New mama hen developed loose stools after eating medicated chick starter

[toomanyfowltocount]

Hi y'all,
Has anyone else experienced their mama hen having changes in their stools when switching to the medicated chick starter after her chicks are born? Its been very soft and loose, but it's dark brown and very stinky. I'm having to clean out the broader coop everyday and wipe her butt so that the poor chicks dont "suffocate /die from the toxic fumes" while under her. Maybe I'm paranoid, lol, but she has 13 babies under her...
I did switch her to non-medicated chick starter feed after the first bout, and have the ACV in the water for everyone's benefit. This is the first hen of mine to go broody, so I haven't gone through this experience before to know if it's just a normal thing or not.
Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Post poo pictures when you can. As gross as that sounds it will help. (Don’t worry we’ve seen it all)
Super smelly and dark brown could be cecal poop. But again that’s why pictures are helpful.

@casportpony in case I’m wrong....

https://the-chicken-chick.com/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive/

Pictures and descriptions in the link to the chicken chick

 

[toomanyfowltocount]

Post poo pictures when you can. As gross as that sounds it will help. (Don’t worry we’ve seen it all)
Super smelly and dark brown could be cecal poop. But again that’s why pictures are helpful.

@casportpony in case I’m wrong....

https://the-chicken-chick.com/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive/

Pictures and descriptions in the link to the chicken chick

Thank you so much for all this info and especially the link you provided. You were rt, it definitely IS

Post poo pictures when you can. As gross as that sounds it will help. (Don’t worry we’ve seen it all)
Super smelly and dark brown could be cecal poop. But again that’s why pictures are helpful.

@casportpony in case I’m wrong....

https://the-chicken-chick.com/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive/

Pictures and descriptions in the link to the chicken chick

Thank you so much for all of ur helpful info and especially the link. It IS in fact cecal poop!! One of the times it had more of a yellowish tinge to it. Normally she had been holding her poop until I let her out (she chose a rabbit type hutch to lay her eggs in that luckily is against our house and protected from predators and bad weather. I had to close the door to it so that the other hens and roosters would leave her alone while she brooded her clutch of eggs. I have been going out several times a day to let her out, make sure she's getting enough food and water, and just checking on her. She trusts me completely and allows me to help with her and now her babies. But after I switched to the chick starter feed, (the chicks are 2-3 days old now) she didn't leave the hutch to defecate, instead did it in the middle of the night. So I was worried. So thank you for putting my mind at ease!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I was worried sick with my broody! I checked on her all the time. I always feared the worst. I’m glad to hear your momma is doing good with her littles. There is not a cuter sight then a momma with her chicks.

Beware the cecal poo! There is no smell like it and it never leaves you. LOL

 

[chickens really]

Broody poop is absolutely horrible.....

 

[Shadrach]

Hi y'all,
Has anyone else experienced their mama hen having changes in their stools when switching to the medicated chick starter after her chicks are born? Its been very soft and loose, but it's dark brown and very stinky. I'm having to clean out the broader coop everyday and wipe her butt so that the poor chicks dont "suffocate /die from the toxic fumes" while under her. Maybe I'm paranoid, lol, but she has 13 babies under her...
I did switch her to non-medicated chick starter feed after the first bout, and have the ACV in the water for everyone's benefit. This is the first hen of mine to go broody, so I haven't gone through this experience before to know if it's just a normal thing or not.
Thanks in advance for any input!

This is just one of the many reasons why broody hens should not be shut into little coops and should have access to the outside to defecate, eat, drink and bath.
You wouldn't want to hatch chicks in 21 days worth of that poop in your nest would you.

 

[Old Ben]

Thank you for this post! It was quite helpful to see the replies. I’m wanting a hen to go broody so she can hatch some eggs, it’s nice to know if this happens it’s nothing to worry about.

 

[toomanyfowltocount]

This is just one of the many reasons why broody hens should not be shut into little coops and should have access to the outside to defecate, eat, drink and bath.
You wouldn't want to hatch chicks in 21 days worth of that poop in your nest would you.

She chose this place on her own to lay and hatch her eggs. I have a 10ft by 15ft chicken coop that I custom built for my chickens. They free range from sun up to sun down then put themselves in and I close it up every night. I do a head count every night and this is how I found out I had a broody hen. She was missing and I went to find her with a flashlight.
My daughter had rabbits and Guinea pigs when she was younger and I converted those hutches into extra laying boxes since I have 45 hens and they dont all like to lay in the hen house. 2 roosters and a couple of other hens were pushing her off of her eggs and causing her massive stress. So I stepped in and volunteered to care for her.
She went out several times a day to dust bathe, stretch her legs, defecate and be a chicken. Meanwhile I sat guard for the 20 minutes each time so the other birds left her eggs alone. When she was ready to come back in she did. I also hand fed her and gave her water every couple of hours while she was on her eggs. My mama hen trusted me enough to let me pet her and check her eggs while she was on them. And now that the babies are born and she's taking care of them, she has no problem with me picking them up. They all have plenty of room and they are protected from our predators AND the other chickens and roosters who aren't as sweet as her.
And lastly, there was not "21 days of poop" in her nest. There was zero poop up until they were born and I started giving the chick starter feed and she had the 3 poops that were smelly and soft and completely different than what she usually expelled when she went out. (Which I cleaned out promptly btw)

Which is why I was concerned and wrote the post. So you might want to get off of ur high roost bar and relax a little.

 

[Shadrach]

This is just one of the many reasons why broody hens should not be shut into little coops and should have access to the outside to defecate, eat, drink and bath.
You wouldn't want to hatch chicks in 21 days worth of that poop in your nest would you.

You wrote in your original post that you had been cleaning her out on a regular basis which I took note of. As you pointed out, it isn't pleasant to be stuck in a coop with as you put it 'toxic fumes'. My post reinforced that point. It was obviously a general comment.

 

[toomanyfowltocount]

You wrote in your original post that you had been cleaning her out on a regular basis which I took note of. As you pointed out, it isn't pleasant to be stuck in a coop with as you put it 'toxic fumes'. My post reinforced that point. It was obviously a general comment.

Seeing as how the Moderator had to edit your original reply to me by cutting out half of it, because of your "heated" words, (which I received the full version by email), I will take the Moderator's example and keep this short and non-combative. Again, I wrote this post looking for help on an issue I haven't experienced yet. Everyone else was very helpful and pleasant. If you didn't have any helpful advice to contribute, then you shouldn't have responded. This is my last reply to you for I have better things to do than argue on a forum. I wish you all the best.