Wet spot in nesting box

[aart]

Yes some sleep on roosting bar & one or two sleep in nesting box. The poop in the box was always a typical solid poop with white cap. It's only until recently, that this watery stuff appeared.

You shouldn't let them sleep in the nests, maybe your coop and roost space is not big enough to accommodate them?

If it is a watery poop, does that mean one of them is sick?

Well, definitely a digestion issue.
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

When I have a bird that is 'off'....
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor:
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.


Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[AnnG]

I feed them organic egg layer crumbles with some diatomaceous to earth mixed in. Once in a while I'll throw them an apple core, dried worms or veg. scraps, but not a lot & not too often. They have free reign of the yard so they may be eating stuff in yard too.
The coop is pretty small but it said it can accommodate 6 hens & I have 5. Maybe the roosting bar is not long enough for 5 of them? There are 3 nesting boxes but they all seem to lay in one box so I'm not really sure who the culprit is. I have to figure that out. Thanks for the info.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Are any of your birds currently molting? That looks exactly like the poop one of my birds had at night while she was molting. During the day, we could see that her poop was alternating between that and normal-ish poop. She was acting fine and now that she has finished molting, her poop is back to normal.

 

[AnnG]

Are any of your birds currently molting? That looks exactly like the poop one of my birds had at night while she was molting. During the day, we could see that her poop was alternating between that and normal-ish poop. She was acting fine and now that she has finished molting, her poop is back to normal.

Not sure about molting. I did see one feather yesterday. I'll have to observe them. Thanks

 

[AnnG]

Are any of your birds currently molting? That looks exactly like the poop one of my birds had at night while she was molting. During the day, we could see that her poop was alternating between that and normal-ish poop. She was acting fine and now that she has finished molting, her poop is back to normal.

I just saw a similar watery poop outside & took a pic of the hen I suspect. Does this look normal?

 

[cherrynberry]

I feed them organic egg layer crumbles with some diatomaceous to earth mixed in. Once in a while I'll throw them an apple core, dried worms or veg. scraps, but not a lot & not too often. They have free reign of the yard so they may be eating stuff in yard too.
The coop is pretty small but it said it can accommodate 6 hens & I have 5. Maybe the roosting bar is not long enough for 5 of them? There are 3 nesting boxes but they all seem to lay in one box so I'm not really sure who the culprit is. I have to figure that out. Thanks for the info.

Prefabs lie about how many birds they can fit. Most can only fit MAX: 3

First off, there is really no need to feed DE. It will not deworm them. I have never had a grain mite issue with my feed and I do not put DE in it.

 

[aart]

I just saw a similar watery poop outside & took a pic of the hen I suspect. Does this look normal?

Not normal, I'd crate her for observation, as I described above.
..and feed nothing but the crumbles for a week or so.

Prefabs lie about how many birds they can fit. Most can only fit MAX: 3

First off, there is really no need to feed DE. It will not deworm them.

Ditto Both Dos^^

 

[RubelliteRose]

I just saw a similar watery poop outside & took a pic of the hen I suspect. Does this look normal?

No, it is not normal, but it could be from something they are eating. Do you have any berries in the yard that your flock is eating? Is your hen acting off and sluggish or is she acting normally?
If you aren't seeing feathers everywhere, they probably aren't molting

When I have a bird that is 'off'....
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor:
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.


Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

We do this too. The crates aren't very expensive and fold up to take almost no storage room.