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Is the poo red tinged? They probably have Coccidia, I think I had to use medicated feed on all the silkie chicks I bought from a local breeder last year.
I do believe that Coccidia will make an animals poo stink, I have zero sense of smell, so if it smelled different I would not be able to tell. Coccidia also destroys the lining of the intestine, which is why you sometimes get red poo and why they eat so much, they are not digesting all that they need out of their feed.
The down side of medicated feed is you have to be super careful what you do with those shavings! I always dump out mine in the compost pile and the chickens pick thru it, Last year I killed one duck and had another limp for a long time! Plus the eggs from the chickens made my hubby sick! I'm going to just medicate the water this year I think if I purchase chicks, I'm using Baycox this year, it kills the both the parasite and the ovacyst, while most Coccidiastats only inhibit the levels of the parasite. Not sure what Coccidiastat is in medicated feed though?
I have wondered though how do chicks GET it? Are they infected in the egg or do they infect themselves once they hatch?
Anyone going to the Bath auction next week?
Chicks can only get coccidia from the ground/floor where adults chickens have been before them. It is impossible to remove it from dirt. If you raise chicks on wire, they will not get it.
Amprol is what is in medicated chick food, and its not a fool proof system.
Once a chick gets coccidia, you have to treat with usually Corid, which is liquid Amprol, or Sulmet, which is stronger and more upsetting to the chicks system.
Usually once a chicks becomes an adult, its system has become used to coccidia and it doesn't affect them like it does a chick.
Usualy symptoms of a coccidia infestation are listness, runny/bloody poop, loss of weight and they stop eatng and stand around by themselves all puffed up, eyes closed.
When you pick one up, its like it weights nothing. By the time it has all of these symptoms it usually dies.
Thanks Sue.
These chicks came to me with runny poop. I don't know the circumstances they lived in before I bought them. I am NOT going to do THAT again; buy chicks without seeing their living conditions and/or asking a LOT more questions. I added the medicated food and yogurt after I noticed the smell and, upon investigation, runny poop.
They are anything but listless. They run around like there is a cat in the cage after them. Here at my house they live in a brand spanky new brooder. And they are eating everything in sight. No problem getting yougurt into these silkies. (My original 4 want nothing to do with yogurt and are not having poo problems either)
Since they don't have any real symptoms other than stinky runny poo, I am hoping it is just an adjustment to my well water that goes through a water softner. Time will tell.
Thanks for everyone's input. I'll let you know how it goes with the new 5. The first 4 are growing and eating and just being wonderful. (unless I turn the light off, then one of them whines like I took her blankie away)
