New chickens and weird poop

[Julieschicks]

We’ve had our 3 chickens for 2.5 weeks now and they were right about 3mo old when we got them. They were up to date on vaccinations based on this regimen the farm uses: http://www.seabreezehens.com/preventative-health.html. So they’re obviously not laying eggs yet since they’re not quite 4mo old. The past couple days I’ve noticed some orangey-yellow, kind of foamy poop around the run. Today I saw it was coming from the black australorp. We’re brand new to chicken keeping, so of course I’m quite concerned. The other two hens are having normal poops. And Becky (the australorp) appears to be acting normal. She’s eating and drinking and scratching and up and around as much as the other two. This is the poop I saw her drop this afternoon.

 

[MissMaple]

Could it be a lash egg?

 

[Julieschicks]

Could it be a lash egg?

I don’t believe so. It’s definitely more liquidy like a poop.

 

[coach723]

Can you take a fresh sample into the vet and have a fecal float test done? Sometimes foamy poo's like that can indicate an internal parasite load, best to test and see if and what before treating if possible. Since she's acting normal that's what I would do and go from there.

 

[Julieschicks]

Can you take a fresh sample into the vet and have a fecal float test done? Sometimes foamy poo's like that can indicate an internal parasite load, best to test and see if and what before treating if possible. Since she's acting normal that's what I would do and go from there.

I can call our vet tomorrow and ask. The earliest I could probably do it is tomorrow afternoon after getting the kids from school. I guess we’ll see if it continues into tomorrow. What’s the best way to collect and transport that in?

 

[coach723]

Any clean container will do, even a small ziplock bag. You can scoop it up with a clean spoon if it's too soft to pick up.

 

[Julieschicks]

So I found a couple new odd poops this morning. More watery kind of and also more red. I didn’t see any worms, but I also couldn’t physically get into the run area and look real close. All this stuff I’m reading makes coccidiosis a possibility. My question is though, if they were vaccinated against it as chicks and have been on unmediated feed since, can they still get it? Or is this something else??

 

[Eggcessive]

It almost looks like a worm in the first poop picture. I agree that I would take some fresh droppings in to the vet for testing for worms and coccidiosis. Call ahead to make sure that they will perform the fecal float on droppings without seeing the chicken.
Corid (amprollium) powder 1 1/5 tsp or liquid 2 tsp per gallon of water for 5-7 days is a good treatment for coccidiosis. SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer 0.25 ml per pound of weight for 3-5 days in a row is a good wormer. Both are available at most feed stores.

 

[coach723]

The short answer to if it's possible for them to still get it is yes. Doesn't mean that's what it is, but it could be. Immunity depends on the type of vaccine used and the birds exposure to oocysts afterwards. Not all strains are covered by all vaccines, and post vaccine exposure is also part of the equation. Here are a couple of links with info you can read:
https://academic.oup.com/japr/article/21/3/679/725166
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...-for-natural-and-organic-poultry/47/vaccines/
If your vet will do a fecal then you should get a coccidia count along with ID of any other parasite found, if present. If you are not able to get a fecal test then treatment is not difficult, but if you can get the test then you don't worry about treating unnecessarily.

 

[Julieschicks]

Waiting on a call back from the vet. I guess they’ve never had someone ask about it. The receptionist asked one vet, but they’re waiting to talk to the owner vet to double check. They’re thinking I may need to bring one of the chickens in along with a sample so they have that animal/vet relationship established before they can release test results. We’ll see what they say.