Lasting diarrhea and starting to spread

[clogan98]

I rescued four neglected chickens on Xmas eve. They had spent three weeks scratching in the corpse of one of their flock mates. Since I’ve gotten them one has had constant diarrhea. Now it’s two. I treated with Corid and no improvement. They are acting absolutely fine except for the diarrhea. Any other ideas on how to attempt to treat? Or what might cause it? I keep hearing worms don’t really cause diarrhea. I’m worried they caught something from picking in the decaying corpse for three weeks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I rescued four neglected chickens on Xmas eve. They had spent three weeks scratching in the corpse of one of their flock mates. Since I’ve gotten them one has had constant diarrhea. Now it’s two. I treated with Corid and no improvement. They are acting absolutely fine except for the diarrhea. Any other ideas on how to attempt to treat? Or what might cause it? I keep hearing worms don’t really cause diarrhea. I’m worried they caught something from picking in the decaying corpse for three weeks.

They are still on the exact food they were eating as she gave me the bin of pellets. I toss them some veggies and scratch, yogurt and oatmeal which I’m sure they’ve never had but same staple diet.
I wanted to deworm but I’m confused on what to use. I’m seeing many different opinions. I was going to use safeguard for goats.
No pics at this time (too late tonight to try). Green and white but super loose. Their rears are streaked in white.

The closest in that chart was the one due to excessive water intake due to high heat and it’s winter in Connecticut so definitely not the case. The next closest is the one due to egg peritonitis which wouldn’t spread to another chicken although the one who had it first

When you can, photos of the poop would be good.
How old is the feed? It's the same feed that was being used when they were rescued?
What type of feed is it?

I would get some fresh feed. Eliminate the oatmeal. You can give a very small amount of scratch or veggies daily - make sure they have access to grit (crushed granite) free choice.
You don't mention how old they are or if they are all hens - either way - provide them with oyster shell free choice as well.

If you do want to worm them - then I would use the Safeguard (fenbendazole). The dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight, give orally for 5 days in a row.

I would also check crops first thing in the morning to make sure they are emptying. Look them over for lice/mites.

Green and white poop - are they drinking enough? Do they have a similar water station to what they were accustomed to?

 

[Eggcessive]

Good advice from @Wyorp Rock . Getting the fecal float soon would be helpful. Then worm them, since all chickens carry worms. Clean out the droppings often, and place clean pine shavings on their ground. In the run, sand might be good to use. Mixing some water with chicken feed can be better for them than feeding just oatmeal. Oatmeal is not particularly good for them. A good feed for older chickens is Flock Raiser 20% protein. If some still lay get a small bag of crushed oystershell for a separate container. If you prefer layer feed, I would use a brand name crumble, such as Purina or Nutrina.

 

[clogan98]

They are not locked in the coop at night. They also have the run of half a garage. These are the only chickens I have. I owned them years ago but had no intention of getting any here. This was an emergency situation.

 

[Lizzy733]

Do they have access to grass for grazing as well?
Maybe have a look at a poo chart and see if you can match up anything with what you've seen for now:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive/
From what I understand, Botulism and its family, which can be picked up from carrion, should present with other symptoms besides just diarrhea and have a relatively quick onset.

 

[clogan98]

No idea how old the feed is or what type it is. She would buy things from Tractor Supply so something from there. Just ran out yesterday so I’ll be switching them anyway. Just didn’t want to switch the day they arrived as I was afraid that would be even more stress. They have grit and shells. Don’t think they ever have before. Laying hens but no idea their age. No more than 5 or 6 as that’s how long the owners lived at their address. I was only giving some warm oatmeal in the mornings when it was below 20 degrees but will stop if that might be contributing. Checked for mites and see no visible signs. They don’t seem to get along though as in the morning they have fresh injuries. 4 chickens in a 16 sq ft coop (only go in to sleep and lay) with two 48” roosts spaced far apart enough to try to deter it as they’ve been squabbling since they arrived. Lots of comb pecking and feather pulling. I will get pics of poop when I let them outside later. Same type of waterer and they do drink. I don’t think they had access to fresh food and water at all times previous because both were empty when I took them and when I set them up here they gorged themselves long enough to be concerning. My vet said they can run a fecal so I’ll try that as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No more than 5 or 6 as that’s how long the owners lived at their address...They don’t seem to get along though as in the morning they have fresh injuries. 4 chickens in a 16 sq ft coop (only go in to sleep and lay) with two 48” roosts spaced far apart enough to try to deter it as they’ve been squabbling since they arrived. Lots of comb pecking and feather pulling. I will get pics of poop when I let them outside later. Same type of waterer and they do drink. I don’t think they had access to fresh food and water at all times previous because both were empty when I took them and when I set them up here they gorged themselves long enough to be concerning. My vet said they can run a fecal so I’ll try that as well.

I agree with @Eggcessive Personally I would use an all flock/flock raiser feed. Purina Flock Raiser is good. Naturewise also has an All Flock feed, I've never used that one - I DO look at the date tag on feed bags and try to get a bag that was milled within the last few weeks. Older feed loses nutrition.
Having 4 hens, a bag will last you a while, so I would try to store it where it stays dry and fresh. I would only put on enough feed that they will consume in a day or two - feed exposed to moisture/outdoors can spoil and mold quickly.

With them coming out every morning with fresh injuries - comb pecking and feather pulling - they may not have enough space inside their coop (photos may be helpful). Are you locking them in at night and opening the coop early in the morning? Even though they have 4sq ft of space each in the coop, that's a guideline. Some birds get on just fine with even less space, while others need much more.

I'm glad your vet can run a fecal float, I would get that done fairly quickly just so know whether it will be a good idea to worm them or not.

Do you have other chickens too?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If their fecal float/deworming doesn't solve the problem, you might want to look into enteritis and treating with BMD.

I had a hen with mystery watery poop for a long time not caused by worms or related to the food she ate. The watery poop started to spread to the rest of the flock so I ended up treating them all with BMD and probiotics. They no longer have watery poops. I continue to add probiotics to their water periodically to keep up their gut health.

Good luck with your flock!

What is BMD?

 

[aart]

Never mind, duh I'm having a brain freeze

Well, I don't know ...and it doesn't goggle(easily).

 

[eikome]

What is BMD?

Sorry! BMD stands for bacitracin methylene disalicylate. It's sold as "BMD soluble". You can get it here from Jeffers Pet and from MurrayMcMurray.