Symptoms of ???????

[darkbrahmamama]

I guess I'll start from the begining.

My roosters have a favorite hen. Itty Bitty. They have PLENTY of girls to choose from, but IB really rocks their world. Yesterday morning, one of the roos was chasing her around, & I felt bad so I decided to let her into the barn for a little R & R.

Since she's been in the barn, alone, I noticed that her poop is pretty watery. There is white & brown in it, but it REALLY watered down. I also noticed that she's drinking a good amount of water. At first I thought that it was because she was being chased around, but now I'm not so sure. She's been by herself for a day. She doesn't seem all that interested in the lay crumbles nor the lay pellets. But she thinks that dried mealworms are awesome & gobbles them right up. She wanders around the barn pretty happily. They're all going through a molt, so none of them look the greatest. The molt is why I'm giving them dried mealworms. She's about 1.5 years, & they were all de-wormed & dusted a month or so ago while I was trying to figure out why another hen had a bald red butt (it was neither worms nor parasites BTW).

I added pro-biotics to her water this morning. I don't know if it could be stress? I already lost a couple of hens this year, & I really don't want to loose another one. So any ideas & opinions will be taken into consideration. I don't want her to die, & me sitting her saying "Dang, I wish I had done that!"

 

[BantamLover21]

Yes, her symptoms could definitely be caused by the stress of the constant chasing by interested roosters. I would keep her isolated for a week or so and observe her for more symptoms. The probiotics in the water should help, and if you can get them, I would also add vitamins/electrolytes to the water. Keep giving her some mealworms each day to ensure she's eating something.

Additionally, check her for mites and lice, and dust again, if necessary. Mites will only weaken a bird's immune system and stress them out more.

Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

I've read that dried meal worms are 50% protein, and I know they are very expensive. I would probably add some water to her feed in a small bowl, and stir it up to see if she would eat that. Also give her some egg--it can be raw, and mixed into the feed, or scrambled. I once had a hen who always had watery stools because she constantly drank water, but she laid eggs and seemed healthy otherwise, even though she got everything the others got to eat, including probiotics which should help.

 

[dawg53]

Since she's the roosters' favorite, there might be an unseen injury due to excessive treading. Inspect her sides under her wings for punctures/gashes. I've had this happen due to over-treading a favorite hen with only one rooster. BantamLover21 and Eggcessive have covered everything else.

 

[darkbrahmamama]

Her skin was sore looking. No nasty cut or punctures. She drank a lot of water since this morning. At least 1.5 cups. I'm overly paranoid right now because I lost a hen from flystrike, so I gave her antibiotics in her water. I know with people a simple cut can get horribly infected & we won't know it until we're sick ..... who knows with the roosters walking in what they do if she has something going on with the raw skin. Her poop was still watery tonight.

 

[darkbrahmamama]

Last nights poop was still watery. This mornings was a little better. Still watery, but at least the white had more form to it. I mixed some water with some egg producer pellets in hope that she'll eat that. It'd be nice for her to show more interest in something other than dried mealworms. She's still drinking a lot. If it were just stress I would have thought that she'd start improving by now.

 

[darkbrahmamama]

She still hasn't touched lay feed, but will come over as soon as I show up for barn chores for mealworms & mealworm suet pellets. This morning is the most form I've seen in her poop.

 

[dawg53]

Drinking alot of water and excreting watery poop can also be a sign of worms. I know you stated that you wormed her about a month ago, I suggest reworming her with valbazen or safeguard. What did you worm her with last time?

 

[darkbrahmamama]

I gave them all safeguard goat dewormer. .5 ml pr 2.2 lbs for 4 days.

 

[dawg53]

It wont hurt to worm the affected hen again if you wish. Also, try giving her buttermilk mixed with scrambled egg to eat...liquidy.