smelly runny poop

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hapichickenz said:
Thanks, I am holding off on meds, but giving electrolytes & vitamins in water. All are eating, drinking & acting healthy. Gonna continue to observe & enjoy them.
Click to expand...
Electrolytes ?? Vitamins?? I am new to chicken keeping and hatchlings.
What sort of things should I be giving my hatchlings and chickens to keep them healthy.
I give my big girls and boys cider vinegar but how much should I be giving them ? And what else should I give them.
Thanks in advance
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Welcome! Many folks don't use extra supplements unless the birds are ill. Many seasoned poultry keepers have said there hasn't been enough research to substantiate giving birds acidic water (adding vinegar). I put rooster booster probiotic/electrolyte mix in the chicken water if they are overheated, ill, or stressed. You can truly bring a bird back from the brink with this stuff.

For example, I purchased several silkie day old chicks last week, and noticed one just acting sluggish. Added electrolyte solution and hours later dancing around.
 
Danster, you are fine. Probitotics, electolytes, and Nutri-Drench are fine to have on hand (and they should always be on hand) and give to chicks that are weak or stressed from shipping. But yours are all sound and healthy and doing well except for the annoying case of pasty butt, which you've handled.

I don't mean to dispute @abenardini , but I happen to be in the minority who doesn't believe that you can't overdo those things. I think you can. A chick's healthy digestive system will have the correct balance of exactly what it needs to thrive. If a chick is stressed, injured or ill, that balance changes. But if not, and we add more things that the chick really didn't need, I believe we could throw the balance off the other way. I have used probiotics etc for a chick or two who either suffered stress in shipping, PolyViSorb vitamins for one who had a distinct limp, or, in Scout's case, because he was injured and had to be treated. But I do not give them as a matter of routine. I have absolutely NO scientific basis for my opinion - just a dose of common sense. Chicks raised under a broody hen do not get - nor usually need - those additives.....it seems that only chicks raised in an indoor brooder with heat lamps and light 24/7 seem to require an additional booster.

Now, that said, I do brood my chicks very differently than most folks do. When they were indoors in a brooder box, they immediately get a big hunk of sod - grass and roots included - tossed into their brooder. That began to help them build up immunities to what might be out in the run and coop, gave them a little grit to learn on, entertained them endlessly and when it broke down they loved to dust bathe in it. But now I forget the indoor part completely and brood them from the start right outside in the run in a pen which keeps them separate from the adults but still allows them to see and be seen. They have no heat lamp, just Mama Heating Pad and a cave, so they experience natural day/night cycles from the start.That means they aren't over eating all day and all night long, which I believe puts less stress on their digestive systems. Mama Hen doesn't get them up at all hours to eat and feed them, after all. When the sun goes down she herds them all under her to sleep in the warmth and darkness and they wake up with her in the morning ready to dive in to the chow. That's how I raise my chicks.

So to give or not give these additives, I think, depends a great deal on how you are raising your chicks and how strong and healthy they are. I just think that too much of anything isn't necessarily a good thing, especially for tiny little chicks with still developing systems, but I know and respect that others feel much differently.

Edited to add: @abenardini For the 100th time, I just reminded myself that I need to look at those notifications that pop up while I'm typing. If I had I would have noticed your latest post. <Shame on me> In this post, I was referring to your earlier post that said that folks can't overdo the probitotics, electrolytes, etc. Sheesh, then I read your lastest post and it sounds like you are saying the same thing I was! So I either jumped the gun or totally misinterpreted your first. Either way, I apologize for muddying up the waters!
 
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abenardini said:
Welcome! Many folks don't use extra supplements unless the birds are ill. Many seasoned poultry keepers have said there hasn't been enough research to substantiate giving birds acidic water (adding vinegar). I put rooster booster probiotic/electrolyte mix in the chicken water if they are overheated, ill, or stressed. You can truly bring a bird back from the brink with this stuff.

For example, I purchased several silkie day old chicks last week, and noticed one just acting sluggish. Added electrolyte solution and hours later dancing around.
Click to expand...
To be honest since I have been adding the cider vinegar/garlic I have lost 2 chickens with no warning.
Where could I get my hands on the Rooster Booster ??
Thanks so much for your help
 
Agree with Blooie for the most part; I probably sounded like I religiously give the birds meds...definitely not the case, but I do think if your bird seems stressed or overheated, electrolytes do help. Think of instances you are sick or very hot, drinking Gatorade helps replenish lost vitality.

Definitely I think environmental changes should be made to prevent these aforementioned problems (i.e. add shade or fans for birds, or fix other problems).
 

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