Hi - I am new to chicken ownership and new to this forum, and possibly paranoid! One of my hens is having weird poo, and I'll post some pictures, but here's some background:
I built a coop recently and bought 4 hens from a local feed store - I think they're around 6 months old but I'm really not sure (I was so excited to get them I forgot to ask!). There's a Blue Analusian, a Buff Orp, a Black sex-link, and an Ameraucana. We brought them home a week and a half ago and since then I've been reading all the posts on here about how all store-bought adult chickens are sick!
I have them in a 4'x8' coop with nice branches for roosts and two next boxes. I have shredded paper in there as bedding. The run is pretty big and I've been leaving them out during the days - it's just dirt. Feeding them layer pellets, 24% which seems high but is what the guy at the feed store recommended (maybe b/c they're young?). I give them some scratch to play with too, lots of clean water each day, and treats as available from the kitchen.
Anyways, having read lots of "sick chicken threads", now I'm paranoid and watching them intently (for the short periods of time I'm home each day) to see if anything's wrong with them and at least get a feel for what their "normal" behavior is. (So far they are pretty hilarious.)
The Blue Andalusian laid an egg the first day we let them out into the run (I think she was waiting to be bribed!). I'm pretty sure it was her because it was white and none of the rest should lay white eggs. Two days later the black sex-link laid an egg (that was two days ago), and she laid another one yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was her because her comb is bigger than the Buff Orp's. All the eggs so far have been pretty small, leading me to believe they're the first ones these ladies have laid, but I could be wrong about that.
The black sex-link, though, had the weirdest poo in front of me this morning. Right after I let them all out I noticed a freshie that was the biggest chicken poo I've ever seen - there's more of it under the stick. (below)
As big as the Ameraucana's head! But I didn't see who did it. What I did see a little later was the sex-link basically squirting out water with these little green balls in it!
For reference, the little paper discs are elm seeds that are about 1/2" across.
I have read a bunch of posts involving green poo and impacted crop/not eating, but those birds all seemed lethargic. This one is full of energy - she went crazy for some onion scraps this morning, chased the other chickens after them, etc. She seems to be drinking fine (they all love the outdoor water pan). Just the wierd poo.
This picture is from Monday (four days ago):
They are not yet "handle-able" and I don't have a net. I've been working a lot on feeding them treats from my hands (onion pieces, pear cores, peppers, etc) so that they get used to being close to me and will eventually not mind being picked up. (Is this a pipe dream?) But I imagine when they come in to roost tonight I can maybe get ahold of her and feel her crop (not that I have any idea what to feel for!). Then I guess the logical thing would be to compare in the morning and see if it's emptied??
So my main questions are:
Is this poo anything to worry about anyways?
Could she get impacted crop from eating the shredded paper in the coop? (it's New Mexico, so there's no grass in the run!) For the record, I haven't seen any of them eating paper.
Is there any weird digestive syndrome associated with beginning to lay eggs?
And finally, because everyone on here seems so knowledgeable, is there any treatment I should give them right off the bat like wormer or anything?
thanks for any advice!
I built a coop recently and bought 4 hens from a local feed store - I think they're around 6 months old but I'm really not sure (I was so excited to get them I forgot to ask!). There's a Blue Analusian, a Buff Orp, a Black sex-link, and an Ameraucana. We brought them home a week and a half ago and since then I've been reading all the posts on here about how all store-bought adult chickens are sick!
I have them in a 4'x8' coop with nice branches for roosts and two next boxes. I have shredded paper in there as bedding. The run is pretty big and I've been leaving them out during the days - it's just dirt. Feeding them layer pellets, 24% which seems high but is what the guy at the feed store recommended (maybe b/c they're young?). I give them some scratch to play with too, lots of clean water each day, and treats as available from the kitchen.Anyways, having read lots of "sick chicken threads", now I'm paranoid and watching them intently (for the short periods of time I'm home each day) to see if anything's wrong with them and at least get a feel for what their "normal" behavior is. (So far they are pretty hilarious.)
The Blue Andalusian laid an egg the first day we let them out into the run (I think she was waiting to be bribed!). I'm pretty sure it was her because it was white and none of the rest should lay white eggs. Two days later the black sex-link laid an egg (that was two days ago), and she laid another one yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was her because her comb is bigger than the Buff Orp's. All the eggs so far have been pretty small, leading me to believe they're the first ones these ladies have laid, but I could be wrong about that.
The black sex-link, though, had the weirdest poo in front of me this morning. Right after I let them all out I noticed a freshie that was the biggest chicken poo I've ever seen - there's more of it under the stick. (below)
As big as the Ameraucana's head! But I didn't see who did it. What I did see a little later was the sex-link basically squirting out water with these little green balls in it!
For reference, the little paper discs are elm seeds that are about 1/2" across.
I have read a bunch of posts involving green poo and impacted crop/not eating, but those birds all seemed lethargic. This one is full of energy - she went crazy for some onion scraps this morning, chased the other chickens after them, etc. She seems to be drinking fine (they all love the outdoor water pan). Just the wierd poo.
This picture is from Monday (four days ago):
They are not yet "handle-able" and I don't have a net. I've been working a lot on feeding them treats from my hands (onion pieces, pear cores, peppers, etc) so that they get used to being close to me and will eventually not mind being picked up. (Is this a pipe dream?) But I imagine when they come in to roost tonight I can maybe get ahold of her and feel her crop (not that I have any idea what to feel for!). Then I guess the logical thing would be to compare in the morning and see if it's emptied??
So my main questions are:
Is this poo anything to worry about anyways?
Could she get impacted crop from eating the shredded paper in the coop? (it's New Mexico, so there's no grass in the run!) For the record, I haven't seen any of them eating paper.
Is there any weird digestive syndrome associated with beginning to lay eggs?
And finally, because everyone on here seems so knowledgeable, is there any treatment I should give them right off the bat like wormer or anything?
thanks for any advice!
