My birds are some kind of Ameraucana mix. They're about two years old, this is their second winter. I've noticed that all of them, Duchess starting first, have been molting. Duchess seems to be done, while Biscuit Bird and Mary have been molting a lot and aren't done yet. Their armpits are pink and they're missing tail feathers, but I'm assuming that that's normal. Now onto the part that's really worrying me-
I heard Mary poop this morning while I was giving them warm oatmeal- and I looked at it to see how she was doing and it was green and watery. I knew this probably wasn't good. I also saw Biscuit Bird's poop- but it was more solid than Mary's was, and wasn't as intensely green. She was eating the oatmeal, she was eating a little bit of normal food, mealworms and drinking the fresh water I gave them just fine. I usually put about a teaspoon of ACV in their tupperware of water, (I give them a fresh bowl two times a day) but I decided not to today because I was anxious about a possible reaction with the oatmeal. (I've got chicken mother's anxiety, even after 2 years. It's bad.) She even showed me that she wanted to go out of the run and roam the yard- but because her poop was green I decided to keep them inside. I have an oil heater set on low inside the nesting part of their coop. Its separate, and kept a little bit warmer than the outside temperature. When I checked, it was about 46F in the coop, which is about 1 degree warmer than it is outside. So I decided to turn up the heater just a small bit in case they were cold.
I keep their nest boxes filled with pine shavings, (in which spider crickets like to hang out, but I don't mind them and I'm sure the girls like to eat them.) and every week I'll clean them out and compost the pine with the dirt in their run. I also sprinkle the run of pine-dirt compost with DE every so often. They also sleep in and poop in their nest boxes. They've stopped laying eggs and we don't eat them either way- but I keep their nest boxes as clean as I can.
I have medicine stocked up- like Wazine and a first aid kit-- but I'm not sure what I should do. If you have any kind of recommendation or idea as to what could be going on- please let me know.
I'm really worried about Mary and Biscuit Bird. Mary especially- because I've never seen green watery chicken poop before. What could it be? Should I bring her into the house and watch her? Should I turn up the heat a little bit more in the nesting area, or was it a mistake to turn it up?
I'm so worried- I don't want to lose another one of my babies.
I heard Mary poop this morning while I was giving them warm oatmeal- and I looked at it to see how she was doing and it was green and watery. I knew this probably wasn't good. I also saw Biscuit Bird's poop- but it was more solid than Mary's was, and wasn't as intensely green. She was eating the oatmeal, she was eating a little bit of normal food, mealworms and drinking the fresh water I gave them just fine. I usually put about a teaspoon of ACV in their tupperware of water, (I give them a fresh bowl two times a day) but I decided not to today because I was anxious about a possible reaction with the oatmeal. (I've got chicken mother's anxiety, even after 2 years. It's bad.) She even showed me that she wanted to go out of the run and roam the yard- but because her poop was green I decided to keep them inside. I have an oil heater set on low inside the nesting part of their coop. Its separate, and kept a little bit warmer than the outside temperature. When I checked, it was about 46F in the coop, which is about 1 degree warmer than it is outside. So I decided to turn up the heater just a small bit in case they were cold.
I keep their nest boxes filled with pine shavings, (in which spider crickets like to hang out, but I don't mind them and I'm sure the girls like to eat them.) and every week I'll clean them out and compost the pine with the dirt in their run. I also sprinkle the run of pine-dirt compost with DE every so often. They also sleep in and poop in their nest boxes. They've stopped laying eggs and we don't eat them either way- but I keep their nest boxes as clean as I can.
I have medicine stocked up- like Wazine and a first aid kit-- but I'm not sure what I should do. If you have any kind of recommendation or idea as to what could be going on- please let me know.
I'm really worried about Mary and Biscuit Bird. Mary especially- because I've never seen green watery chicken poop before. What could it be? Should I bring her into the house and watch her? Should I turn up the heat a little bit more in the nesting area, or was it a mistake to turn it up?
I'm so worried- I don't want to lose another one of my babies.