Watery Excrement Since Summer-Last Resort Before Culling

[Wyorp Rock]

If she's causing that much distress, then it would be best to go ahead and cull her if she shows up.
So sorry.

 

[andreanar]

Here are some things I have found in my searches.

Tetracycline medications (such as oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline) are commonly used in drinking water or feed to successfully treat diarrhea in livestock, including chickens.


Mother Earth News recommends giving your chicken a potassium permanganate solution to drink. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of the chemical in 1 quart of warm water. Feed each chicken 1 tablespoon of the concentrated solution diluted in 1 cup of warm water. In a case of severe diarrhea you may need a stronger solution, one that is potent enough to turn your finger slightly brown when you dip it in the liquid. Be sure to not keep the potassium permanganate mixture in a metal container.

Another remedy is Epsom salt. Add one-half tablespoon of Epsom salt to the affected chicken's feed. You can also feed your diarrhea-afflicted chicken wheat bran moistened with sour milk or buttermilk.

Biostop is a product made from a plant extract containing tannins which helps bind up the droppings. Biostop should be given to chickens with mild cases of runny and loose droppings.

Biostop is very safe and can be given to the entire flock. It is very useful to use at the end of a course of antibiotics. Give in the bird’s drinking water daily for five days will surely control diarrhea in poultry.

 

[andreanar]

IM sorry he did that. Ugh...men! Ugh! Well, in case she shows up you can try a few things Ive found above

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Here are some things I have found in my searches.

Tetracycline medications (such as oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline) are commonly used in drinking water or feed to successfully treat diarrhea in livestock, including chickens.


Mother Earth News recommends giving your chicken a potassium permanganate solution to drink. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of the chemical in 1 quart of warm water. Feed each chicken 1 tablespoon of the concentrated solution diluted in 1 cup of warm water. In a case of severe diarrhea you may need a stronger solution, one that is potent enough to turn your finger slightly brown when you dip it in the liquid. Be sure to not keep the potassium permanganate mixture in a metal container.

Another remedy is Epsom salt. Add one-half tablespoon of Epsom salt to the affected chicken's feed. You can also feed your diarrhea-afflicted chicken wheat bran moistened with sour milk or buttermilk.

Biostop is a product made from a plant extract containing tannins which helps bind up the droppings. Biostop should be given to chickens with mild cases of runny and loose droppings.

Biostop is very safe and can be given to the entire flock. It is very useful to use at the end of a course of antibiotics. Give in the bird’s drinking water daily for five days will surely control diarrhea in poultry.

Do you have links to the mother earth news articles? I would like to read those.

fwiw - I can only assume that the epsom salts and the potassium permanganate would work as flushes - possibly to "clean out" the chicken. Epsom salts given orally is commonly used as flush for toxins, crop problems and to aid in relieving constipation (laxative effect). It can also be used for soaking a hen that is having trouble with egg binding and even works well for flushing/cleaning and promotes healing of wounds. I'm thinking the potassium permanganate would work similar as a laxative/flush, but I'm not that familiar with it, so can only speculate.
I would question using something that would cause a laxative effect in chickens (and humans for that matter) when trying to treat/stop loose droppings. After use, it would be essential to get the hen well hydrated first, then offer good nutritionally balanced feed and re-build the gut with probiotics.

Antibiotics that are listed may help with the diarrhea, especially if the loose stools are caused by bacterial infection (enteritis, e.coli, etc.). This is worth looking into. If the loose droppings go away with antibiotic treatment, then one could reasonably assume that infection was the cause in the first place. Of course getting a fecal float and gram stain can rule out worms, coccidiosis and infection.

Just my 2¢

 

[Mosey2003]

I would imagine the desired effect of the epsom salts was to treat any possible sour crop or vent gleet issues, I've seen reference to using it for that. But agreed, I would not use it in something that was already suffering diarrhea, it's a pretty powerful laxative.

 

[micstrachan]

Well, my jerk of a husband may have taken care of the problem. Last night while the girls were roosting, he was scooping out some more of the stool and she happened to poop, splattering his arm. He took her off the roost and placed her outside the coop and run and left her out. When I got home for work, I looked for her in the dark for hours but couldn't find her. It was the coldest night we've had so far this fall with sleet no less. She hasn't come back today and I still can't find her.

I'm FURIOUS at him for this. Even if we ended up culling her, it would have been quick and hopefully painless. Instead, she could have been killed by a predator or succumbed to the elements, which is anything but quick and painless. I have forbidden him from EVER touching one of my hens again. He wasn't trying to be cruel, he was annoyed by the constant poop everywhere and her pooping on him, but regardless, it WAS cruel and I'm LIVID and heartbroken that she may have suffered. Insert every swear word you know here because it's probably what I'm saying.

I am so very sorry. I am absolutely dumbfounded by this.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I hope your bird comes home. I doubt she succumbed to the weather conditions. I've had a pair sleeping in trees for the last couple months through rain, snow and very cold weather. Try as I might, I couldn't catch them in the coop. The hen was finally taken by a raccoon a couple nights ago.
If she returns, first of all, get her some probiotics. http://gro2max.com/ is a good product formulated for chickens. Amazon also carries it.
You are right about watery stool in hot weather being associated with increased water intake. However, an internal condition is causing her to continue drinking excessively. It could be something like urolithiasis from excessive calcium and damaged kidneys. It could also be fatty liver syndrome or TB. Getting a fecal sample read by an avian vet or your state poultry lab would be helpful. With all the possibilities, I wouldn't recommend dosing antibiotics.
If you decide to cull, send her to the lab for necropsy.

Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University
406 South University St
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2065
Phone: 765-494-7440

At least if you culled her yourself, you could still eat her, rather than give her meat to a predator.

 

[ChickNanny13]

 

[MrsAuberry00]

I am so very sorry. I am absolutely dumbfounded by this.

As am I. My husband is not a cruel man and he loves animals, but in this instance his actions were unforgivable even if he didn't intend for her to meet her end. To add insult to injury, yesterday afternoon my favorite hen, Anna, a sweet BO, disappeared from the yard and didn't return to roost. She has not returned and I fear that she, too, has been taken by a predator. So in the span of 24 hours, I lost 2 hens. Needless to say, my remaining three girls will not be allowed out of their covered run today or for the foreseeable future. I'm heartbroken.

 

[andreanar]

Do you have links to the mother earth news articles? I would like to read those.

fwiw - I can only assume that the epsom salts and the potassium permanganate would work as flushes - possibly to "clean out" the chicken. Epsom salts given orally is commonly used as flush for toxins, crop problems and to aid in relieving constipation (laxative effect). It can also be used for soaking a hen that is having trouble with egg binding and even works well for flushing/cleaning and promotes healing of wounds. I'm thinking the potassium permanganate would work similar as a laxative/flush, but I'm not that familiar with it, so can only speculate.
I would question using something that would cause a laxative effect in chickens (and humans for that matter) when trying to treat/stop loose droppings. After use, it would be essential to get the hen well hydrated first, then offer good nutritionally balanced feed and re-build the gut with probiotics.

Antibiotics that are listed may help with the diarrhea, especially if the loose stools are caused by bacterial infection (enteritis, e.coli, etc.). This is worth looking into. If the loose droppings go away with antibiotic treatment, then one could reasonably assume that infection was the cause in the first place. Of course getting a fecal float and gram stain can rule out worms, coccidiosis and infection.

Just my 2¢

https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/chicken-diseases-and-treatment-zmaz74zhol
Not the whole page I read yesterday, I cant find it again. But this one talks about the Epsom salt and the potassium per=whatever its called.