HELP! chicken have trouble pooping

[thatdude]

hi guys im fairly new to byc!!

i have got two new white rock bantam hens recently. going to find out age soon they are at least over 3 years old. they do have scaly leg mite but im treating it (there in quarentine dont worry. the main concern is that one of them is straining almost every time she poops. some times she gets the poop all out other times she cant get it all out. most of the time she is pooping she does a huge squat and you can here her and see her straining. i have to clean around her vent daily because the poop gets encrusted to the skin. they are ex show birds. they have been to a ton of shows very stressed. i picked them up a poultry barn at a 4-h exhibition. if they are healthy i might use them for 4-h. could the pooping problem be caused by stress?

thank you so much for you time.

 

[Alaskan]

not sure as to cause, but I would:

1. next time you clean her up, cover the area with olive oil so that poo will not stick

2. encourage her to drink lots

3. give her calcium, both oyster she'll and maybe some ground up egg shells on her feed


good luck

 

[thatdude]

ok i just did the olive oil thing and they have lots of oyster shells available. i have been dipping her beak in her water. she has been sluggish which concerns me because she used to be the more active of the two.

thanks again

 

[thatdude]

the area around her vent does to stick out could it be swelling?i dont see any of that red stuff coming out of her vent like in a prolapsed vent but her vent does look very opened up.

 

[Alaskan]

your description of her vent doesn't worry me...


the fact that you said she looks sluggish makes me panic.

is she eating well?

 

[thatdude]

she does seam to be eating. if i lock them out in the run they will scratch at the grass and eat a bit. they have been eating the the lettuce/kale i gave them. Maby she ate to much kale? they have grain with oyster shells in it available 24/7 and the supply in the feeder seems to go down.

 

[thatdude]

if i dont lock them out in there run they will go back in there coop. i think it is because they spent most of there lives at showing and in cages.

could change in diet cause this or maby stress?

 

[Alaskan]

I would put her by herself in a cage for 2 days, to watch her eat, and make sure that she is getting enough.


Chickens are so good at hiding illness, until they are ready to die....

I would want to know for certain that she is eating well.

 

[thatdude]

we got ahold of the previous owner and he said they were probably 3-4 years old but might be older.we told him about the pooping issue and he said he could get a hen to replace in from a poultry show in october and a rooster to finish the trio. as for laying egg he said the might lay 1 or 2 times a week and then not ley for a couple weeks.

 

[thatdude]

i still am gona try to fix the sick chicken. she is improving a bit i saw her go outside without me having to push her out(second time ive ever seen them do it). i cant put a separate cage somewhere else for her because the only other place is filled with a healthy flock and im not gonna risk scaly leg mite but i can lock the healthy chicken out for the day and see if the sick one is eating. i know she in eating grass and lettuce i have seen her demolish the leaves i put in. i will find out if she is actually eating grain or if it is just the other healthy one hen.

thank for your time