New hens all have diahrrea

[rhondashannonat]

I purchased 8 new hens from my local feed store recently., that were approximately 5 months old. They were added to my existing flock after a coyote attack killed 8 of my girls. The new girls are just starting to lay.

Unfortunately, they ALL have runny, smelly diarrhea. They seem to be healthy otherwise but, I cannot get rid of the diarrhea. I first thought that after they were allowed to free range and eat better food, the diarrhea would clear up but, after two weeks and worming with Wazine, it is a no go. Still runny poo.

Any suggestions on what I can give these girls to settle their stomachs? Thank you!

 

[Percheron chick]

Try fermenting their feed.

 

[rhondashannonat]

Thank you for your reply. How do I ferment their feed?

 

[Sutremaine]

Stick it in a bucket with some water.

If you're using rainwater, that alone will be sufficient. If you're using tapwater, add a little acid to it. Unpasteurised apple cider vinegar is given as the best option, because it contains the sort of microorganisms you're trying to encourage in the feed. Plain vinegar will do, to acidify the water slightly and make it a worse environment for undesirable bacteria and yeast.

If you can't get a good ferment going after about a week, or you really don't like the smell, a soak of overnight to 24 hours will break down pellets or crumbles and make them more digestible. I don't feed fermented whole grains, so I couldn't tell you how long they need to soak in fresh water.

 

[Percheron chick]

There is a lengthy post on fermenting in the feed section but basically it's cover some feed with water, stir it if you feel like it. Let it sit for 3-4 days and you're in business. You can start feeding it day one but it isn't as developed as it would be waiting. Just add feed and water to keep it going.

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to use probiotics or plain yogurt in their feed a couple of days a week to promote good gut health. Also, chickens new to your soil might benefit from a round of Corid low dose treatment, to help them build up resistance to coccidia in your soil. There are 9 or more strains that affect chickens, and they might not be tolerant of the strain in your soil. All chickens will have the occasional cecal poop, which is runny and shiny, or foamy, and if they are drinking lots of water during warm weather, the droppings can be watery. You can always take in a collection of fresh morning droppings to have your regular vet do a fecal float test for worms and coccidia. Wazine gets round worms, but there are other worms that affect chickens. Valbazen or SafeGuard are good for other worms, depending on what you are treating. It is good that your chickens are active and doing well. Fermented feed will have probiotics, but after feeding it for 7 months once, I went back to feeding dry food with added probiotics, since it was much easier oversll. I did not notice any difference in my chickens health.