Paranoid Poop Question

[MoosePijamas]

Hello everyone! This could just me be being paranoid. I tend to be that way towards my girls. It’s my first year having chickens so I’m still a rookie. Here’s the scoop:

I have 12 girls total in a pen / run / coop set up that is 12 x 8. Everyone is about a year old. The two main girls I am worried about are going through their first molt. They are eating, drinking, and acting just fine. A bit sassier due to the molt but nothing out of the ordinary.

They stay in their pen unless I am there for supervised garden time. I rake their pen, add more hog fuel stuff, and make sure it’s relatively clean. They get fresh water everyday with ACV and appropriate human food left overs and a handful or two of mealworms.

As I was hanging out with them, noticed Pickle pooped and it was very wet and farty sounding. I thought it odd because it’s not like it’s hot and they’re not drinking excessive amount of water. (Pic Included) I’ve never seen this color poop. I removed the ACV and put electrolyte & probiotics in the water. This was a week ago. I don’t know how long she had been pooping like that - due to the weather and short days, I leave and get home to work and don’t really seem them other than weekends.

Yesterday I was hanging out with them and noticed Frankie pooped just the same. I didn’t get a pic because I quickly started poking around for what I thought was worms because something moved. I didn’t see anything else move once I started poking & smashing the poo.

So now I’m wondering if I’m just being paranoid. I got some Strike III in case it is worms. But now I’m wondering if I need to actually de worm the girls which I’ve never done. I started looking into it and got overwhelmed. You can use “this” after you use “that” but don’t use “this” before “that” because one is too hard on their system. “This” one is good for “this” but not for “that”. I don’t care about the egg withdrawal - just want them to be healthy.

So am I being paranoid here? I did check the poo chart and didn’t see anything like this and I also did a search for both yellow and green poo and while it was interesting info, it didn’t quite look like Pickle’s poo and the fact that everyone is acting normal makes me think I’m just over reacting.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[staceyj]

“Poop gazing” can be hard!

One way to solve the worry is to call around your area next week and find a vet who would be willing to run a fecal floatation for you.

The morning you plan to drop it off, go outside with a plastic baggie or small container and make a “mixed collection” from different areas in your coop.

just a small amount (1-2 tsp) is necessary for both a flotation and a direct smear if needed.

Refrigerate it if you aren’t going to drop it off immediately.

You’ll have answers by end of day, maybe within the hour. If the vet doesn’t “treat chickens”, then you can come back here and the poop experts will tell you what to use and how to treat.

 

[imnukensc]

Doesn't look like anything there to treat. Keep an eye on your chickens, but I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[MoosePijamas]

Doesn't look like anything there to treat. Keep an eye on your chickens, but I wouldn't worry about it.

That’s an amazing idea. Thank you. Doing this will put my mind at ease or confirm my paranoia. Thank you taking the time to reply.

 

[rebrascora]

That poop looks like partially undigested food. Do you provide grit?
What type of chicken feed do you give them?
I agree that a faecal float is a good idea. If you are in the USA your state diagnostics lab will probably be cheaper than a local vet and you can post the sample to them if they are not close enough to deliver. Here in the UK it costs me about £10 to get a sample tested by a private lab that specialises in this testing of poop for horses and chickens. (It helps if you update your profile page with your location so that we can give you specific information on products and services available in your part of the world.)
I do find that my hens have quite loose poop during moult. They also seem to really crave greens at this time of their cycle. Mine love spinach beet. The loose poops can go on for weeks with some birds and others don't seem to change at all.

 

[MoosePijamas]

That poop looks like partially undigested food. Do you provide grit?
*yes - they have two types. Granite and smaller more “rock” looking stuff. A friend have me a big bag of both a while back and I always keep their trays of grit filled.



What type of chicken feed do you give them?
*i am providing them with 2 choices. The Purina Omega 3 pellets and a higher protein meat bird pellet for their moult.

I’ll update my location - thanks for the suggestion.

I’m located in Oregon and OSU is about an hour away from me. I found that they do the following tests:

https://vetmed.oregonstate.edu/diagnostic/available-tests

They have several fecal tests and I’m thinking the McMaster one is the way to go since it screens for “the presence of parasite ova and/or cysts, e.g. roundworm, strongyle and tapeworm ova as well as coccidial oocysts.” The other feces tests didn’t really seem to apply.

I’ll get some greens too and add that to their diet. Anything helps! I just wanted to avoid pumping their system full of antibiotics if it wasn’t needed.

Again, thank you, thank you!!