Should I be worried...?

[feetrus]

This is the colour and consistency of poop from a 2.5 year old light Sussex, she's stopped laying in the last few weeks too.... Eating ok,drinking well, walks around most of the time then she prefers to lay down somewhere cool with head down....then not a happy bird!

 

[chrismahon]

Looks like it could be sour crop Feertus. We've had poos like that on occasion and they have just sorted themselves out. But worth checking her crop in the morning for squishiness and if necessary withholding food and giving excess water by syringe for 24 hours until it has settled down.

 

[feetrus]

Hi Chris, thanks for your reply...I've started massaging her crop and there is a definite area there! I've also started giving her some warm olive oil in a syringe. She's stopped eating anyway apart from a wet mash last night! But she is drinking but she's definitely lost a bit of weight which is no bad thing as she was a "lump" and I'll give her water in a syringe this afternoon! Challenging this chicken keeping eh...thank goodness I've got you, Marigold and everyone else out there!

 

[Marigold]

Sour crop can be a symptom of something further down, rather than a health issue on its own. So what you're doing may help, but might not be the complete answer. My Marigold had similar problems and the vet said the green poo could indicate a liver infection, which cleared up after antibiotics. Three years later, she's still entertaining me by regularly going broody.....
Green poo by itself can be the result of eating too much greenstuff, but if she's sitting looking as if she has a stomach ache, I would think she probably has. At her age she should be laying well at this time of year, so if she has stopped in the last few weeks, it sounds as if it could be something internal which has developed gradually, and the other symptoms, poo, loss of appetite and lethargy, have only recently become evident.

 

[dinosaw]

As with seemingly everything to do with chickens it could be any number of things, most likely is excess bile causing the greenness stemming from lack of food which would tie in with the wateriness of the poo which then points to a blockage higher up in the crop preventing passage of food which you seem to have found and are treating. Green poo can also be a sign of poisoning or several bacterial diseases, have seen several posts on other forums over the years pointing to secondary poisoning from slug pellets though it sounds unlikely here.

 

[feetrus]

Thanks Marigold and dinosaw....I've just given her some probiotic yogurt with some porridge mixed in, which she wolfed down but is a bit blasé about ordinary chook food! I've checked her body again, and the crop is softer also in just a short time I've found that she's covered in lice, which I've treated with DE and again didn't run away, seemed to enjoy it! Comb etc red....tail proud, wandering around, when she sits down she puts her head down! But neither of them are laying, also that when my Amber Star was laying 3-part eggs the Light Sussex was laying. Poisoning ....maybe, they've been foraging at the end of my garden where I've found a load of food rubbish (end of garden backs onto public footpath) also they popped out of my garden and visited next door, and they could have used slug pellets!

The poo is still watery, but she's drinking well! The green is maybe sorrel? But does seem pellet shaped! I dunno folks, keep doing what I'm doing? Massaging? Yoghurt? Or vet.....or?? Thanks again ...Edwina

 

[Marigold]

The lice will have been bothering her, Edwina - I expect you've treated any other birds you have, as well, and thoroughly cleaned out and dusted the coop and nest boxes?

 

[dinosaw]

How is your Amber Star?, does she have the same symptoms?, if the light sussex has lice then you had better treat the amber star and the house with DE too as a preventative. Regarding the vets, unless they are on the BHWT list for being knowledgable about chickens I would give it a miss, they will otherwise probably just do what they nearly always do and prescribe antibiotics in the hope that they work and they might who knows but it will be a shot in the dark, there is a list of vets with chicken training here http://www.bhwt.org.uk/information/find-your-nearest-hen-friendly-vet/ The most likely cause is still lack of food in which case she will be resting more due to lack of energy. An obvious question but when did you last worm them?, also check their feed has no mould on it, I'm sure it doesn't but always good to rule out something like a fungal cause. Does her breath smell foul?, that is one sign of sour crop.

 

[feetrus]

Hello again.....nest box and roost checked and dusted but not thoroughly cleaned yet due to heavy rain! I'm not that dedicated to my girls! Both of them were duly dusted today with DE and rubbed in! Amber Star (Miss) not showing similar symptoms at all! Poop fine for a chicken! Wormed in last month, but now out of Flubenvet powder, so will get Marriages with Flubenvet until back in stock! Food fine! Light Sussex (Match) breath checked as she loves now to give me eye contact when I do things to her and breath seems to be fine! Vets on list none really local to me, but one local vet in practice close to me seems to be, from what I've heard, chicken friendly! .....thanks again folks.....watch this space eh!

 

[feetrus]

Update....Went down at midnight On 24ty June and surprised both the chooks (!!!) and an infestation of red spider mite too! The coop has now been deep cleaned, and also treated with DE and spray, as of today no sign of anything! Match (for her) is back to normal, but no eggs from either of the chooks....so classifying them as henopausal, garden wrecking, food devouring ...pets .... thanks again for all of your help! (Watch this space in the future for the next saga)

 

[Marigold]

Well, I wouldn't give up on them yet. 2.5 years is no great age for a Sussex, my Marigold is 5 now and still laying regularly, (when not broody, of course...) I'm glad Match is back to normal, and you've found and treated the spider mite, that must have been very uncomfortable for them, poor girls. I expect they've been wormed recently? Though with Flubenvet currently being unavailable, they'll have to wait, unless you have some spare powder in stock. I just thought you might try to hit all the obvious bases, and then with luck they will surprise you with some nice eggs.

 

[feetrus]

Thank you ma'am for your kind words!!! Yep, they've been wormed recently and I'm now out of Flubenvet, so I've just ordered some Marriages with Flubenvet, usual 7 days on then 3-6 months off? Eggs I live in hope.....I've just had to buy 1/2 dozen, showed the box to them but didn't have much effect!