Sick flock? *picture*

[lauranickerson]

I have an eery feeling that something isn't right. No behaviors have changed at all, but I'm nervous. I believe most of my flock is in molt. Also, a lot of them are suffering from something similar to the picture. The hen in the picture is one of my best layers so far, and I believe she is still giving me a daily egg, but she's got a lot of "stuff" stuck to her feathers around the vent. Given, she's the worst. It started as just a little about a week ago, and thought maybe it was just a messy trip to the bathroom. But I noticed today that it is much worse. Again, the flock act totally fine.

This could be unrelated and because he just drank water, but when my dominant cockerel mated this same hen, he sneezed and threw up a little. It was clear and I couldn't even find it on the ground. Maybe he just moved a little too fast after eating/drinking.

Poos all seem normal for the most part. I saw one a few days ago that seemed a little bit red, but I saw the poop chart and it was more like the kind that has the tissue in it, which they said was normal.

Any ideas?

 

[casportpony]

When I see red in poops from adults I worm them and it goes away, in chicks I treat for coccidiosis. I don't trust that poop chart, many of the "normal" pics are not and I have necropsy reports to back that up.

-Kathy

 

[lauranickerson]

When I see red in poops from adults I worm them and it goes away, in chicks I treat for coccidiosis. I don't trust that poop chart, many of the "normal" pics are not and I have necropsy reports to back that up.

-Kathy

Should I treat for both?
You've told me before that worming during molt can stunt feather growth. Should I wait until they're done? They've been in molt for about 2 weeks or so. I'm not sure how long it lasts, since this is the first molt I've been through (since I was a kid, at least).

 

[casportpony]

The literature I have for Fenbendazole (Safeguard or Panacur) says not to use during molt or breeding season, but I have wormed mine when they've been molting and I have not seen any issues with feathers. In the cases where I wormed I decided that the life of my bird was more important that the chance their feathers might grow in stunted, funny, etc. I think other people have used Valbazen during a molt, but I have not, so can't give any advice on it.

When in doubt, I worm, molting or not. If it's just the occasional poop with red, I wouldn't worry too much, but if you see them every day, time to think about what's causing it. Make sense?

-Kathy

 

[lauranickerson]

Yeah, makes sense. I definitely don't see them everyday. I can't even find one today and I haven't cleaned the poop board in a few days. What do you think about the poo on the feathers?

I just wormed 5 of my hens MAYBE two months ago with your help before I integrated them. Even if the others had worms, are they safe?