pullets with orange diarrhea

[kaisercl]

a few of my pullets have a orangish diarrhea everyonce in a while its not all the time what could it be and what is a good way to work chickens i have about 16 total

 

[threehorses]

If it's every few droppings or less, then it's probably their cecum emptying out (especially if they're adults and those droppings are particularly smelly).

How old are they?

Actually if you want to follow this up a bit, could you answer the questions from the 2nd sticky post of this section - but answer them into this thread? That helps us to start to get a flock history and more accurately answer your questions. There might be something in the diet that might need tweaking, or it might be somethign entirely normal!

Thanks, and I look forward to your reply.

 

[kaisercl]

well i feed them laying pellets and they are free range they sometimes eat goat pellets where i have a goat in the yard with them the diarrhea sometimes is rusty and bubbly looking please help i dont want to lose any of my chickens

 

[sandiegochick]

Hi kaisercl!

I'm really new at this... and I also have pullets who have orangish poop. This has been going on for weeks and it is inconsistent with my girls as well. This morning I noticed my smallest (in size) has what seems to be watery stools now. Sorry to get graphic, but it literally shoots out of her like water w/ chunks of normal looking poop in it

. All three of my girls are eating and drinking and acting normal otherwise.

I tried to give them plain yogurt, but they wanted no part of that. Maybe some gatorade in their water next? Not sure. I would really hate for anything to happen to my girls!

Anyway, sorry to piggyback on your post here. I would love to know how your girls are doing w/ this as well and get some suggestions from you or anyone else.

Hang in there!

Jen (sandiegochick)
Western WA

 

[threehorses]

If the diarrhea is shooting out, give them one waterer with an electrolyte in it, one (your usual waterer) without.

Really without a lot more information, likes answers to the questions from the 2nd sticky post in this disease forum, it'd be hard to tell.

Definitely in all cases I'd give them a probiotic - and if they won't eat yogurt direct, try hiding it in a damp mash. Mix water with the yogurt, mix the water/yogurt with the crumbles - let it soak for 5-10 minutes. Then depending on how wet or dry it is, feed it. Better to have it drier and softened than wet - some birds just don't like goopy feeds.

Another alternative are acidophilis capsules from the grocery or druggist vitamin section - usually bottom shelf. The contents of one emptied capsule or one crushed tablet per bird per day for a week barring other problems with the birds, if they're not lethargic. You can mix that in a tiny bit of water and then mix that water with some boiled egg yolk. Few birds can resist that. Or sprinkle it on scrambled eggs for example. Make sure everyone get a good bit of it.

In the mean time, please do give us a little more information -like whether or not they've been wormed, whether or not you ever see blood, how old they are - really we can't tell you anything more detailed without more information without just sort of poking around in the dark.

 

[kaisercl]

i gave mine some wormer called wazine but just did that yesterday didnt know if there was anything better to give them my pullets are about 15 to 17 weeks old mine do not have projectile diarrhea or nothing but just orangish bubbly looking diarrhea i havent tried yogurt yet but i will is there anykind of general antibiotic for chickens if so what is it called .

 

[KellyHM]

It's probably just cecal droppings if it's not all the time. Those are normal and feeding them all these supplements and antibiotics can actually screw up their digestive tracts.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Definitely I wouldn't recommend an antibiotic unless you have a sure sign that it is bacterial, which isn't rare. Actually antibiotics can decrease their good bacteria and cause more diarrhea..

I've always found that a little yogurt - not much - will help solidify droppings (not the cecal ones, but the other droppings) if they're a bit mushy but no health issues. I really think that the orange droppings, unless they're the predominant type, are cecal droppings. They will jet out of them, too, because they're very liquid. Mine usually are more brown but they definitely can be rusty colored. It's when they're sulfur colored that it's time to worry if it's just cecal droppings.

The electrolytes - if given where they have a choice - are always nice in the summer. Not necessary, but if the bird has a choice and chooses it often there's something in there that they needed. Yogurt is a modern version of products that poultry men have been using for centuries. Only Back Then (grin) it was milk products because back then they didn't pasteurize the milk, so there was still lactobacilli in them. Now we pasteurize, but the lactobacilli are still available in yogurt. I personally prefer prepared probiotics like Probios that have less dairy carrier, but yogurt is something that people can afford, might have at home, and will use - and besides providing probiotics in that way has been in use for ages.

Those are just my thoughts on things and why I recommend them. They do no harm to a healthy bird and might just enhance its life. They certainly can help a bird that might be on the edge of sickness, or actually sick (except that you shouldn't use yogurt if you ever treat with a -mycin or -cycline drug).

 

[sandiegochick]

wow... I'm learning a lot on this site! thanks for the replies

three horses - the pullets are approx. 2.5-3 months old. they're buff orpingtons and they live in their newly built coop. I feed them medicated starter and I let them roam around the backyard a couple of times a day. I haven't given them any treats... not sure what to give and if they are old enough for it. They seem to eat all sorts of bugs and grass in our yard. They get lots of shade... half of the backyard is under the canopy of some old-growth evergreens. I have not wormed them yet. Didn't know when I should (are they too young?)

Anything else I left out?? I'm really new at this and I really appreciate all of the help!!! Thanks!!!

Jen

 

[threehorses]

At the age where they are now, they should be getting either starter-grower or grower.

They can move up. Around 5 months or so, you'll start to integrate laying food or layer-breeder into their diet. On mine, for the last step, I let their combs tell me what they need if they're all pullets. The cockerels will have full red combs and wattles way before that age. The remaining pullets will have tight, thin, shriveled, pale combs. When their face starts to "blush" then I start paying attention. When their combs start to plump and turn cherry red, I start offering oyster shell and mixing laying pellets into their feed. Or crumbles. Then I just increase the laying feed to full laying feed at about 5.5-6 months.

On the worming, I usually wait til 4 months but my birds don't usually free range that young (as my adults are the free rangers). For a bird that young, you could go ahead and give their first doses of fenbendazole, levamisole, ivermectin, or worm first with wazine. I like worming them with the ivermectin as it covers larva AND adults (wazine only covers adults, leaving larvae in there to eventually migrate and become adults). Bugs are good sources of natural protein, but also intermediate hosts of worms. So that's why i worm 2x's yearly with ivermectin. You can also use DE in their dust baths, or try using cayenne powder in their feed if you want to see if natural methods will help decrease the worms/larvae they pick up in between wormings.

On treats - they can have some egg, plain yogurt in small amounts (1 teaspoon per bird etc) to give them live bacteria to strengthen their guts and help absorbtion, greens if they have granite grit (you can give them chick grit by now), etc. Just try to keep the treats under 5 percent of their total diet - and healthy. I've literally had people tell me they give shrimp tails and another who gave them cake and pastries. So yeah - just avoid that sort of stuff. Feed the things you wish a kid would eat.

Your birds sound like they have quite the life, though, Sandiegochick. These are just really tweaking some things or suggesting stuff - your set up sounds great.