Chick with diarrhea

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Cliodhna

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One of my 3 week chicks has diarrhea. She/he isn't unwell and isn't showing any other symptoms of anything other than very watery smelly poo and passing gas a lot.

She/he is eating well, drinking plenty, not isolating him/herself. I've checked the crop (although they are still on chick crumb)and its soft, no smell from the mouth. I've checked the vent and it's clean.

It doesn't seem to be bothering the chick at all, its been going on for a couple of days and she/he isn't dehydrated and isnt losing weight, is there something I should be looking for?
 
On the surface it sounds like sour crop Cliodhna. But you've done all the checks and I have dismissed that. I don't know where you have these chicks at the moment, but one thing that occurs to me is gut flora. Normally, scratching around with mum, they will pick the 'friendly bacteria' up from the ground. But in a box inside, where do they come from? We have long since given all our chicks probiotic natural yoghurt at day two. The stuff we buy has 4 cultures (more the better) and we have had dozens of chicks, none of which have since that procedure had any digestive issues. So my suggestion would be to pop out and get some, giving each chick half a teaspoon maximum. See how you get on with that first. I think it will take several days to have any effect at their age.
 
Hi Cliodnha, sorry to hear about your chick.
Are they still in a brooder, or are they off heat out of doors in a run yet?
The first thing that springs to mind if a young chick has diarrhoea is coccidiosis. See this article from Poultrykeeper main site,
http://poultrykeeper.com/digestive-system-problems/coccidiosis and also there's a link to the Chicken Vet website at the bottom of the article, about coccidiosis in backyard chickens. As this progresses you will see blood in her poo, but if this isn't present that's good news.
Diarrhoea in chicks can be caused by a variety of problems, including some viral infections, but is always to be taken seriously. If you have, or can obtain, some Coxoid, available off prescription, you can add this to their drinking water. Otherwise, try to keep the brooder scrupulously clean (I'm sure you're doing this already) and in particular try to keep the bedding dry round the drinker. This is difficult as they're so messy, it may help to put the drinker in on a brick or piece of tile so it's at neck level rather than on the ground, which will help avoid splashes and wet mess around it. Best of all is to fit the sort where a lip protrudes inside the cage and the reservoir is outside, so they just drink from a little cup. Bacteria thrive in warm damp conditions, and this is what the oocysts which cause cocci need to breed. The chicks will peck around in the wet messy parts and pick up the infection. Keep the bedding changed often and poo pick as much as you can.
There's a special disinfectant which kills the oocysts if cocci is diagnosed or suspected, as ordinary Poultryshield etc won't do the job so effectively. I'll go and have a look in my shed in a minute! I forget the name.

She may just have picked up something which will resolve itself, but it would perhaps be best to isolate her, even if only by separating her with a wire mesh from the others. If there is an infection she may have passed it on already, but at least it might keep her poos separate from the rest of the hatch. The hard hearted among us would immediately cull any chick that didn't appear fully healthy, because at that very fast stage of growth any check to development often results in lifelong health problems, and some viruses can re-emerge throughout a birds life and transmit to others in the flock even as an adult bird.
 
They are in an indoor rabbit cage, in the house, by the window but with shade. They were hatched by me, eggs I bought from Ebay (3 out of 6 hatched, and I have just hatched a second clutch from the same seller with my children's school and 5 out of 6 hatched)

They drink from a bottle (they have a rabbit bottle and also one of the bottles with a small well at the bottom, with the bottle on the outside of the cage and the well inside), so there is very little spillage.

There is no blood. I poo pick daily and have a complete clean out and disinfect once a week.

I'll go and have a look at the link and will also get them some yoghurt. Thank you
 
I can separate him into a separate cage but dont have another brooder, would a heat mat (the type used for reptiles) be sufficient?
 
Can you get them off heat as soon as possible, if they're feathering up well, at least during the day? Maybe a little covered sheltered run out on clean grass? This will do them a lot of good whilst the weather is warm. You could watch them and if they're cold they will let you know by huddling together.
 
If I get coxoid, will it be a problem if is isnt coccidiosis?

Is it advisable to get some and treat the chick just in case?
 
They are speckled sussex and barely feathered at all on their bodies, they have wing feathers and few patches but the majority of their bodies is still fluff.
 
