Sudden bloody and black poop

[cpokorny]

Hi there,

We've had chickens for a little over a year now, first time owners (8 hens 1 rooster). Things have been good, but starting about last week, we noticed that they almost stopped laying. At first we thought it might be time for them to moult, but we've now started noticing some bad poops, black ones, and some big red messes. I'm not sure what it could be. We read about intestinal shedding, coccidiosis and worms, but I'm not sure what to think.

We have given them dewormer a bit over 6 months ago, and I know it's about time for another dose, but we haven't done it yet.

For some context, they are ISA brown and white hens, and I live in the carribean.

I'd love to get some advice before heading to the vet. Thanks!

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

This is definitely not intestinal lining and I've never seen this much red with Coccidiosis either.
What is their diet?
@Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome. Do you have a local vet who could do a fecal float on some droppings? Could your chickens have gotten into some rat poison or eaten a mouse who had ingested rat poison? Is there anything like glass, small jagged shells, or any sharp objects that could have been swallowed? Are Ny of the chickens acting weak or poorly?

 

[cpokorny]

This is definitely not intestinal lining and I've never seen this much red with Coccidiosis either.
What is their diet?
@Eggcessive

They usually have a pellet mix for egg laying with a few added vitamins in their coop, and then a grain mix we give them as they are roaming around.

But they are free to roam the entire garden, which is 1.7 acres of grass and forest. So they could be eating anything out there.

 

[cpokorny]

Welcome. Do you have a local vet who could do a fecal float on some droppings? Could your chickens have gotten into some rat poison or eaten a mouse who had ingested rat poison? Is there anything like glass, small jagged shells, or any sharp objects that could have been swallowed? Are Ny of the chickens acting weak or poorly?

We can see about a fecal float test. We did collect some of it for that purpose.

Our property was a big mess when we got it, with tons of trash, old rusty metal, ceramic, glass, that sort of thing. So it's possible that they ingested something sharp.

It's also very possible they got rat poison. We have a big problem with rats here, and we do use poison, but the dehydrating type we make sure is out of reach. Our neighbors probably use other kind that could cause bleeding. Our hens could have found a dead rat somewhere in the property.

None of them are acting weak so far, but 6 out of 8 hens have stopped laying. We are trying to find out which hens are producing the bloody droppings.

If they got small amounts of rat poison, will they recover over time or is there something we have to do? Same question for a sharp object.

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Not knowing what caused the problem affects treatment. Vitamin K is used if they have ingested rat poison, but could be harmful if that is not what caused bleeding, plus I wouldn’t know dosage. Are you seeing a lot of droppings like this, or just some from the same bird? I would try to separate one who has this. I hope that you can find out if the chicken has eaten glass or metal. If you lose one I would definitely do a necropsy to look for any.