Odd poops in the run/liquid poured out of mouth

[Cellomama2]

I have noticed the flock seems a bit off lately just kind of lounging around and not as active as usual unless I through some treats or something of course. I'm seeing some odd droppings lately in the run. See added photos. There has also been a drop in eggs. My husband was saying maybe the weather but I don't think so. No change in diet other than catching crickets for them. All between 1 and 1.5 years and do not free range. Started some probiotics. Ideas?

I was also taking them out into the tractor so they could scratch around a bit and when I went to set another girl down my silkie had a bunch of clear liquid fall out of her mouth. She seemed a little dazed when she was in the run too before I grabbed her. I felt around for a lump like a blocked crop but didn't feel anything. Didn't notice any smell when I saw this.

What is going on?

 

[coach723]

If it's very hot then that could be the reason they are less active, it can also cause a loss in egg production, as can any stress. The liquid could have been because she'd just drank a lot of water, again maybe due to heat, and maybe pressure on the crop when you picked her up brought it up. Try to freshen water during the hottest part of the day, make sure they have shade, shallow dishes of cool water to stand in can help, frozen watermelon, etc. The droppings don't look terrible, could just be cecal droppings which happen about every 10 droppings and color and consistency can vary. The top one looks a tiny bit foamy, again could be increased water intake, but if you can get a fecal test done to check for parasites that might be a good idea, just to rule that out if you haven't wormed in a while, or ever.

 

[Cellomama2]

I've only wormed once and that was a few months ago. It's been mostly in the seventies to low eighties hear and I didn't think that was bad.

 

[coach723]

70-80 isn't bad unless your humidity is high. When you wormed what did you use, dosage, and were you worming for a particular worm you knew they had?

 

[Cellomama2]

I used Wazine-17, dosage I honestly don't remember but found it on here and no I was just planning on worming on a regular basis at the time as prevention but then decided against it. There are so many controversial ideas on everything raising chickens that I'm still figuring out what is best.

 

[coach723]

Ok, Wazine is effective on large roundworms only, which are common in chickens but are not the only parasite possible. Every environment is different, even between neighbors, so there is no one single correct answer to worming or how often. Many people have a very low environmental loads which makes worming very seldom (some say never) possible. Others have a high parasite load making regular and more frequent worming necessary. Where I live I have to worm at least 3 -4 times a year, more often 6, or I have sick birds. Best way to determine is to have a fecal test done to identify what, if any, parasites your flock has (you can take a mixed sample of many droppings to get a broad look at your flock). Then worm with the appropriate medication for whatever is found, and retest in 4 -6 months to see if they have been reinfected, unless you see symptoms before that. Most parasite eggs survive for a very long time in the environment, so reinfection is always possible, and very likely for some parasites. There are also mail in tests that can be done if you don't have a willing vet. You have to determine what is necessary for your flock, regardless of what is necessary for anyone else. There are those that believe that a bird can carry a 'small amount' of parasites with no health consequences, I'm not personally in that camp. This is a good explanation of why, see post #5 in this thread : https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/worms.1260822/
Hope that helps some.

 

[Cellomama2]

Coach723 thank you so much.