Red Jelly Blobs in Poop?

[jher77]

I have a rooster and seven hens and I've been having this problem for about 4 months now. It has to only be one of the chickens but I don't know which. I'll find these things in the poop intermittently from a few days to a week or so. They get locked up in the evening until morning then I let them out to free range so I see those poops but I'm not seeing the free ranging poops.

I found some blobs again this morning and rinsed the poop off to take a pic. They are sitting on a piece of marble so that is what the black moldy patches are. They aren't the same as intestinal shed. I've seen plenty of those. They are always jelly bean shaped.



I do have a reoccuring problem with intestinal shed and roundworms but de-worming has always taken care of the intestinal shedding.

In this time period I have given:

Corid three separate rounds. Maybe it is coccidia resistant to amprolium but why would only one chicken have it?

De-wormed with Safeguard twice and Pyrantel Pamoate twice. Reinfection might be possible but again why would only one chicken be reinfected?

Tried garlic water, acidified copper sulfate in water, and even soapy water. None has worked.

They all act normal and healthy and all of the hens are laying. What ever it is isn't a fast killer. I don't know what else to try. I think there is just something wrong with one of my chickens like tumors and the only way I'm going to find out is when it dies and I have to cut it open to try to find the problem.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[coach723]

Have you had a fecal float test done? Some occasional shed is nothing to worry about, if it's often or all the time I would look for a cause.
Roundworms are really easy to pick up and reinfection is common. The eggs survive in the soil for a very long time. Some of us have our birds on regular worming schedules because of it. I worm mine every 3 months, there are some that do it even more often than that. Increased intestinal shed is often a sign that they are back, in my flock.
If you know you have roundworm then the next step is to find out how long you can go between wormings, it's dependent on the worm load in your environment. Getting fecals done can help with that. If you have a vet that will run them for you then they can also look for bacteria. Sometimes if there is damage from the parasites you can have bacterial infection also. Usually they will not appear to be feeling well then.
There are mail in options if you don't have a vet that will do it for you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J5SOZ...colid=27RHKHAM35GO&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
For some worms safeguard has to be given 5 days in a row, two doses 10 days apart is correct for round worm. Valbazen will get most worms with two doses 10 days apart. Dosing amount is also more for safeguard than Valbazen.
If possible I would get a fecal to see if you have them now. If so, treat for whatever is there. Then get a fecal done again in 6-8 weeks, to see if anything is found again, unless you see signs earlier. It can take some time to figure out what is appropriate for your particular flock, every flock is different.

 

[jher77]

I've had chickens for about 2.5 years now. I raise chicks to sell and also to trade out my older birds so I've never had a bird older than a year. Been quite a few chickens through here. Haven't had one die yet and I've only had one chick die. I only keep about 8 chickens for myself. I keep a log of what happens with them so I can go back and look because there is no way I can remember which is very handy in a case like this.

I have come to found out if I were to de-worm my chickens today, I would have to de-worm them again in 1.5-2 months just like clockwork verified by first visually seeing intestinal shed then roundworms several days later in the poop. Never needed a fecal float . It has been like that since I've had them. Roundworms thrive here for some reason. It seems as soon as I cure them of worms, they eat worm eggs that very day. I feel as there is no need for me to get a fecal float to look for roundworms but maybe not for bacteria or coccidia as you stated.

But I go back in my logs and look and Corid has never helped with intestinal shedding because that is what I used to start with first. Only de-worming has rid the intestinal shedding. I'd assume I don't really have a problem with coccidia so does that only leave bacteria or tumors?

I have also thought about Necrotic Enteritis being the problem. Wouldn't the copper sulfate kill that bacteria?

I don't thik these blobs are the same as intestinal shedding. The blobs have never went away while intestinal shedding has always disappeared after de-worming but has come back later in a longer period of time if that makes any sense.

 

[Eggcessive]

You only have to deworm them 10 days apart with Valbazen or Safeguard. If you use SafeGuard for 5 straight days to get most all worms, it does not have to be repeated.

 

[jher77]

Right. In that time frame I've done Safeguard 5 days in a row (twice) and the Pyrantel I dosed orally then 10 days later repeated (twice). This did not affect the red blobs pictured but did get rid of shed intestines. As stated, the intestinal shed does come back around 1.5 to 2 months later along with the visual roundworm in the poop.

Just to clarify, I don't have any intestinal shed right now (only the red blobs) but it won't be long before they show back up.

 

[jher77]

I've been doing some looking around and I think I may have stumbled upon the problem.

The poops with the blobs have always looked like the pic on the right, no blood, just reddish blobs in a watery urate type poop with just a bit of solid. The pic matches 100%.

I'm thinking large roundworm larvae caused necrotic enteritis in one of my chickens awhile back. I guess the wormer killed the worms but left the damage behind. Maybe the C perfringens bacteria is still creating toxins? I read necrotic enteritis kills pretty quickly which is not my case.

What do you guys think? Anyone know how to deal with that?

I'm not sure who to tag but I hope you regular guys don't mind if I tag you for help. Feel free to tag anyone else that I missed. Thanks.
@coach723 @Eggcessive @casportpony @Kiki @Wyorp Rock @azygous @dawg53

 

[aart]

To those you might truly know:
Is intestinal shed always caused by worms or necrotic enteritis?
I was under the impression that it was normal(with no pests or disease) on occasion.

 

[coach723]

I've never tested to know for sure what bacteria I was dealing with, but have had birds with secondary infections after worm infestation (roundworm is a much bigger issue for me than coccidiosis, but I've dealt with that also). Droppings were not normal at all, yellow, yellow-green, runny, mucosy, just generally sick looking. The birds also looked off. I treat with amoxicillin (as fish mox capsules) when that happens, 57mg/lb of bird weight, twice a day for 5 to 7 days. It's why I worm regularly now, much less incidence of that and less need for antibiotics. But in the event I have a bird with the symptoms, I treat.
I don't necessarily think that intestinal shed is always a problem. It depends on each bird, each flock, knowing what is normal and usual for those birds. If it was a one time thing, or only very occasionally, and everyone was acting perfectly normal, I would not worry. If someone is acting off, sick, droppings don't look right, not eating and drinking normally, lots of shed, things are just not what they usually are, then I look for why. I've been dealing with round worm for so many years that I recognize the symptoms in my flock pretty easily.
If vet testing is an option for you they should be able to do a gram stain or culture and tell you what, if any, bacteria are present.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree with @coach723 it would be a good idea to get a gram stain or culture to figure out what that is.

If it were Enteritis, I would assume you would have already lost the bird that was producing those globs.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would agree that I would get some help from a vet with a fecal float and a gram stain before treating for something that might not be a problem.