Poop question

[YardBirdMom]

This probably would sound weird to ANY group of people except all of you

What does diarrhea look like in chickens? Does it smell? If so, can you describe it?

The reason I ask is I've noticed the past two days an acrid type smell in my chickies trough and I clean the bedding every other day, plus 'fluff' it twice a day. The birds are all eating, active, and seem healthy and happy, but it's just a new smell I've kinda noticed and wonder if it's normal or is something happening ??

I have read about the poop where they shed their intestinal lining, but how am I to know it's that and not diarrhea???

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[cocopop]

What color is the poop?
Is it really watery?
If it is pinkish/red and kinda sticky like raw hamburger meat, then it is quite possible that it is shedding of intestinal lining. If it is red and bloody wet, it is coccidiosis and you better treat you flock for it. If it is the dark brown to black wet poop, it is cecal poop and it is rancid!

 

[YardBirdMom]

What color is the poop?
Is it really watery?
If it is pinkish/red and kinda sticky like raw hamburger meat, then it is quite possible that it is shedding of intestinal lining. If it is red and bloody wet, it is coccidiosis and you better treat you flock for it. If it is the dark brown to black wet poop, it is cecal poop and it is rancid!

Color of the poop: chocolate brown, soft, would 'spread' like softened butter - the other chick's is the same, but slightly more watery.
I would not say it is REALLY watery, just shiny/soft appearing.

Others are having a more solid stool with the white/gray/brown colors combined. NONE of it is pink/red/hamburger looking OR red and bloody.
The chicks are still on medicated feed and I'll keep them on that until I run out.
I have given them access to dirt since I brought them home and they have had 'outside' time several times in the past two weeks (for exposure to germs).

So, this rancid stuff is normal?!!! Whew!! Okay, It just scared me because in most animals that 'smell' would mean somethings wrong.
Since I'm new to chickens I'm a bit paranoid. I am very attentive to them and watch them for at least an hour, or more, per day to take note of how each one acts, whether it's eating, moving about, flapping, pooping, drinking etc.

Thank you very much for your response!! *hugs*

 

[cocopop]

Once they hit the outside they are exposed to whatever eggs that produce worms and other things that get them sick. Usually I feed a little medicated chick starter for a few days and then expose them to the dirt so they can become immune to outside germs like coccidiosis. The medicated feed only works if your chicks have not been vaccinated for coccidiosis. Yeah that thick wet black to brown soft poop is probably cecal poo and I believe it is normal. I am still paranoid and I have been raising chickens for only a year and a half. When your chickens die, you get more paranoid with abnormal stuff which we should be if we don't know everything that is normal.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You said you are cleaning the bedding every other day. Is it dry when you clean it? Also, are you changing the water really regularly? If their poop gets wet, it's going to stink. That's the ammonia produced when the poop breaks down which it does when it is wet, so another question, does that smell like ammonia?

 

[YardBirdMom]

Once they hit the outside they are exposed to whatever eggs that produce worms and other things that get them sick. Usually I feed a little medicated chick starter for a few days and then expose them to the dirt so they can become immune to outside germs like coccidiosis. The medicated feed only works if your chicks have not been vaccinated for coccidiosis. Yeah that thick wet black to brown soft poop is probably cecal poo and I believe it is normal. I am still paranoid and I have been raising chickens for only a year and a half. When your chickens die, you get more paranoid with abnormal stuff which we should be if we don't know everything that is normal.

They were on medicated feed for about a week before they were purchased so they did get an opportunity to build immunity. They were not vaccinated so I have kept them on medicated feed since I bought them (early April). I am believing this is the normal cecal poo and am not concerned any more Yes, I would be overly cautious if I lost chicks. But, I'm doing everything this site states I should do, plus all the books I've bought/read, plus doing more online research. My chicks are growing, eating well, loving the grass and few bugs I've caught and given them and they should be nestled in their new digs next week some time It was just a smell I hadn't noticed before and needed to feel sure they were okay!

