Poop mystery..

[Ilovecats1962]

One worming treatment must be followed up by another in order to address any eggs that may have hatched since the first treatment.

When I've had a hen such as this one with suspect poop, I gather a sample and take it to my vet for a fecal float test to see if any parasites are present. That includes coccidia. It really is a very simple, most often inexpensive, quick test to help narrow down possibilities.

Yes, I've heard this mentioned before.
We have a dedicated calendar for worming the girls. If after this worming session there is still dodgy doo-doos I'll take the poop to the vet and do just that.
As we speak, Mabel off-loaded in fro t of me and it looks pretty much normal if a little on the watery side. (Cant be heat as its autumn in the uk).
I was wondering if stress could be a possible cause as she is quite flighty and nervous, also being at the bottom of the order.

 

[azygous]

We haven''t mentioned that an occasional chicken's poop, by default, is simply watery. I have had such a hen since I brought her home from the feed store eight years ago. She's never been sick a day in her loooong life, and her poop has been watery squirts since day one. She does have a "thing" for drinking water. I noticed that when I first noticed her splorty poops at age two days. If drinking lots of water for eight years is an indication of some sort of organic failure, I am unable to detect any sign of it.

This is one reason I stress that poop is merely one indicator of many of the overall health of a chicken. Behavior is the one strongest indicator of health, far and above what the poop may look like.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

The white stuff is what passes for urine, and is completely normal. Watery, mucousy or foamy poop is not normal, but does not necessarily mean something is terribly wrong. If your chicken is happy and healthy and eats/lays/keeps body condition normal, I'd not worry much about it. So, exactly what Azygous said.

 

[Ilovecats1962]

The white stuff is what passes for urine, and is completely normal. Watery, mucousy or foamy poop is not normal, but does not necessarily mean something is terribly wrong. If your chicken is happy and healthy and eats/lays/keeps body condition normal, I'd not worry much about it. So, exactly what Azygous said.

Hya Sue..
Thanks for your reply.
I appreciate that the white part is the urates/urine part of the poop, just get a little worried when I see (what I think) is egg-like, the part that forms the shell material. When this has dried out it is rock hard and difficult to shift which reinforces (sic) my thoughts of it being the above.
When one of our girls succumbed to internal laying then onto peritinitus (not before many chips to stop her laying) I was completely obsessed with her poop as you can imagine..hence my post.
I really appreciate everyone's help and advice, great to be amongst like-minded human beings

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Ah, I see. I have lost a couple to peritonitis, too.

 

[Ilovecats1962]

.. I should add that I don't suspect peritinitus or egg-laying problems as she is laying fine, really its because Donna and I are on a huge learning curve and want to be sure that we are doing the best for our gorgeous girls and not put them at risk.
Its been our dream to have chooks as part of our family and these last 3 years have been full of ups and some downs too.
I need to find some pics of our 3 girls we rescued from Fowl farm in biggins hill in kent. To watch them free range and wander was very emotional.
I'll find and post

 

[glassdragonfly]

Hi and ! Pretty girls you have there! I have noticed that when it rains and the hens try to dry themselves they have watery poop for a few days. Clears up if it stays dry enough!