Orange poop?

[chippysmom327]

This has been going on for a while now. Just my rooster has either hard, rust colored poops or caecal-ish looking orange poops. Here was a particularly bizarre one that I watched him "deposit" today:

He does eat the berries off the burning bushes that we have around my house. When there's lots if snow, his poops return to normal.

I don't think it's Cocci. I don't wanna waste 20 some dollars on the meds. And he's had this for a few months and the others haven't. And I'd think that if it were cocci it'd be getting worse. But there are no other symptoms. The only thing is, it sounds like he has trouble breathing sometimes. Not like any respiratory illnesses like phlegm, wheezing, rattling or any of that. And not all of the time. Just sometimes. And it's not like he's REALLY struggling. Just a little bit. Very slight really. I don't think it's connected to the poop though. Just figured I'd add it in case you guys knew something I didn't.

 

[TwoCrows]

It is possible he has an intestinal tract infection. I recently had a hen with rust colored poop and treated her with antibacterial meds. I was not sure this is what she had, and she had been having diarrhea and color of the poop was getting redder for a few weeks. She seemed fine otherwise, but after a while, she seemed like something was a miss with her. The antibacterial meds cleared her up. It is possible your bird is suffering from the same thing.

 

[chippysmom327]

Thanks! What did you treat her with? i don't have a vet I can take him to.

 

[TwoCrows]

I probably would have used Sulfadimethoxide or Oxytetracycline, which I add a certain amount to baby food and syringe it down the throat. This way I do not have to treat the entire flock or keep them in a cage. But at the time, I didn't have any baby food, and living out in the middle of no where, LOL, and wasn't going to town for a long while, I had to make do. So I had some Baytril tablets left over from a previous illness and I put a half of one in raisins in the morning and again in the evening. After one week she was cured.

But any of these meds I have listed work on intestinal tract infections. It is worth a try. Hope your rooster recuperates quick!

Oh, and if you have hard water at your place and you use the Oxy, you will need to use RO water or distilled as the salts and minerals in hard water stick to the Oxy's ingredients and they are no available for the bird to use.

Make a new batch of meds each day on both of these. The sulfa drug is used for 5 to 6 days, the Oxy is used for 7 to 14 days, depending on the severity.

 

[chippysmom327]

I probably would have used Sulfadimethoxide or Oxytetracycline, which I add a certain amount to baby food and syringe it down the throat. This way I do not have to treat the entire flock or keep them in a cage. But at the time, I didn't have any baby food, and living out in the middle of no where, LOL, and wasn't going to town for a long while,  I had to make do. So I had some Baytril tablets left over from a previous illness and I put a half of one in raisins in the morning and again in the evening. After one week she was cured.

But any of these meds I have listed work on intestinal tract infections. It is worth a try. Hope your rooster recuperates quick!

Oh, and if you have hard water at your place and you use the Oxy, you will need to use RO water or distilled as the salts and minerals in hard water stick to the Oxy's ingredients and they are no available for the bird to use. 

Make a new batch of meds each day on both of these. The sulfa drug is used for 5 to 6 days, the Oxy is used for 7 to 14 days, depending on the severity.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to those drugs. Do you have pics of your hen's poop?

 

[TwoCrows]

No I don't have any pics. You could always try putting 2 or 3 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar in 1 gallon of water for a month. Change it everyday. ACV helps with infections and fungal infections in the body and maybe over time you can beat it with his own immune system. All the chickens can drink this water as well. It will do everybody good. Certainly won't hurt anything. ACV is a very good maintenence tonic and is good for many things in birds as well as humans.

 

[chippysmom327]

I was going to start ACV anyway. Thanks for all your help. Were her poops loose? My roo's are mostly firm, with occasional caecal-looking one which I assume are caecal, but just colored bc of the infection.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[TwoCrows]

That is how my girls poop looked. She started out with diarrhea and when I started her in on ACV and probiotics, the poop firmed up and was just rust color. Some of them looked cecal looking as well.

 

[chippysmom327]

Okay. I'll try the ACV in a while. I'm probably going to eat him in the spring because he's mean and really a terrible rooster. So it may not matter anyway.