Hen with persistent diarrhea - vet can't find any obvious cause

[RGB RIP]

Hi, everyone -

I have a bit of a medical mystery, and I'm hoping someone here has some real-world experience with this.

I have an 18-month old RIR hen. She's always been in great health and a steady layer. Late in the summer, I noticed she had a lot of runny poop. But it was also very hot and she was extra heat sensitive. I assumed it was just because she was drinking a lot of extra water due to the heat.

But gradually, her runny poop issue has turned into just projectile squirting total liquid all the time.

It took me a while to find a vet who treats chickens, but I finally did. The vet said she was in good body condition with no obvious problems, other than the liquid poo, which she witnessed and acknowledged is not normal. It cost over $400 and took almost 3 weeks to get blood and fecal results back, and there were no detectable parasites or diseases found. She had slightly low calcium and phosphorus levels (but she's also molting right now). There wasn't anything the vet could treat or prescribe, as she couldn't really find anything wrong with her. Her energy level and appetite are good, and the problem hasn't spread to any other chickens.

The vet did suggest that I switch to a different probiotic (Bene-Bac) instead of the several other ones I've tried. I just gave her a dose of that this morning, so we'll see.

Because it took weeks to get even a callback from the vet, I panicked a little and tried a round of Tylosin that I had left over from something else. It seemed like it did firm things up a bit, but as soon as she finished her 5 days of it, she went back to all liquid. The vet said not to do another round of it, as there was nothing in the bloodwork to indicate a bacterial infection.

I was feeding her basic layer pellets from the feed store, but I switched to Purina Layena crumbles the past few weeks, in case she was having some kind of issue with the pellets. (She seems very enthusiastic about the new food.) I also give her apple cider vinegar in her water a few times a week, and I've tried both plain yogurt and various probiotic powders that go in the food or water. She also gets small amounts of mealworms, soldier fly larvae, and fresh romaine lettuce and beet greens from my garden.

I'm keeping her indoors right now so I can monitor her problem better, but she and my other chickens usually get time to free-range in the yard every day. They all seem to love any nasty rainwater or garden runoff they can find, so my original assumption was that she drank some contaminated water. But the tests seem to have ruled that out.

Does anybody have any experience with something like this? And were you able to figure out what it was and treat it?

I'd like to get a few more chicks this spring, but I want to make sure the birds I have are completely healthy first.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

 

[Eggcessive]

I really would not keep her indoors now, but let her be with her flock. Otherwise, they may change their pecking order and pick on her if she is missing for awhile. Since you have had all the testing, I don’t know that there is too much more that you can do or monitor. I would just check her vent often to make sure that she doesn’t need a cleanup. Cottage cheese and cooked rice have a tendency to firm up droppings, but I would try some in moderation, and make her layer feed her primary food with no extras. ACV added to water is okay in moderation, but it really is not necessary. Even though your vet saw no worms or parasites, it probably would not hurt to worm her a couple of times a year. Valbazen is good, and SafGuard is as well.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

-How much Apple Cider Vinegar are you putting in your water? It can actually cause diarrhea if the dosage is too high.

-Another consideration is that even something as a simple intolerance/food allergy can cause diarrhea. If everything else came back clean from the vet I would go back to the basics of just giving plain water and just her feed- no treats no ACV.

-As for probiotics I don't know what brands you used, but I'm a big fan of Bene-Bac and always keep some on hand so you may see some progress with that.

-Antibiotics kill BOTH good and bad gut bacteria which can actually result in diarrhea due to the bacteria in-balance. It can take months to restore good gut bacteria.

-Has she ever had vent gleet or any form of fungal issues? Candida overgrowth can cause severe gut-imbalances and as far as I know it's not tested for usually unless requested.

-Keeping her inside is only going to stress her out.

 

[azygous]

I had a Speckled Sussex hen at one time that never had solid poops. From the time I brought her home as a day-old to the day she died at age eight, she had runny poops, so runny, they would make an audible "splort" when she pooped.

She was never sick a single day of her long life. I discovered early on that she was obsessed with drinking water. She was sucking up water every waking minute, or so it seemed. She behaved normally in every other respect. She just loved to drink water, and it made for watery poop.

 

[aart]

I would go back to the basics of just giving plain water and just her feed- no treats no ACV.

Ditto Dat!!

 

[TillyPeeps]

I have one hen drinking lots of water during molting and she had liquid poops for over two months. None of her poops was solid that time. I freaked out, but found she was complete healthy other than liquid poops. I was so confused. Once she finished molting, her poops are all normal. I guess it's the same problem as your hen.

I had a Speckled Sussex hen at one time that never had solid poops. From the time I brought her home as a day-old to the day she died at age eight, she had runny poops, so runny, they would make an audible "splort" when she pooped.

She was never sick a single day of her long life. I discovered early on that she was obsessed with drinking water. She was sucking up water every waking minute, or so it seemed. She behaved normally in every other respect. She just loved to drink water, and it made for watery poop.

 

[RGB RIP]

Thanks, guys. Sounds like maybe she needs less intervention, rather than more. It's just so frustrating to spend hundreds of dollars on tests, and then not get any answers.

 

[Banana01]

Maybe more fiber, but at the same time maybe less fiber. One study says fiber should be 10% of the chickens diet, so maybe limit treats to be something more fibrousy, but of a kind that promotes a solid stool.

Many fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes are high in fiber. But there are several types of fiber, some cause diarreah and some improve diarreah. I can tell you I feed corn along with soy based feeds, and i think my chickens poop is too solid, they are getting too much fiber from the corn.

Types of fiber

Cellulose (nuts, wheat, seeds)
Inulin oligofructose (onions, beets)
Lignin (flax, rye, certain veggies)
Mucilage (oats, soy, bananas, apples)
Pectin (fruits, citrus)
Polydextrose (synthetic fiber)
Psyllium (seeds, husks)
Starch (bananas, oatmeal, legumes)
Wheat dextrin (wheat starch)

The yogurts or probiotics you are giving may contain the synthetic fiber polydextrose, and also may contain pectin. Those fibers cause intestinal gas. Whereas the better fibers may be to try flax seeds, a high source of mucilage. Unfortunately it may be hard to supplement a good fiber, so try to eliminate giving them synthetic fibers from the supplements you are giving.

Your new feed doesnt give any information on the fiber content. The probiotic for bacillus probably isnt causing the diarreah, but it could be contibuting to an imbalance.

Your feed has no fiber content listed. I supplement whole corn with purina feed for fiber.

 

[RGB RIP]

That's interesting about the corn. I was feeding them Kelley's Lay Pellets before I switched to the Purina, and the problems originally started on that feed. I haven't tried adding any other kinds of grains to the diet, so maybe it would be worth trying some corn.

I'm also hoping some of the diarrhea will clear up after she finishes her molt. She started much later than the other hens and is kind of a hot mess right now.

 

[Eggcessive]

I also had a cuckoo marans hen who had clear watery poop the whole time I had her. She was a big healthy hen with no other problems, but she sat in a nest box for an hour every other day and never laid an egg. A friend butchered her.