[Nikkijw]

Can anyone offer any advice please. I have just 2 rescue hens, approx 2 yrs old. One has had diarrhea for a week now & not interested at all in layer pellets. Ive tried ACV in drinking water, green tea, probiotic feed, power drops etc but not interested. Offered corn, porridge, meal worms & she couldnt get it quick enough - seems quite bright all things considered. Took her out to give her drops & she drank loads from rainwater. So 2 things please
1. Any tips on diarrhea - its gone from watery white/green tinge to just water.
2. How can i get her interested in layer pellets again & should i just wait it out?
Thank you very much

[Penninehillbilly]

How long have you had them, have they eaten pellets since you got them?
Drinking a lot of water will make the poo runny, they don't urinate  separately.
Are they laying/are their combs red or pale?


Mine wouldn't eat 1 make of pellets, have to go further to a different supplier.
See if you can dig a slice of clean turf up from somewhere (presume they are fastened in),
I get whole wheat and pour boiling water on to soften it, they go mad for that. (Dry stuff sometimes goes straight through And out in poo)

[Nikkijw]

Thanks for your reply. Had them a year now & always had the same pellets. I've had 2 'mini egg' size eggs which im guessing is her. Comb looks fine surprisingly.

I got some layer mash this afternoon to give it a try & had a degree of success except the other chicken now has diarrhea too. Guessing a bacterial thing maybe? Trouble is in lockdown the ground will be soiled. Im not in a position to move the run. I saw a rat in the run last week - obviously after the peck block & hanging food bordem busters id treated them too. Do you think they could have picked up something from the rat?

[chrismahon]

May well be a digestive impaction. Have they had access to anything like long grass or whole cabbage leaves in the last two weeks? When were they last wormed with Flubenvet? Are their crops empty?

[Richmond]

If you haven't already wormed them (with Flubenvet) do so now. If you really can't move them then bed their run very well with fresh straw or similar. Personally I would move them to fresh ground even in lockdown as a soggy mucky pen is just compromising their welfare.
As they are rescue hens I presume you are not interested in egg production anyway (rescue hens are normally "spent" egg-wise when put up for adoption) therefore stop the layers pellets and feed whole wheat with plenty of insoluble grit.  Better to get them eating something rather than nothing.

[Nikkijw]

Thank you. Yes i started worming with flubenvet pellets last week but again no luck with the pellets.

The ground is very dry as has a tarp over the run but still conscious any germs passing thru will go back to the ground & they are scratching & pecking so potentially start the cycle again.

Puzzling thing is, they look quite bright. The crop on the first one was watery but no smelly breath. I guess it will be tho if shes drinking but not eating much - also accounts for loose droppings.

Will try the straw floor, thats a good idea thank you & i can remove it later.

Will also persevere with mash but bought some crumble too just incase. Im at a loss after that tho! Thank you

[chrismahon]

If the pellets had gone 'stale' because of damp or if any slugs have been on it they won't eat it. In our recent experience, even when subsequently given fresh pellets they won't eat. In our case the hen then ate too much grass and died with the resulting impaction. Potentially they are very hungry and given anything else, like straw, they will eat it and won't be able to digest it.


All I can suggest is trying rearer pellets, which are much smaller. Make sure they have access to grit. Avoid large grain. You could try chick grain, which has been crushed- perhaps that will spark their appetite?


Obviously you won't be able to worm them now until they start eating pellets again.

[doganjo]

Try wild bird food or quail food, mine love it as an occasional treat.  Have you tried porridge?

[Richmond]

You can buy Flubenvet powder in a tub (dosage on tub) which you can then add to some food they will eat. This will ensure they get medicated. For just two chickens this would be preferable to buying pellets which then go out of date if they are not used up. The pure powder lasts for ages - up to 2 years I think. It's a bit of a faff for large numbers of birds hence the popularity of the pellets but for just a couple of hens It's more practical.

[Penninehillbilly]

Do you know anyone with sheep?
Some people worm hens with an ivermectin based wormer, which is in liquid form, I think it only needs about 1ml

[Nikkijw]

Thanks everyone. I bought some biostop today that goes in their water to aid diarrhea im hoping that will help 

They did eat the porridge & i've also got some bird food with insects in it to try. Their crop feels a tiny bit fuller tonight so thats promising at least. Just wish i could stop the runs but hoping the biostop will do the job 

Would you leave the worming powder for now or give it a go anyway? Not sure if you can overdose as im not sure how much of the pellets would have been digested by each hen (not much eaten but dont know if that was by just one or both nibbled?)

[Backinwellies]

I worm mine with puppy wormer (easy with syringe so you know exactly how much they have had ) .

[Richmond]

Thanks everyone. I bought some biostop today that goes in their water to aid diarrhea im hoping that will help 

They did eat the porridge & i've also got some bird food with insects in it to try. Their crop feels a tiny bit fuller tonight so thats promising at least. Just wish i could stop the runs but hoping the biostop will do the job 

Would you leave the worming powder for now or give it a go anyway? Not sure if you can overdose as im not sure how much of the pellets would have been digested by each hen (not much eaten but dont know if that was by just one or both nibbled?)

I would worm them. The percentage of flubendazole in Flubenvet is only 1% these days, it used to be 2%. It would be very difficult to overdose them.  Game birds get a 5% preparation.

[Nikkijw]

Thank you. Seems things aren't going so well now. Yesterday her comb started going a bit purple on the tips and she was very lethargic, didn't eat much at all. No idea what that might be now! Took her to the vet £110  for dog tablets & antib's, apparently she has swelling in her tummy. They want her back next week (if she lasts). Have her indoors now, in the warm. Really hope she makes it - seems the more time you invest in them, the more soft you get over them.

[Richmond]

Presume the dog tablets were for the dog and not the hen!!
It does sound like she is quite poorly. Unfortunately rescue hens have a pretty short lifespan due to being bred for intensive laying - it puts a huge strain on their system. The swelling you describe may be the start of peritonitis (hence vet prescribing antibiotics) or build up of fluid due to heart failure. Sounds like you have done all you can.