Explosive Veggie Poo!!??

[ChookieG]

Ok this is only my second thread and it's already another potential problem. I hope it's not going to be an ongoing habit!

One of my morning duties involve hand picking my girls' poop in the coop and run. About a couple of week ago while clearing poo, I noticed a large cluster of what looked like blended vegetable matter in the area where one of my girls usually perch at night. The fact that it's spread out in such a large area suggests she's been having explosive poo. I'm not sure whether it's diarrhea as it's not very wet - just full of veggies! I've only seen this in the coop in the morning and her poo is normal during the day. Apart from the explosive poo, she doesn't seem to behave abnormally and has been eating very well. Her crop is empty in the morning and very full after the morning feed. The only difference between her and the girls is she's the biggest and greediest. She eats so much her crop is always almost pendulous! She's also been laying for about 3 weeks now.

Before this happened I did change the poultry feed and began daily feeding of fermented feed every morning instead of once every 3 days. They've been eating 2 days of the new feed before she was veggie pooping. They also have access to fresh grass that I pick in the morning but I've been doing that for about 3 months since I've had them. I also include some vegetables in the morning including kale, dandelion, basil, wandering jew and purslane 2 weeks ago. I thought it might be that so I excluded it yesterday but she's still doing her veggie pooping. I can't imagine it's the fermented feed as many people in BYC has been giving their girls FF everyday without any issues. Should I be concerned?

PS: Sorry for the blurry image - only just realized when it was loaded. If you need a better one for diagnosis, I'll take another pic tomorrow morning! I'm sure she won't miss a day!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

It looks like regular poop to me with undigested vegetable matter. Poo can be firmer formed, but often they have a looser movement once a day, usually full of cecal.

However, I would stop the feeding of so many greens, especially the grass clippings, unless they are small pieces. Grass is notorious for causing impacted crops.

Also be sure you are giving them enough chance to get grit to help grind up stuff, either in a dish or scavenging in a yard with small gravel chips.

Likely its this hen as she is the greediest gulping up stuff. Watch her for crop impaction since she likes to stuff herself, especially with greens.

My thoughts.
LofMc

 

[ChookieG]

It looks like regular poop to me with undigested vegetable matter. Poo can be firmer formed, but often they have a looser movement once a day, usually full of cecal.

However, I would stop the feeding of so many greens, especially the grass clippings, unless they are small pieces. Grass is notorious for causing impacted crops.

Also be sure you are giving them enough chance to get grit to help grind up stuff, either in a dish or scavenging in a yard with small gravel chips.

Likely its this hen as she is the greediest gulping up stuff. Watch her for crop impaction since she likes to stuff herself, especially with greens.

My thoughts.
LofMc

Thanks for the info! Sorry I've taken so long to respond as I've made some changes to her food and been monitoring her since your post.

I've tried a few things including what you've suggested and excluded grass. I've also tried withholding fermented feed but there's not much improvement. The only slight improvement I saw was when I restricted her appetite to just 3 times a day and her poo was more solid the following morning.

However about 3-4 days after your posting, I noticed her poo has started to smell sour. I noticed much more undigested material in there too - looks very much like undigested grain. I tried taking another photo but as my coop has low lighting the images I take always come out a bit blurry. I'll place a tray below where she roosts tonight so I can collect some of her poo and then image them under brighter conditions.

I also noticed that the new brand of feed has quite a lot of hard sticks of grass and twigs. This has not been a problem for the other girls but I suspect because she's so greedy she might have swallowed more than her crop can handle.

I've been reluctant to examine her crop as she's a very nervous girl and she didn't seem sick and is still eating and laying well. But because her crop is still enlarged and her poo is of more concern now, I plucked up some courage this morning and grabbed her to feel her crop - this was done after her breakfast so I'll have to do another inspection tomorrow morning before food. What I felt makes me think she may have a sour crop as it's very squishy. I didn't smell her breath - she's a very heavy and strong girl and it was already very difficult for me to restrain her in the first place!

Based on preliminary observations so far, I suspect a sour crop that's been slow to empty and as such has resulted in a yeast infection. I'll inspect her tomorrow morning again and let you know the results of my examination before I consider treatment.

 

[ChookieG]

Ok I went ahead and grabbed her again this morning before breakkie and felt her crop.. it's completely empty! So I'm rather perplexed now.

I took this pic yesterday afternoon seconds after it was released! :


And again this morning before breakfast :


Gosh I've been looking at so many poo pictures I can almost smell it!

But it looks like she hasn't completely digested her food as I can still see some significant pieces of grain and grass. I've also noticed that some of the poo (that looks like the 1st pic) collected during the day seem to end up looking like it's scattered across the following morning like the second pic. Now I'm not sure whether it's because rodents have been feasting on the poo, whether it's the stool spontaneously disintegrating overnight (if that's even possible!!), or a combination of both? But one thing for sure is I won't be treating her just yet till I find out more about this.

Ideas? Anyone?

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Hmm...do you put out grit, or just rely on them to find their own free-ranging? Maybe she needs some more? It looks like unchewed food, which is why I'm thinking that could be the issue.

 

[ChookieG]

Hmm...do you put out grit, or just rely on them to find their own free-ranging? Maybe she needs some more? It looks like unchewed food, which is why I'm thinking that could be the issue.

Yeah my hubby said the same thing this morning! They have soil to graze for grit in our run but perhaps not enough. I just chucked a quart load of small gravel in the run a couple of hours ago. Hopefully that'll do the trick. Thanks!

 

[ChookieG]

I've placed a large container of grit next to their water bowl for a couple of days now and she's still shedding loose stool. I happen to chance upon this website (https://poultrymania.com/indigestion-in-poultry/) and I think my chook may be suffering from indigestion but I'm not certain what the cause might be. Does anyone have any experience with chook indigestion?

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Nope...did it start when you changed foods? Maybe change back?

 

[ChookieG]

Nope...did it start when you changed foods? Maybe change back?

Yes it did. But I bought two 55 lb bags costing me AUD60 (USD46). So I can't just return as it's also been 3 weeks since I bought it. *sigh*

Could it be visceral gout? (hope not though!) Cos when I got them as pullets 3 months ago the feed store said I can just give them layer food. Only she's started to lay just over a month now and I'm worried it might be the excess calcium that's causing it. Her egg does have white specs all over.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Yes it did. But I bought two 55 lb bags costing me AUD60 (USD46). So I can't just return as it's also been 3 weeks since I bought it. *sigh*

Could it be visceral gout? (hope not though!) Cos when I got them as pullets 3 months ago the feed store said I can just give them layer food. Only she's started to lay just over a month now and I'm worried it might be the excess calcium that's causing it. Her egg does have white specs all over.

Maybe get a small bag of the old food and see if it "magically" clears up. If so, you could try to sell the unopened bag to someone and maybe mix the remaining on half and half with the old food, or feed her separately?