Watery poo

[jacquelyn213]

Hi all-
New chicken owner here.

I have 2 Silkie hens 6 months in age.

Fed them chick starter from the beginning and their droppings were solid. Cecal poos were normal and smelly.

Started them on layer feed 1 month ago as they started laying mid-September. As soon as I started them on the layer feed, their droppings changed from solid to droppings that look like pellets with clear water around it. Best way to describe it. Even their cecal poos are more watery.

Wormed them last month with Verm-X and nothing changed. Went to feed store to ask them some questions about it and was told to put them back on the chick starter since they did better with that food. Still have them on layer feed as of today.

I did start to put ACV in their water & have been giving them grapes and iceberg lettuce as treats.. Not sure if that has anything to do with it. They do love their water. I see them at the water frequently.

Not sure what to do?? Should I be worried. Weather here in PA has been good. A few cold nights so I have been giving them cracked corn before bed. They have a large covered outside run so they never get wet when it rains.

Both hens are:
eating
drinking
acting 100% normal
laying hard shelled eggs normally
sleeping normal
not losing any weight
have grit and oyster shells available

Any suggestions? Am I overanalyzing this?? This all started as soon as I switched them over to the layer feed.

 

[dkosh]

Does the feed sometimes get poo in it? Sometimes that can cause coccidiosis. Medicated chick starter should help, that is probably why the feed store gave you that advice. Maybe try mixing some chick starter with the layer pellets. Just a thought....But other than that it sounds like your taking good care of them.

 

[jacquelyn213]

Hello again,
No, poo doesn't get in their food or water since I have them raised up. I'm not thinking Cocci since they don't have any of those symptoms.

I keep their coop and run spotless. I clean up their droppings daily both in their coop and in their outdoor run. So I see their poo daily and just noticed the sudden change right after starting them on the layer feed and they started laying their eggs. I'm hoping that changing them back to the chick starter will make a difference.


Thanks for the help!!

 

[stargirl]

It doesnt sound too alarming, as they're well in every other way.
It may just be their bodies adjusting to the change in food. If going back to the chick food helps, you could try giving them a mix of the two, gradually increasing the amount of layers pellets over time.
The grapes & lettuce could definitely be contributing too. Both ate high in water, so limit these for a while & see if that helps.

Also bear in mind that in warm weather, chickens will drink more & pass more watery poo as a means of staying cool. Not sure where you are or what your climate is like.

 

[jacquelyn213]

They do love their grapes and lettuce which could be the culprit!! I am definitely stopping those for a week to see if that helps firm up their poos. I started them back on the chick started today so I'll see if that helps as well.

I live outside of Philadelphia so weather here has been mild. Not hot at all. Usually in the 50's/60s.

Does anyone *think* Cocci? I do have Sulmet here and could treat them to see if that helps.

Don't want to do too much all at once but don't want to ignore anything obvious. I did start them on Verm-X again today and will do it for the next two days.

 

[dawg53]

Verm-X is useless. Stop the lettuce and grapes, that will stop the watery feces. Keep them on layer feed, not chick starter.

 

[PoppetPoultry]

Hello jacquelyn213, have you thought about having some worm counts carried out on them to see if it is worms or not? I had one carried out on my hens which showed they did have worms, used Verm-X and they are now all clear but certainly gave me some peace of mind.

 

[dawg53]

Hello jacquelyn213, have you thought about having some worm counts carried out on them to see if it is worms or not? I had one carried out on my hens which showed they did have worms, used Verm-X and they are now all clear but certainly gave me some peace of mind.

What type of worms did they have and what type of worms does Verm-X clear out?

 

[PoppetPoultry]

My hens had quite a high round worm burden when I got them. I contacted Verm-X and they were very helpful but I did not ask all the worms Verm-X kills I must admit, I only asked about round worms really to ensure it would help my hens. It has been very effective for me and my hens look great now.