Liquid diarrhea...

[thegreypony]

Our 12 wk old Barred rock rooster seems to be the slightest bit depressed...DH thinks I'm imagining it, but I'm not...anyway, he just pooped and it was more like someone opened a faucet. color was a normal brown, no blood, no white, no green slimeyness...

Is this normal? We are new to this and going by the books with a lot of common sense but there is a sharp learning curve. He's eating and drinking and otherwise alert and responsive...just seems a little depressed...

Is this poo within normal limits...as far as poo goes? Does it constitute cecal poo?

 

[threehorses]

I'd go with your instincts. To me, it sounds like coccidiosis and I'd symptomatically treat as such. I'd also give a round of probiotics the week after treating, every other day is fine.

Sulmet's the usually coccidiosis treatment and it's easy to get. While youre there, pick up a thing of probiotics (fastrack, probios, etc). If it's too pricey, you could possibly get by with human-aimed acidophilus or even plain yogurt (about 1/2 teaspoon for an adult bird) in a pinch - but the latter has a lot of dairy. It won't hurt, but it wouldn't be as good as the former which is just straight bacteria in a base.

Once you treat, treat for the duration it says on the bottle. Treat with the probiotics for a week afterwards. Treat your whole flock, and clean up the premises to make sure it's very dry and clean.

 

[gritsar]

Sounds to me like cecal poo. Here's the chart where you can compare it:

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

Besides the depression and the poo, any other symptoms?

 

[thegreypony]

Thanks for the responses. I'm certain I've been seeing some Marek's issues in a couple of the birds. We've got a hen with partial paralysis in her legs and wings. Eats and hobbles around, in every other way normal. Lost a bird two days ago who was ADR (ain't doin' right) for about 3 weeks....he was really depressed and non-responsive to the supportive treatments.

I started medicating for coccidiosis and am giving vitamins & electrolytes. This little rooster had 2 days of VERY weak legs and a droopy wing. I gave supportive care and he's been absolutely fine for about 3 weeks.

I'm checking the poo chart....

Thanks, again!