WATERY POOP

[dawg53]

I had the same thought so added it after the eggs were cooked to be on the safe side.

Correct. Scramble the eggs first, then add buttermilk into the scrambled eggs and mix it up. The buttermilk will cool the scrambled eggs. Stick your finger in the mixture just to be sure before you give it to your birds. Make the mixture somewhat liquidy with the buttermilk.

 

[Zoom Zoom]

Here's an update on my chicks runny poop problem. I have tried absolutely everything and still the problem persists. They have had the full Corid treatment, dewormer, antibiotics, the suggested scrambled eggs with buttermilk. I gave them Sav-a-chick probiotics and electrolytes which cleared the problem for all but the original two. I'm now giving them Rooster Booster vitamins & electrolytes with lacto bacillus daily in their water. The two that still have the problem poops aren't runny as before but soft and black. I've had a second round of labs done. The results are the same as the first and no blood in the stool. They have never appeared sick; they are energetic, eating and drinking as they should. I'm hoping mother nature will be kind to my two chicks and they will get better with time. There just doesn't appear to be anything more that I can do for them. I thank all of you for the suggestions and advice.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Here's an update on my chicks runny poop problem. I have tried absolutely everything and still the problem persists. They have had the full Corid treatment, dewormer, antibiotics, the suggested scrambled eggs with buttermilk. I gave them Sav-a-chick probiotics and electrolytes which cleared the problem for all but the original two. I'm now giving them Rooster Booster vitamins & electrolytes with lacto bacillus daily in their water. The two that still have the problem poops aren't runny as before but soft and black. I've had a second round of labs done. The results are the same as the first and no blood in the stool. They have never appeared sick; they are energetic, eating and drinking as they should. I'm hoping mother nature will be kind to my two chicks and they will get better with time. There just doesn't appear to be anything more that I can do for them. I thank all of you for the suggestions and advice.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/101/necrotic-enteritis

This mentions dark-colored diarrhea, but I have no experience with it and don't know if the antibiotics you already tried would have fixed it if that were the case. Just thought I'd mention it. Maybe you can ask your vet or one of the others here knows if it could be the case.

 

[casportpony]

How old are the chicks?

-Kathy

 

[CallsandSebbies]

I have the same problem - my geese have had watery poop for a couple of months. They have responded to human probiotic capsules being put in their water every other day, but its not solving anything. The poop gets better and then reverts back to its watery self. The color reflects what they have been eating. They seem very hungry - more beggy than usual, but also displeased with what they are offered (that may just be them, not an unusual thing). Better with increased greens. I've switched feeds - Dumor, (layer and regular) Mazuri (waterfowl maintenance), and Nutrena (layer). They are inside birds so not exposed to worms (that I know of). My girl, however, had a terrifying egg incident and almost died from a severe calcium lack while laying. She was in the ER and I guess could have picked up a germ. She was at a vet location where they didn't see fowl often, but there are plenty of germs from dogs and cats - and worms, etc. I think the timing is that since then, she had watery stools and now her mate does. They are expelled swoosh and total water. I am going to try the buttermilk and egg recipe. I have an apt that I've been waiting for at Cornell up in Ithaca NY. They are so good, its worth the wait - except I don't want to take any life-threatening chances with my kids. Their energy, fortunately, is good, and has been. Any thoughts? Thanks!.

 

[casportpony]

I have the same problem - my geese have had watery poop for a couple of months. They have responded to human probiotic capsules being put in their water every other day, but its not solving anything. The poop gets better and then reverts back to its watery self. The color reflects what they have been eating. They seem very hungry - more beggy than usual, but also displeased with what they are offered (that may just be them, not an unusual thing). Better with increased greens. I've switched feeds - Dumor, (layer and regular) Mazuri (waterfowl maintenance), and Nutrena (layer). They are inside birds so not exposed to worms (that I know of). My girl, however, had a terrifying egg incident and almost died from a severe calcium lack while laying. She was in the ER and I guess could have picked up a germ. She was at a vet location where they didn't see fowl often, but there are plenty of germs from dogs and cats - and worms, etc. I think the timing is that since then, she had watery stools and now her mate does. They are expelled swoosh and total water. I am going to try the buttermilk and egg recipe. I have an apt that I've been waiting for at Cornell up in Ithaca NY. They are so good, its worth the wait - except I don't want to take any life-threatening chances with my kids. Their energy, fortunately, is good, and has been. Any thoughts? Thanks!.

