Rooster Had Bright Green Poop, Then Died Two Days Later. What Just Happened?

[poultrymanager]

Hello everyone, unfortunately I lost my rooster Hedwig in a matter of days. I wanted to see if anyone had an idea of what could have happened to him in case it happens again OR if anyone else is having this problem.

This is what happened:
I found Hedwig laying down and would close his eyes when he stood up by the water. No discharge, his eyes were fine, being tired was the only thing off about him. He still ran around and was pretty alert, but he would always go back to laying down.

We also found bright green poop that stained the wood, both runny and solid. We are 100% sure it was Hedwig's, so we removed him from the flock while he recovered.

For the rest of the night he was laying down ontop of a box we gave him. The next morning he was hiding inside the box, and when I picked him up he wouldn't drink water and then died, literally, within minutes.

Here's info on Hedwig:
He is about a year old, he lives with an older rooster and four hens. They live in the desert. We just moved new chicks into their pen but they're inside their own hutch 3/4 of the day, and all the older chickens have been exposed to these chicks at some point. Hedwig was the only one who got sick.

Of the 8 years I've been raising chickens, all deaths have been heat related. I have never had one die from being ill. I'm not saying the desert is immune to diseases, but because there's not much here and really no worms, what did he do to get sick? I read it could be e coli related? If so what could he have eaten?

My mom did see him eat some turkey food, but he couldn't have been the only chicken who found some bits laying around. Also, because he was mean to the new chicks I would let him graze outside the coop longer than the other chickens did. This is the only thing I can think of that Hedwig did differently.

What the heck happened ??

If you need anymore info let me know.

 

[chicknmania]

Bright green poop can mean dehydration. Really hard to say, but chickens hide symptoms until they are really sick, so he might have been sick longer than you thought. How do you know there are no worms? Have you ever dewormed your flock? If not, get a vet to do a fecal check for you to see if they have parasites, it could be worms or coccidiosis. It's not expensive to get a vet to do that, and it can answer a lot of questions. Worms and coccidiosis can kill. He could have been sick from many things, but that's a good place to start. Lots of times only one bird in a flock will get sick, even with worms. Good luck.

 

[poultrymanager]

Bright green poop can mean dehydration. Really hard to say, but chickens hide symptoms until they are really sick, so he might have been sick longer than you thought. How do you know there are no worms? Have you ever dewormed your flock? If not, get a vet to do a fecal check for you to see if they have parasites, it could be worms or coccidiosis. It's not expensive to get a vet to do that, and it can answer a lot of questions. Worms and coccidiosis can kill. He could have been sick from many things, but that's a good place to start. Lots of times only one bird in a flock will get sick, even with worms. Good luck.

Thank you! I do not know for sure if its worms, so I will look into getting the others checked just incase.

The chicks that were just brought down had coccidiosis, actually. They did a five day drench of amprolium then a 7 day small dosage, then waited another week before they were introduced. I didn't even think of that since the babies had bloody poop, not green like the rooster's. I have leftover amprolium I believe that can be used as both a treatment and as a precaution? I might make another batch just in case the chicks spread it to the hens.

 

[chicknmania]

yes you can use it as a preventative. Your fecal check should show the presence of Coccidia or worms, and if worms, what kind. I can't remember the preventative dose for Amprol (Corid) but it should say, or, if you're not sure, I can look in my records to see if i can find it.

You can just take a random sample of poop from the flock, that should be enough for a fecal check. Make sure it's fresh (under 24 hours old) and/ or refrigerated.

 

[poultrymanager]

To update, a week after my rooster died more of the flock started to show green poop and now with a bit of blood, but everyone was still up and running around. We gave them amprolium per chicknmania's advice and since then nobody has died and the poop is going back to normal. As of right now it seems they did have coccidiosis from when we introduced the chicks and that's probably what got Hedwig.

There's only one chicken vet within the two cities from the barn so I cannot bring them in to 100% confirm this, but so far amprolium is working and I'll take it.

 

[coach723]

I'm glad the amprolium is working. Just to make sure, correct dosing for Corid is posted below for both liquid and powder form, use the severe outbreak dose. Often times green poo's are from not eating, which would be a symptom of coccidiosis, along with the lethargy. It's always a good idea anytime birds are moved to new ground, or new birds are brought in, to keep a close eye for this. Unfortunately it's all too common. I'm very sorry you lost your roo, hope all the rest of them recover.
There is a mail in option for parasite testing, just for future reference, but it would be slow in an emergency like this: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...TC_P_WEB_CJ_FY16_2617611-_-8347138-_-11030085