Questions about chicken with loose/wet droppings

Winderdear

Crowing
Jun 16, 2023
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I have a chick (almost 10 weeks old) who seems to have a chronic loose stool issue. Once or twice a day, I find that she has extremely wet, somewhat explosive bowel movements that should be solid (not cecal). I’m not watching every time she poops so it could be more frequent still. She otherwise has a healthy appetite and isn’t lethargic. This has been happening for a couple weeks at least, and started before any major changes in diet, other than spending more time foraging than previously.

I have always assumed she was just drinking more water than the other girls because she gets hot easily, but there have been days where they have all stayed inside in the AC, and she still had this problem.

I want to be sure that I’m not missing something important here. What other symptoms should I be watching for if her loose droppings are indicating an illness? Are there any steps I can take to help her get back to normal?

Also, should I be adding electrolytes to their water in case this is causing her to deplete hers more rapidly? I already do this on occasion if it’s hot outside, but not all the time.
 
What's her diet? What color is it?
It’s the same as the other chicks. When it started they were on scratch and peck starter mash, though more recently I’ve switched to the grower feed that is basically just whole grains. For the past few days I’ve been soaking/fermenting the grower feed overnight before I feed them, but initially I just gave it to them dry. They forage most of the day, so she also gets bugs and grasses/weeds. I also give them small snacks of broccoli, cabbage, peas, and cucumber from time to time. Other than the peas she is the least interested in these treats out of all the girls.

Color is normal grayish brown, sometimes slightly green I guess. Same as the other girls’ just not solid.
 
Got a picture. This has some cecal poop mixed in it seems, but most are this watery and more of the grayish color near the bottom of the picture. I’ll be happy to hear if this is normal. As you can see she this was taken inside, and she has been in the AC for hours, so I don’t think it has to do with heat, though she may just be drinking excessively for unknown reasons. If there is something else that could be going on, I’d love to know.

802C3E1E-0FC4-41D5-BE1E-2BC043BD2934.jpeg
 

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