinking normally, and acting normally. Hopefully this goes away in the next day. I ordered some electrolytes that should be here in 2 days. I give them apple cider vinegar in their water regularly. Also tonight they got a plate of their food mixed with plain greek yogurt. Any ideas on what could be the culprit, and if it could possibly be over indulging on egg shells?

 

[Byrd gal]

Earth worms and eating bugs can give birds parasites. Spring rains are also a problem. If you could find a vet to do a fecal test would provide the answer to worms. I would do a corrid treatment see if it gets better then deworm them if not. I don't see the egg shells being an issue. My girls have access to them daily.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Probably just from getting into the compost bin itself if that is not something they normally do.
See if it resolves over the course of a couple of days.

Earthworms are o.k. but they can be vectors for parasites as well, so consider getting a yearly fecal float to see if worms might be an issue.

 

[phate008]

So I'm thinking it is probably worms now. There were a few signs in the last couple days that I was oblivious to at first that are connecting now. My smallest chicken was looking like she was adjusting her crop after every bite of food when she had dinner the other night. The day before the diarrhea started she had a nasty poop that looked like foamy mucus. Her butt has always been clean and the past week it has been a little dirty looking, even before the diarrhea started. Its been really rainy spring weather and there have been lots of worms and bugs. Including a few parasitic lookings bugs that they have grabbed on site. One worm was a very thin white worm that looked like a tape worm and I kind of just hoped it was a baby earth worm.

I want to get this taken care before any chance of sudden death or irreversible damage. Should I call a vet and try and get a deworming medication, or is there some other place I can pick it up?

 

[coach723]

If you can get a fecal done, that will confirm and identify what parasite you need to treat for, which could determine the best medication and dosing. There are medications available you can purchase without a prescription to treat them. Valbazen (albendazole) and Safeguard (fenbendazole) are commonly used and will treat most parasites (except tapeworm). Zimectrin Gold and Equimax horse wormers are commonly used for tapeworm (praziquantel).

 

[phate008]

Ok, I will see if the local bird vet can do a fecal test tomorrow. My friend was helping me research this and she came across a video that claimed that diatomaceous mixed with their feed would kill "all" worms along with apple cider vinegar in their water. I am not so sure about this, is there any truth to this? I would feel more confident in a medication that is designed for worms, but she claims that this is a natural remedy that would prevent having to throw away their eggs.

 

[coach723]

DE is a waste of money and does not do anything for internal parasites. It doesn't work when it's wet, which it is if it's in the digestive tract. ACV also is not going to treat a worm load. People also say pumpkin seeds work, and they do not. I have been down all those roads and many more. DE can also cause respiratory irritation, I don't use it at all. If you actually have a parasite issue then you need to treat with something that actually works. I had sick and dying birds and gave up on all the 'natural' methods and my flock is much healthier. The only way to know for sure if a treatment works is to have a fecal done confirming parasites, and then treat, and then retest to make sure they are gone. Most people who use 'natural' remedies don't do any testing. The belief is that if they don't see them then they aren't there, and that's just false. The fecal looks for the parasite eggs that are shed in droppings and are microscopic in size. I wish that the 'natural' stuff did work, but the medications exist for a reason, because there is a need.

 

[phate008]

Thanks. I actually have the same mentality with DE. The times I have used it, it has caused more harm than good. It created respiratory problems for both me and the chickens. Even with a light sprinkle in their run I found that it made its way into the house and became hard to breath in there. I only use it for mites now. Instead of letting them bathe in it I just rub a little on my hands and rub it into their skin.