watery stools, and chickens getting very thin, and eating like crazy!

[stormylady]

Are these symtoms of worms? If so how to treat? I have not seen any worms but that is the only thing I can think of that might make those symtoms appear. The chickens range in age from 7 months to 4 months..... No bloody stools, not discharges for eyes or nose ,
no raspy breathing, Just diareaha (SP?) and steadily thinner chickens like there starving to death, but they eat ravenously.
Any Ideas as to what else it could be? Thanks in advance for you input. Sandy

 

[caralouise1974]

Yep, definitely could be worms. If you have never wormed them before, you need to take any worming treatment you do now very slowly, or they could die from the shock to their system of all the worm carcasses piling up.

Use wazine first, followed 2-4 weeks later by ivernectin or fenbendozole, as wazine only kills adult worms, not larvae. Wazine has a 14 day withdrawal.

Ivermectin: pour-on or injectable (administered orally), has a 10 day withdrawal.
Fenbendazole: small piece in the beak of each bird, has a 14 day withdrawal.

Follow up this inital worming with a twice annual worming schedule with either ivermectin or fenbendozole, in spring and autumn, and your birds should stay healthy and their worm load will remain manageable.

 

[stormylady]

Thanks so much caralouise, when you say take it slow? you mean to do the full treatment as directed on the bottle of wazine right . Also one other question, it says on the bottle 2oz of wazine to 2 gallons of water for every hundred birds, I only have about 40 right now and they go through about the 4-5 gallons of water a day. So How much wazine to how much water, or should I do the whole 5 gallon water with 5 ozs wazine and just throw the Medicated water out at the end of day, or let them have it and finish the whole thing, or how would you suggest i mix the medication with the water, I don't want to overdose them. Thanks so much for the advice! Edited to add, should I do 1oz of wazine in two gallons of water since I only have 40 birds? sorry if im confusing you, Im really confusing myself too. LOL Sandy

 

[kathyinmo]

Maybe these threads will help you with your worming program:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213065

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2631046

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2525157#p2525157

 

[stormylady]

Quote:
thankyou so much those threads were emincely helpful! Sandy

 

[caralouise1974]

Glad you got the info you needed stormylady. Good luck with the treatment, keep us informed of your hens' progress

 

[stormylady]

Quote:
Thanks you guy have been great, I will let you know how it goes!
Sandy

 

[threehorses]

Actually in addition to worming, what are they actually eating?

I'm not sure enough was covered. Worms seems the obvious answer, but sometimes it's something else and I'd hate to see something missed.

First, diarrhea causes nutrients to pass through the digestive tract too fast for the nutrients to be absorbed by the gut into the blood stream. The cause of diarrhea could be worms. But it could also be bacterial, or environmental, or their water. Or fungal.

What are your birds eating? Are they free ranging?

I'd also recommend giving yogurt or another probiotic in a damp mash, giving a one-time cleansing treat of a little molasses (1 cc per six birds), applesauce (1 cup per six birds), honey (a couple of tablespoons), 6 teaspoons of yogurt, and enough of their crumbles mixed together and let to set until the moisture is absorbed. The molasses will flush out the bacteria causing the diarrhea if there is any, the applesauce will cleanse the digestive tract and feed the good bacteria, the yogurt replaces good bacteria, and the honey is for taste. If you worm, do this the day after worming and it will help flush out the paralyzed exiting worms.

If your birds are thin, PLEASE worm first with Wazine in case they have a heavy parasite load so that you don't over stress them. Then go back in 2-4 weeks with a more broad spectrum and tougher wormer like fenbendazole to get the rest of the worms and also their larvae.

 

[stormylady]

Thankyou Threehorses, First off, they are on layer feed, they also get yogurt pretty regularly as it is there favorite treat. they also get green beans and cumcumbers tomatoes, all fresh except the green bean they are usually canned and salt free, and I try and get them spinach and lettuce when possible, They also get melons and fruit, but it seems to give them the squirts so not alot of that type of thing. They are alway fed first thing in the morning with there Layer feed, and later in the afternoon when they are out of that then they get the other stuff. My chickens do not Free Range as I live in town and it is required that they be in a pen or coop at all times.
I did worm them with the wazine today, and plan on getting Ivermicin (spelling?) in about 2 weeks. I will try and do all you suggested with the other food Items but because of finiances at the moment I can only do so much. but will do the best that I can.

As far as there living enviroment, I just cleaned there coop out today thoughly and replaced all of there pine shaving with new, and I did notice that there were wet spots on the floor that were covered with the old shaving that I hadn't noticed before. I scraped down all of there roost and put D.E. on them and mix alittle in with the shavings. I washed there waters and food dishes,
Im not sure what else I should have done, or any other suggestions you might have would be more than welcome.

Oh they also get a fair amount of bread. and occasionally scratch but not very often. Thanks Sandy.

I also meant to say that the diarreah looks like just straight water to me nothing in it, and they eat like crazy, (like their starving to death) It just seems to me that as much as they eat, there should be some mass to the poo, is there some other disease that would cause them to eat like that and still lose weight, and be so thin. Im super worried about them.. Thanks again for all your help.

Edited again to say : I forgot to add that I put a little vineger in their water everyday. I think that is it.,

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Well first, just never let them be out of layer as one suggestion. Chickens are meant to eat that food all day - that's how it is designed. give the treats in addition to their layer as it should only be in treat amounts. And I would probably not use the green beans. Use frozen, but not canned. Honestly the best thing you can give them is to grow some clover, grasses. I think the treats and lack of the afternoon and before roosting feeding is the problem. They need to fill their crops with their layer before they go to bed. That's when it has the time to mix with water and be digested so likely they'r elosing nutrition there. Add to that a good deal of high water feed, and you have weight loss and runny droppings increasing weight loss .

Also make sure the vinegar is the organic apple cider vinegar - about 1 teaspoon per gallon. That could be another issue.

Hopefully with a few adjustments, more feed, less treats, less vinegar (that can drop weight if given every day) can help them gain weight.

I'd love to know how they do.