You said you are cleaning the bedding every other day. Is it dry when you clean it? Also, are you changing the water really regularly? If their poop gets wet, it's going to stink. That's the ammonia produced when the poop breaks down which it does when it is wet, so another question, does that smell like ammonia?

Yes, I change it every other day and it is dry. They have sloshed some water on the stand I have it sitting on, but the floor/bedding is never wet.
I change the water at least twice a day, sometimes three if they've kicked a bunch of bedding/dirt in it. I actually put it up on a higher stand so they can't contaminate it as much. It does not smell like ammonia ...

Thank you all SO much, I sincerely appreciate your feedback!

 

[MichelleSinNC]

So I've been following this thread and I want to be sure I understand. My birds are 3 weeks and a few days old and a couple times I have seen runny, dark color poop --- they're all running around, cheeping eating and drinking so I'm not overly concerned.....but I bought mine from TSC and they have been eating just regular food --- not medicated food. Do I need to give them something else? Is this normal?

Michelle

 

[YardBirdMom]

So I've been following this thread and I want to be sure I understand. My birds are 3 weeks and a few days old and a couple times I have seen runny, dark color poop --- they're all running around, cheeping eating and drinking so I'm not overly concerned.....but I bought mine from TSC and they have been eating just regular food --- not medicated food. Do I need to give them something else? Is this normal?

Michelle

Can you ask TSC what kind of feed they feed, medicated or non-medicated?

If they were on medicated they need to eat that ... If they were vaccinated against coccidiosis they need non-medicated. Please update when you know

 

[Ridgerunner]

Practically all the ”medicated” feed we buy over the counter is medicated with Amprolium. Amprolium is not an antibiotic. It will not attack anything other than the protozoa that causes Coccidiosis. It will not destroy any probiotics they might have in their system. It is as thiamine blocker that reduces how much the protozoa that causes Coccidiosis reproduces. There are a few feeds normally intended to be fed to broilers that contain something other than or in addition to Amprolium, but just check the label to see what you are dealing with. It’s probably just Amprolium.

The bug that causes Coccidiosis lives in the ground. Your chick are going to be exposed to it whenever they are exposed to the ground, not before. A general life cycle of that bug is that the chick eats an oocyst (consider an oocyst an egg) when it pecks the ground and the egg hatches inside the chick. It attaches to the chicks gut lining and reproduces more oocysts. Those oocysts pass onto the ground and develop for a couple of days if the ground is wet and contains poop. The chick eats more and the numbers grow until they are out of hand.

It’s not a problem for the chick to have a few of these bugs in its guts. They actually need some so they can develop immunity. If they have a continuous supply of those oocyst for about three weeks, they will develop an immunity. It’s when the numbers get out of hand that the chicks can get sick or even die.

The dosage of Amprolium in medicated feed does not stop all reproduction. It reduces the amount that reproduce so it helps keep the numbers under control yet let it develop immunity. If the chick is living in a wet environment those numbers can still get out of control even of the chick is on medicated feed. That’s when you need a medicine like Corid that is strong enough to treat an outbreak, not just try to prevent it.

Medicated feed does not give the chicks immunity. They get immunity by being exposed to that bug for about three weeks. Medicated feed merely helps keep the number under control. A common occurrence on this forum is that someone feeds medicated feed while the chicks are in the brooder and have never been exposed to the bug. Then they stop the medicated feed when the chicks are first exposed to the bug when they hit the ground. If the ground stays wet for a while, the chicks come down with a bad case of Coccidiosis and those people complain about how the medicated feed did not work.

I personally don’t use medicated feed. About the second or third day in the brooder I take some dirt from the run and feed it to the chicks to expose them to that bug, then every 4 or 5 days give them more dirt. That gives them grit and introduces any probiotics the adults may have plus ensures a continuing supply of those bugs. I keep the brooder pretty dry and change the water regularly. By the time they hit the ground mine have developed the immunity they need.

I don’t see anything wrong with feeding them medicated feed. It won’t hurt them. It also won’t help them if they have not been exposed to that bug. If you are going to use medicated feed, you need to feed it for the three weeks after they are exposed to that bug.

 

[MountainOrchard]

^Great explanation, thank you!