To much water?

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honey hen

honey hen

Hatching
5 Years
Oct 21, 2014
4
0
7
Hi everyone,

I started raising chickens this spring. I decided to raise my own chicks. I received 4 new chickens but they drink 3 times more water than my first chickens. Do you thank they have worms? I'm not seeing worms but they have runny squirting poo. I have not put them together yet . Don't know if its worms or some other problem. So much to learn, can someone please help me.

honey hen,
 
Hello Honey Hen,

I have never heard that one bird drinking more water than another is any indication of a problem. I have raised chickens for over 30 years and this is news to me. I would not worry about the water drinking. I am not sure how long you have had the chickens, or how old they are, but if the four new ones are older, the diarrhea could be due to change of location and diet.

There is a parasite called Coccidiosis that causes diarrhea in birds, but is is much more common in commercial birds than a home flock. If it is this, you will see blood in the poo. You can get commercial feed with medication in it or ask your local farm supply about the medication for it, if you are sure that's what it is. A vet can tell you for sure.

I do not medicate my chickens, they eat all non-gmo, organic food and garden scraps. I also do not use a vet unless absolutely necessary and then only for my larger animals.

If I were you, I would add 4 Tablespoons of Raw, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (I use Bragg's), and 3 Tablespoons of Diatomaceous Earth (food grade only, you can get it at your local feed store) to a gallon of water for three - five days. This is the home remedy I use at change of seasons, whenever I see loose poo, or any sign of weak birds.

Good luck, let me know if I can help any way.
Rhonda

edited by staff
 
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Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


I don't think drinking a lot of water is sign of worms, but eating and eating and eating is. The worms are eating all the food the bird is eating, so the birds are hungry and starving to death. Runny poop can be from worms, but it can be from a host of other issues.

When ever you bring home new birds, worming should always be the first thing that happens. You have no idea how the birds were raised. If these are chicks you raised on ground that had no chickens on it previously, chances are in this amount of time your chicks don't have an overload of worms, at least not enough to cause a lot of diarrhea.

Chickens drink a lot of water. I don't know the exact amount, but they can drink as much as we do in one day! If it is warm or hot where you are, they can get diarrhea. A feed change can cause diarrhea. Coccidiosis can cause diarrhea. Enteritis can cause diarrhea and of course so does worms.

You can take a poop sample into a vet to be sure of what if any worms you are dealing with. If you are seeing blood in the poop, lethargic droopy birds that are not eating or drinking much of anything, they could have coccidiosis. If you do a feed change in the future, mix in the new feed 50/50 for a while till their digestive tracts get used to the new feed. Some treats can cause diarrhea like too much greens, melons, berries, too much protein can cause runny diarrhea.

You can also post this question in our emergency section for more input...https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures

Good luck and I hope you can figure out why they have diarrhea.
 
welcome-byc.gif
Glad you joined us!

x2 on Two Crows' excellent advice. Drinking a lot of water isn't necessarily a sign of disease or worms, but it would still be a good idea to worm your birds or have them looked at by a vet.
 
Thanks guys, will start worming tomorrow. Really like the home remedy idea for change of seasons. The honey hens thank you also.
 
Hello thefarmerslamp, was wondering if you can eat the eggs after using the home remedy. Hate waiting 2 weeks before eating eggs.
 
Most chemical wormers have a 2 week egg withdrawal. Any home natural brews probably have no withdrawal. You are looking to avoid ingesting these harsh chemicals.
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Thefarmerstamp, TwoCrows, and BantamLover21 have given you some really good advice. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. What kind of chickens do you have?
 

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