You could use coxoid prophylactically, it will do no harm, its good to have in stock if you rear chicks. But if the poo has no blood in it, just be watchful and keep crossing your fingers.
Of course they mustn't get chilled, but if on a warm day they can get some outdoor sunshine, with shade to retreat to if they need it, and a sheet of plastic over the top of the run in case of a shower, it will bring them on very fast. What heat are you using at present, and how much do they rely on it?
 
They have the brooder I got from you, and they only really rely on it at night and sometimes for a nap during the day. They are next to a window with natural sunlight (and are currently dustbathing in the sunshine) with a shaded area away from the brooder in case they get too warm.

I think I will separate the chick into the other cage, during the day today keep the cage in the sunshine to keep him warm and put the heat mat wrapped in a fleecy blanket for him tonight. Get some yoghurt for him while I wait for the coxoid to arrive and see how we go.
 
We never use chick crumb with ACS for chicks reared inside Cliodhna, just those outside with a broody. You may find that your chick crumb already has it in, because most do and we had to look specially to find one without it (Dodson & Horrell?) Your simplest route would be to switch crumb to one with ACS if you think that necessary.

The other reason for runny poo is getting too hot. We put ours in a room with natural light but no direct sunlight at all, to get as even a temperature as possible.
 
This is the chick crumb I use

http://www.happychicks.co.uk/chick-crumbs-feed-for-chicks-0---6-weeks--25kg-191-p.asp
it doesnt mention having it in, but I can contact the seller and she will tell me.

The heat is a possibility, maybe I've been concentrating on keeping them warm too much?

I'll maybe move the cage somewhere a little cooler with the heatmat in there, if the chick stays on the heatmat I'll know its too cool.
 
I'd contact the seller Cliodhna, because there should be a label on the packaging telling you the contents and use-by-date. My assumption would be it has ACS being a 'general' chick crumb, but best be sure.
 
Just checked and the chick crumb does have ACS in it.

does this mean its unlikely to be Coccidiosis?

He/she has been separated in a different room (s/he didnt like being alone and the cheeping was driving me insane) and has had 5mls of yoghurt and the wind seems to have reduced significantly. I'm going to leave him for today and see what the droppings are like this evening.
 
You will be creating another problem if you totally separate him from the others, because assuming he's OK and you want to return him to the others, after only 24 hours he will be mercilessly bullied. That's why he's cheeping incessantly, he's under a lot of stress on his own. Could you somehow manage to separate him but somewhere he is in sight of the rest of them? If he's at one end of the cage, fenced off with a circle of wire or something, his poo will be contains and the others won't be able to peck at it, which is probably the main consideration. If he does have any viral infection I think he would be more obviously ill by now, and would have already transmitted it anyway.
I would try turning off the heat during the day, using a max/min thermometer in the cage to check the actual temperature, and if its around +20-25C they will tell you they don't need it because they will just get on with their lives without huddling together for warmth. Keep them on the minimum which they can manage, as this will encourage feathering up and speed the time when they can live outdoors..
If the crumb is medicated, don't use Coxoid as well or they may get overdosed.
 
Okay I'll separate him off in the main cage and see how he goes.

I'll stick to the yoghurt and remove the heat during the day.
 
Monitor the heat carefully when you turn off the heater, and just watch them to check they are happy. You do need a gradual reduction to acclimatise them, and the weather changes rather unpredictably so just use common sense to keep them active but not overheated.
A max/min thermometer would give you a better idea about what it drops down to overnight.
 
Well they are in cages side by side on my living room floor, and seem happy enough, no chirping, just the little purring noise they make.

No heat on all day and I've moved them away from the window, to a shadier part of the house albeit the living room and so daily vacuuming is going to be a necessity.

I've also changed their food bowls from the feeders to the small dishes that clip onto the bars of the cage. My thinking being that if the food is higher, they wont kick the bedding into it and with it any droppings that are on the floor.

I will check at around 10, when it gets a bit cooler to see how they are doing and maybe provide some heat if necessary.
 
Quick update, the diarrhea continued until moved them outside. Initially I put them out in a rabbit run with a rabbit house for shelter during the day, and moved them to the hutch in the garage at night, but now I have foxproofed the hutch I have attached the run to it so they can come and go as they please.

Typically, after going all out to save him twice now, I think he is male.
 
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