Welcome to BYC! Probably best to have a vet check stool samples for worm eggs, coccidia, bacteria and yeast.

-Kathy

 

[Zoom Zoom]

Hi - sorry for your problem; hopefully my experience will be of help. If you've read this entire post you know that I tried everything to no avail. As a last ditch effort, I called the University of Missouri School of Veterinary Medicine and spoke with their poultry expert. After telling him everything that had been done he asked LOTS of questions about their environment, especially if they have access to a compost pile - which they don't (apparently a compost heap is a common cause of digestive problems) and he asked if we use chemicals or fertilizers on our yard or vegetable garden, which we don't, so that wasn't the problem. He then talked about feed. At the time I was giving them Rooster Booster vitamins in their water. He told me to stop giving them anything other than their feed and a few treats. I learned that feed companies often put additional fat in feed for the winter and that some poultry can't handle the added fat. This made sense since I moved them to layer crumbles in November when I got my first egg and that was the time the problem started. Also, not all chicks were affected. He said to find a feed with no more than 2% fat and 3% calcium. I was buying crumbles from a local feed store who grinds their own feed and couldn't give me the content analysis. I went to a new feed store in town and found Country Acres layer crumbles with 2% fat and 3.5% calcium. I mixed that with the other feed for a week then put them entirely on the Country Acres feed. That was two weeks ago; the hen's poop is now normal and the roo is just a tad bit loose - I can see improvement every day. I also give them a tiny bit of good quality scratch or corn or meal worms spread over a wide area several times a day along with greens to relieve their boredom. It is amazing that it was the feed all along and I am relieved it wasn't something serious.

I'm certainly no expert since I've only had chickens since June but from my experience, my advice to you is to have the poop checked out by a vet to eliminate parasites, bacteria, etc. If they free range at all, make sure they aren't getting into something they shouldn't. If that all comes back normal, look at their feed content.

Good luck.
Sue

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hi - sorry for your problem; hopefully my experience will be of help. If you've read this entire post you know that I tried everything to no avail. As a last ditch effort, I called the University of Missouri School of Veterinary Medicine and spoke with their poultry expert. After telling him everything that had been done he asked LOTS of questions about their environment, especially if they have access to a compost pile - which they don't (apparently a compost heap is a common cause of digestive problems) and he asked if we use chemicals or fertilizers on our yard or vegetable garden, which we don't, so that wasn't the problem. He then talked about feed. At the time I was giving them Rooster Booster vitamins in their water. He told me to stop giving them anything other than their feed and a few treats. I learned that feed companies often put additional fat in feed for the winter and that some poultry can't handle the added fat. This made sense since I moved them to layer crumbles in November when I got my first egg and that was the time the problem started. Also, not all chicks were affected. He said to find a feed with no more than 2% fat and 3% calcium. I was buying crumbles from a local feed store who grinds their own feed and couldn't give me the content analysis. I went to a new feed store in town and found Country Acres layer crumbles with 2% fat and 3.5% calcium. I mixed that with the other feed for a week then put them entirely on the Country Acres feed. That was two weeks ago; the hen's poop is now normal and the roo is just a tad bit loose - I can see improvement every day. I also give them a tiny bit of good quality scratch or corn or meal worms spread over a wide area several times a day along with greens to relieve their boredom. It is amazing that it was the feed all along and I am relieved it wasn't something serious.

I'm certainly no expert since I've only had chickens since June but from my experience, my advice to you is to have the poop checked out by a vet to eliminate parasites, bacteria, etc. If they free range at all, make sure they aren't getting into something they shouldn't. If that all comes back normal, look at their feed content.

Good luck.
Sue

Very interesting- thanks for the update and I am so glad they are getting better!

 

[Betsy57]

A few of my 2 year old hens have the watery milky poop now too. They seem to be fine but as someone else mentioned, seem hungrier than usual. I have wormed them with valbazen but the watery poop has been before and since the worming. Not all the hens have the issue.

 

[11mini]

I finally took my girl to the vet and gave him the full story, sent in a fecal float and left with some baytril. His initial thought was cryptosporidosis but that returned negative. Coccidia however was "very high". The whole flock (3) are now the third day of 2tsp(10ml) liquid Corid per gallon of water. I also gave them each a booster quench of .5ml corid by mouth the first two days. The poop board was still wet this morning but there were more solids than before. After 7 days I am going to 5ml per gallon for another week, then 2.5ml for another week or two.