hens molting and have diarrhea

[aldarita]

I have 8 hens (20 months old) that are molting or have just finished molting that have very bad diarrhea. I also have 9 pullets and 2 cockerels that live in the same yard but a different coop with no problems and have normal poop. I read the posts about molting but no mention of diarrhea. First I attributed the problem due to the molting and the winter stress since I know that chickens get diarrhea when they are stressed. I am worried about it now because this has been going on for almost 2 weeks.
I added some poultry conditioner to their layer feed to up the protein and help them with the molt, I also know that too much protein can cause watery stools however the pullets and cockerels are OK eating the same feed mixture. i added some nutri-drench to their water to help with the winter stress but I don't think this is the problem because again the pullets and cockerels drink from the same waterer and no problems. Has anybody have had a similar experience? Is it the molting or should I be concerned and have them checked?

 

[Eggcessive]

At this age they should be immune to the coccidia strain on your property unless they have recently moved, but taking a collective stool sample into a vet may give you some information about possible worms or coccidiosis. Worms may be the reason and they should get some probiotics on a regular basis, a couple of times a week. Probios Dispersible Powder is a good one to add to the water. Fenbendazole (SafeGuard or Panacur) and Valbazen are excellent wormers that get all known chicken worms. Valbazen also gets tapeworm too. They shouldn't get diarrhea from protein even if you are feeding 20%, but I wouldn't go higher than that.