Watery poo

[Flummery]

Hope you aren't eating when reading this! Poor Ruby has been a bit down the past day or two and her bum has been a bit mucky. They were all wormed about 6 weeks ago. She's got the classic hunched hen look today and the last time anyone looked like this there was a soft egg to come. I brought her indoors half an hour ago and gave her a warm bath to clean the feathers and relax her a bit. She's not eating much but will peck the odd meal worm or two and I gather that watery poos can be due to a hen not eating enough for one reason or another. She has a bowl of water in front of her and is drinking regularly.

Any of our experienced chook keepers got any ideas?

[Flummery]

Me again - she's only eating the tiniest bit of food but has now started preening - properly, preen gland then feathers. In between she looks like she's about to nod off!

[Eco-Chic]

Sorry Flummery, can't help, but I do hope she perks up soon.

[di]

Sorry to anyone that is still eating...but Auntie Flum started it...what colour is her poo?
Could be totally not the same as Marigold,but when she was poorly her vent feathers were mucky with a runny white.I treated it as thrush...gave her a spoon of bio yogurt each day and after washing her vent daily would apply Caneston cream.
Like I say,may be something totally different?

[Flummery]

There's some white in Di, but it's mostly a lump of 'normal' with a whole puddle of watery stuff. I could try yoghurt. Nover seems to hurt. She's just pecking at some layers' but I'm not sure if much is going in or if she just like the sound it makes!

[RichmondHens]

Normal poo in pool of water usually indicates the hen is not eating much. She may just be feeling off colour and will perk up in a day or two. I would steer clear of anything "extra" such as yoghurt, and just try and encourage pecking at pellet and corn. If she is about to pass a softie, as you say she has done before, then perhaps if this is the problem, and she does this, then she will be back to normal. It's a case of wait and see, I think!

[Flummery]

Thanks for the messages. This one hasn't passed a softie before Richmond, but of the 4, 1 has had 1 and another has laid 2. I've brought some pellets indoors for her and she's had a few, and also some mealworms - always a winner! The main thing is that she's drinking in here and eating a little and has now started exploring a bit. Shortly I'll reassemble the nest-box as the house has been having it's clean today, and re-introduce her then. It'll probably be a wiait and see job, as you say.

[Flummery]

I'm glad to report that the TLC, warmth, hand feeding of treats etc that Ruby had yesterday afternoon seems to have done the trick. I still don't know why she went downhill a bit but she seemed to be head-up and trotting around with the others this morning. Half an hour before the tea-time treat I brought her into the kitchen again (best way to examine her poo - no-one lse does it on the kitchen floor!). Her crop wasn't massively full - not like the greedy girls - so I gave her a dish of mixed corn and mealworms, which she tucked into but didn't eat it all (she did eat all the worms though!) I then took her out to the run and gave all the girls their tea and she got stuck in again. The poo was normal.

Thanks again for the advice - good job the floor's tiled eh?

[moola]

It's off isn't it that they have these off periods? I always double check on mine after horrid weather, just incase there is one that isn't allowed under shelter - sometimes when I have intergrated youngsters this can happen. I also find that they get a bit runny if I overdo the greens and they seem a bit lethargic on these days.

[Flummery]

They don't have a lot of greens, just 3 or 4 big leaves of chard or cabbage, torn up. They are all disliking the dark days I think. Egg count has been down these past couple of weeks. I am taking extra care now to ensure that Ruby in particular doesn't go to bed without a full crop.

[HayleyB]

That's a relief Aunty Flum, glad all's well

[Snadger]

On a different note.........I didn't realise how much chooks fart until I was crouched down behind them in the coop with a gun, waiting for Roland to make an appearance.
No stink though, but quite noisy!

[Eco-Chic]

Well I just did a nocturnal looksee on my gals to check all is hunky dory cos I've been at lunch a while. Norty minxes still awake so I had to go back indoors for late corn supper which they've scoffed down as if they haven't been fed for weeks. I took the opportunity to skip out two poos which are almost as big as the eggs they lay whilst I was there. Scary

[Suechooks]

On a different note.........I didn't realise how much chooks fart until I was crouched down behind them in the coop with a gun, waiting for Roland to make an appearance.
No stink though, but quite noisy!

Thank you for sharing that with us Snadge!