Is this vent gleet or just a poopy butt? (Gross pics warning)

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

No worries, Mother Hen, it doesn't sound unkind.

thank you for reassuring me, text isn't clear on tone, so much is how we read it

 

[KaseySnow]

They ate most of the carrot soup today! One of the other hens also made this poop.

I'm assuming it's a yellowish brown because of the carrot soup, but is that a couple of tiny white worm eggs I see in the poop? The objects I am referring to are kind of in the middle/right of the more solid part.

Bonus picture of the Welsummer (I have named her "Raisin") eating carrot soup like a good girl. That dish was full yesterday!

 

[KaseySnow]

Thanks for the tips! I'll check and see when the last time they were de-wormed was, I didn't even think of that.

Are there any particular vitamins you recommend? They have a complete layer feed that should be giving them all of the vitamins and nutrients they need, but if you don't think it will hurt them I'll do it. They share water and I have nowhere to isolate her, so it would have to go in everyone's water.

Unfortunately it's been too cold since Sunday to do anything about it, we're getting snow all week now, ugh. Hopefully she'll make it to the weekend when it's supposed to warm up again. I hate to just grab her and pull the stuff off without wetting the feathers, but I'm afraid of making her too cold since I'd only be able to towel her off.

 

[LaFleche]

Thanks so much!

The only other possible diarrhea source I can think of is that we have some chick feed we are trying to use up, so it's been mixed in with the layer feed we are giving them. Could eating that be causing these issues? I thought chick feed was more or less the same except less calcium, and they do have access to lots of oyster shells to counteract this, but correct me if I'm wrong.

You could look at the date of manufacture and smell the chick feed, it might already be off. Other than that, the difference might be higher protein levels.

I have some Country Life liquid vitamins with all natural vitamin sources (plants, fruits, etc). Will this help in the meantime until I can get other vitamins to put in their water? I was thinking I could mix it in with the Moro's carrot soup. Or is this vitamin liquid bad for chickens? The only vitamin on your list that it doesn't appear to have is vitamin K.

This would do, but rather add it to the drinking water according to the instructions on the label.
What I do not like about it, are these added artificial flavours, but that's just me.

I know they have at least one annual vet visit with the flock and am hoping de-wormer is administered during that time, but I will find out. Dunno how often chickens should be treated for worms.

This usually depends on the climate, grounds the chickens forage on, numbers of chickens, their age and overall health. Deworming twice a year will usually suffice.

I deworm my flock at least two times per year: In the spring prior to collecting hatching eggs and setting broodies, and in autumn.
In very wet years we will have a lot more snails that are known to be alternate hosts, so I will already deworm the chicks as early as 6-8 weeks old to prevent stunted growth etc.

These chickens are very lucky to have you taking such dedicated care of them!

 

[KaseySnow]

You could look at the date of manufacture and smell the chick feed, it might already be off. Other than that, the difference might be higher protein levels.

We don't have the bags anymore as it was all dumped into a feeding bin that we scoop out of, but I know we bought it for young pullets that were introduced in the spring of 2019, so it's two year old feed at this point. It's been kept in a cool, dry, dark environment the whole time, not sure if that helps. I'm sure the museum is just trying to save money by using it up first, but there's only maybe 5 pounds of it left, maybe we should just throw it out to be safe. What would it smell like if it were off? I haven't noticed a smell.

It is being mixed with a complete layer feed, Purina, I think, so they are getting a mixture of the chick feed, layer feed, and some scratch.

I have noticed them pecking at spilled feed on the ground that got wet the night before and had kind of disintegrated/crumbled into bits, but they still poke at them. Could that be the cause? I don't know how long it takes wet feed to mildew. So much I don't know!

 

[KaseySnow]

Good to know! It sounds like the chick feed is definitely the problem then. I will be sure to toss it tonight and let them know it had gone bad and was likely causing GI distress.

I wonder why only this one hen is having issues with it though. No one else has had digestive issues that I've noticed. Maybe she's just eating more of it than the others?

 

[KaseySnow]

I run the rake over what they throw on the ground, it gets stuck up with poo. turn the soil and then won't eat it. If there were seeds in it they might sprout

maybe explain that 2 yr old food is compost. It does not contain preservatives so it is rotten regardless of the smell.

a single vet visit will out-cost the savings of a half-bag of feed.

if they are that poor, they should give away the hens to someone who can afford to feed them.

I am sorry if that sounds unkind, it is not meant to be.

if they fund-raise maybe they can do a 'chicken-sponsorship' program or sell eggs.

No worries, Mother Hen, it doesn't sound unkind. I know their budget isn't huge, but they do set aside a certain amount of their funding each year for chicken-related expenses. I want to say it's around one thousand dollars to cover food, health/vet, and any coop upgrades. Their coop is a historic building, so sometimes upgrades to the setup can be tricky or expensive, so I know a lot of that budget has gone to that in the past, but I think most of the bigger upgrades like pouring concrete in the coop to help keep rodents out is behind us.

I may also be making assumptions about their reasoning for still using the chick feed. Frankly, we volunteers are more involved with the hens' day to day care than the museum staff, and most of us are new to chicken keeping. So it could just be a case of no one knowing that this was bad for them. I sure didn't.

As an anecdote to how new at this most of the staff and volunteers can be about chicken stuff, when I first started volunteering there in 2018 our polish went broody and one of the volunteers told the staff that they thought she was sick. The staff person went and looked at her, then sent an e-mail talking about euthanizing her if she didn't get better. Well intentioned, but I definitely spoke up quickly to explain about broody behavior, haha.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I wonder why only this one hen is having issues with it though. No one else has had digestive issues that I've noticed. Maybe she's just eating more of it than the others?

I was thinking about that... and I wonder if she is the top-hen and maybe getting more of it, or the bottom hen and getting the worst of it... likely as the others said she was just weaker, so it impacted her first/more.

 

[KaseySnow]

I was thinking about that... and I wonder if she is the top-hen and maybe getting more of it, or the bottom hen and getting the worst of it... likely as the others said she was just weaker, so it impacted her first/more.

She is kinda in the middle of the pecking order. Maybe her system is just more sensitive to bad food? I did notice a mildly poopy butt on our cochin the other day, but she's as perky as ever and I think she cleaned it all off already, so maybe nothing abnormal.

The Welsummer has still got yellowish, runny poop as of this morning, and still hasn't fluffed her bum feathers back up from the bath I gave her. I bagged up the old food yesterday morning and it's getting disposed of tomorrow. I got her to eat some probiotic yogurt yesterday. Also made the Moro's carrot soup as suggested to encourage recovery, but she only had a few bites. The other hens ate some of it though.

She slept in a nesting box last night instead of up on the roost (I wonder if it was to keep her butt warm since we got snow) but she wasn't the last one down in the morning today, so that's good. I saw her eating some pellets as well, so I'm hoping to see improvement over the next few days as temperatures rise. I guess if I don't see improvements I'll know the feed was not the culprit and will be back to square one.

Still waiting to hear back on when the last time they were de-wormed was. The new volunteer coordinator is going to talk to the vet too.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I guess if I don't see improvements I'll know the feed was not the culprit and will be back to square one.

Still waiting to hear back on when the last time they were de-wormed was. The new volunteer coordinator is going to talk to the vet too.

it might take her a little more time and cuddling to recover... give her time

and yourself too... love and patience.