Weird (?) poop picture - should I worry

[KyloChicken]

Hi all

I just had a chicken (didn’t see who) produce a very weird looking poop! It doesn’t really look like blood to me but that’s the first time I’ve seen a poop like this Have any of you seen a poop like this and if so should I be concerned?

Thank you!

 

[Lillith37]

That is shed intestinal lining. It’s not an issue if it happens infrequently. However, an overgrowth of coccidia or digestive worms can cause excessive intestinal shedding, diarrhoea and bloody poops.

How old is your flock? Have you introduced any new birds recently? Do you worm them regularly? Has there been wet/rainy weather?

Coccidia and worms are favoured by warm wet conditions.

 

[KyloChicken]

That is shed intestinal lining. It’s not an issue if it happens infrequently. However, an overgrowth of coccidia or digestive worms can cause excessive intestinal shedding, diarrhoea and bloody poops.

How old is your flock? Have you introduced any new birds recently? Do you worm them regularly? Has there been wet/rainy weather?

Coccidia and worms are favoured by warm wet conditions.

Thank you for your response! I worm them once in spring and once I fall ( a few weeks ago) alternating ivermectin and Valbazen
I’ve had a float test done and checked for Protozoa and it all came back negative

The oldest are 11 months, the next batch around 7 months, a few 3 months old

No new birds recently and it has been super wet the last two days (finally some rain). We’re in the southern US and had an extremely hot and dry summer!

On a side note: I have one chicken with persistent diarrhea. She’s been checked by the vet (hence the float and Protozoa test for the flock). But her issues are caused by a reproductive defect

 

[Lillith37]

Thank you for your response! I worm them once in spring and once I fall ( a few weeks ago) alternating ivermectin and Valbazen
I’ve had a float test done and checked for Protozoa and it all came back negative

The oldest are 11 months, the next batch around 7 months, a few 3 months old

No new birds recently and it has been super wet the last two days (finally some rain). We’re in the southern US and had an extremely hot and dry summer!

On a side note: I have one chicken with persistent diarrhea. She’s been checked by the vet (hence the float and Protozoa test for the flock). But her issues are caused by a reproductive defect

Sounds like you’re top of it. I’d just keep an eye out for the next little while. The only other thing I’ll add is that ivermectin may paralyse some gut worms but isn’t generally relied upon these days as an effective wormer.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Sounds like you’re top of it. I’d just keep an eye out for the next little while. The only other thing I’ll add is that ivermectin may paralyse some gut worms but isn’t generally relied upon these days as an effective wormer.

Sorry to thread hijack- but is routine worming the norm for back yard chickens? This is my first time seeing and now I’m wondering if I should be deworming my small flock regularly?

 

[KyloChicken]

Sounds like you’re top of it. I’d just keep an eye out for the next little while. The only other thing I’ll add is that ivermectin may paralyse some gut worms but isn’t generally relied upon these days as an effective wormer.

Will do!

Oh that’s good to know! Do you have a wormer recommendation to replace ivermectin with?

 

[Lillith37]

Sorry to thread hijack- but is routine worming the norm for back yard chickens? This is my first time seeing and now I’m wondering if I should be deworming my small flock regularly?

Some people deworm regularly or on a schedule, some do it in response to symptoms, and some never do. It depends on your flock and your environment.

The number of birds you have, the size of their run/ranging space, the type of soil they are on, whether you pick up their poop, the weather — all these factors will influence the population of worms.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Some people deworm regularly or on a schedule, some do it in response to symptoms, and some never do. It depends on your flock and your environment.

The number of birds you have, the size of their run/ranging space, the type of soil they are on, whether you pick up their poop, the weather — all these factors will influence the population of worms.

Thanks!

 

[Lillith37]

Oh that’s good to know! Do you have a wormer recommendation to replace ivermectin with?

I think it depends where you are as to what products you can get. I see a lot of people from America who use Valbazen (albenzadole) or Safeguard (fenbenzadole).

I’m in Australia and our products usually contain levimasole or flubenzadole.

These medications are effective for most digestive worms. If you have tapeworm though, you need a medication with praziquantel. If you ever see moving segments in fresh poop, that’s tapeworm. They are the only digestive worm you can see in poop, unless your bird has such a huge wormload that they start pooping out whole roundworms.

 

[KyloChicken]

Sorry to thread hijack- but is routine worming the norm for back yard chickens? This is my first time seeing and now I’m wondering if I should be deworming my small flock regularly?

I do worm them regularly since they are free ranging and can pick up worm eggs etc anywhere. the way I keep them they are definitely exposed to worms and there’s no way some of them won’t pick up worms in between worming intervals