New hens, funny poo - no other signs of illness

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zoella16

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Hi again,

We have only had our hens 10 days and the past few days I have noticed quite a few funny poo's. I have been on all the threads and looked at pics of poo's all weekend!

For the most part the poo's are 'normal' but there have been a lot of 'abnormal' watery white/clear liquid with brown poo in and a couple of yellow frothy ones.

The hens themselves seem fine, they are both lively, happy to come out the house in the morning, tails pointing up and they are both eating and drinking. They haven't started laying yet.

I have been poo picking daily anyway but have been paying extra attention to this and also gave the house and perches a good clean out, disinfected with Virkon and put some Diamataceous earth in there. They have apple cider vinegar in their water and layer pellets with a treat of corn in the afternoon.

The lady I got them from said they wouldn't need worming for another 3 months however I do have some Flubenvet ready.

From what I have read it could be worms, kidney problems, dehydrated, coccydiosis or just a change in diet/hormones, or stress.

I'm hoping it is just the change in their environment - would there be other symptoms if they were ill? I say 'they' I know which hen is the poo culprit as I have seen her doing the watery ones.

Should I go ahead and worm again, or take to vet?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
If they appear healthy and happy, eating and drinking, its probably just stress at the change of environment. However nice their new home is, the experience if being caught out of the flock they have always known, probably without previously being handled much if at all, transported to a new place, possibly fed different food etc, is always upsetting for poultry. You are feeding them a good, simple diet, some if not all of the droppings are normal, so i would just give them peace and quiet and not too much personal attention or handling, for the next week or so, keep observing them as you are doing, and they will probably settle down OK. if anything changes, or if one or both become quiet or are sitting tucked up, then you may think again, but if no sneezing or runny eyes etc its probably nothing to worry about.
As these girls arepoint of lay, that's good, as the few weeks you will have to wait for the first eggs will enable hem o settle own and mature a bit before 'puberty' sets in. Again, if they are youngsters there will be no need to worm them yet awhile.
Enjoy your new flock! Have you got any pics o share with us yet?
 
Ok thanks Marigold, I will do and I'll keep an eye on them.

Thanks again, this forum is very useful to newbie's like me!

I have attached a pic :-)08
 

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What lovely girls. They are very lucky to have such a good home. Fantastic colours in the contrast between the neck feathers and the body, on the one at the back.
 
Thanks Marigold. That's Hilda, we think she is a hybrid of a RIR and a Barred Plymouth Rock. She actually has some green/blue tinted feathers on her back, sort of like a petrol effect. I'll take a photo when we finally have some sunshine and you can see properly - she's beautiful. The Gingernut is the friendly, cheeky one though so they are both our faves :-)
 
Thanks foxy :-) got our first egg this morning!!!! Feel like I've won the lottery :-D
 
Thanks ncotb :-)

Can I just ask another question please! There really is more to hens than meets the eye!

So the gingernut was acting a little bit weird this morning - she is usually the friendly one and I've been out a couple of times as couldn't see her and she's been hiding in various places and doesn't come over to me when I'm out there. Anyway the last time I went out I found her in the nest box with an egg - it's only the second egg so presuming she laid the first too.

Only now she is still acting strange, like she's really tired and lethargic. She's not interested in food or water and looks like she is falling asleep in the corner.

What does this mean?

Thanks!
 
This is the poo I just found :-)04
 

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That does look a bit unusual, doesn't it, and of she is obviously tucked up and unwell, alarm bells may be ringing. If she seems poorly, its likely that she did the funny poo, but of course unless you saw who did it, it could have been the other bird.
With the Easter weekend ahead, if she were mine and I was worried, I would try to get her to a vet today if at all possible. If she isn't sneezing and hasn't got runny eyes or nose and her breathing sounds OK, it's most probably not a respiratory problem. It might possibly be a gut infection, in which case antibiotics should sort it, but I would have expected greenish poos if that were the case. If you can get her to the vet, and still have the poo in the photo, take that with you as well, or take the photo. I suppose there not sign of prolapse from her vent, after laying her first couple of eggs?
Chickens are brilliant at hiding illness until they are feeling quite poorly and then they can sometimes go down rather rapidly, so if she is lethargic and not eating or drinking, she is obviously unwell. Why do these things always happen just before a weekend shut down of services?
 
I know - Easter weekend,typical! I rang the vet and they said £95 for a consultation!

I have checked her tummy and vent area and there doesn't seem to be a problem there, no swelling or blood etc. Her eyes and nose are fine too.

I brought her inside so I could monitor her, that's when she did that poo. All poo's since then have been fine. She just looked like she was sleeping so I left her and a few hours later found her walking round the kitchen, tail up and now she's taken herself back outside and is eating and drinking like nothing was ever wrong! I'm so confused!

It might sound silly but is it hard for them when they first start laying? Cause she was fine at bedtime last night and only seemed to be unwell after the egg this morning and now she's had a rest she's perked up again.

Thanks.
 
Well I'm very glad she's feeling better. Maybe it was just puberty period pains? How large are the eggs she is laying, in grams? That kind of bird usually starts at about 45 grams and gradually works up to bigger ones. Judging from your pictures, they are both quite young to be laying at all, their combs are still small and pink, so maybe its an intermittent laying problem which will settle down as she matures a bit, I hope so. So long as there's no prolapse her vent is probably OK.
 
Looks a bit mucosal and so possibly parasitic. It might be worth getting a faecal sample sent off to have a look for any evidence

Here is link to a on line service, some avian vets will do it there and then for about £10.

Again, do not worry too much at this stage if they appear to be acting normally. It is not unusual for new birds to have a bit of a gut disruption due to stress of the new move and surroundings. Avoid feeding them any treats that they would not have been used too.

I use Beryls when there is any evidence of a gut disturbance. It doesn't take much to upset the natural flora which inhibits bacterial growth in a chickens gut, and the likely candidate will be stress. There again there may be sub clinical cocci lurking. Saying all that it will probably sort itself out over the next few weeks, but a simple faecal sample may put your mind at rest.
 
Oops forgot the link! :D

http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/shop/view/index.aspx/product/faeces-sampling-67

and Beryls if needed:

http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/shop/view/index.aspx/product/beryls-6-bird-sachet--74
 
Some do get affected when they come into lay though most sail through it. They look healthy so they have that to fall back on.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, your help is very much appreciated.

Those links are very useful, thanks foxy. Will definitely get those items for my chicken cupboard.

Will certainly be keeping my eye on her over the next couple of days. Will be interesting to see if we have a repeat the next time she lays an egg. At least I won't panic as much if there is a next time!

I'm not sure about weight Marigold but this egg was considerably larger than the first one we got, must have been stressful for her :cry: If it's anything like childbirth then I can sympathise! Lol :-)09
 
Just to let you know she has laid her egg without any drama this morning, phew!

Marigold, I weighed it and it weighs just over 50 grams.
 
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