[Heather B]

Not sure if overly worried but we got 6 new hybid POL girls 2 weeks ago from a breeder who indicated they had been vaccinated although not wormed.  One of them though has had yellowy, sandy coloured diarrhoaea for about a week with blood.  I can't tell which one it is although all seem alert and happy enough eating and drinking.  I keep cleaning the run of this particular poop and also where it is appearing in the coop.  The breeder thinks it may be the stress of the move - in the first 2 weeks the girls have encountered low flying jets, buzzards and the local pheasant shoot!  Any ideas - am I being overcautious in thinking we have Coccidiosis - any thoughts - much appreciated.  Heather

[DJ_Chook]

Chickens can have allsorts of different poo. If they all have clean bums and are bright, alert and being chickeny then they are probably ok. I would definitely worm them with Flubenvet, I do it routinely every few months.

It could be something...but it's probably not. Don't give them too many treats.

[Brijjy]

Definitely agree with worming new birds. When I got my first pair of geese I didn't worm only to have one of them die on me a couple of weeks later after gicing worms to the rest of my poultry. Also in my experience, I have found that a couple of my ex-batts always had loose, brown poo no matter what they ate. They were the ones that lived the longest too.

[chrismahon]

Try giving them probiotic natural yoghurt on small pieces of bread, immediately after they have had their Flubenvet course. Seems to settle the system well and I think assists with coccidiosis having had miraculous results with it. The continuous yellow poo says chronic worms and the blood says possible coccidiosis.

[Heather B]

Thanks everyone for advice.  Am treating with cocoid for 7 days to see what happens.  There definitely is a presence of blood and after some observations yesterday noticed that there were a couple of hens at least emitting the poopy stuff but again looking alert and quite well.  Have ordered some Verm X as still slightly unsure about the flubuvet in terms of difficulty in administering.

[plumseverywhere]

Heather if you buy the marriages pellets with flubenvet already in, its quite easy (even I can manage it - yay!    )
I do mine when new ones arrive but also every spring and every autumn.

[DJ_Chook]

Verm X won't kill off a worm infection. It's wise to worm regularly as a preventative measure.

[Heather B]

Thought about the marriage pellets but there will be quite a lot of wastage if not all using at once, given use by dates etc.  I have got some flubenvet & Verm X also but wasn't sure I could treat for both things at once hence not having done it yet.   Is there an age though that POL can be wormed?  Read in the poultry magazine year book that 12/13 weeks for example may be too soon to worm and if Verm X won't kill off a worm infection what will - flubenvet?

[chrismahon]

Hi Heather. Your point-of-lay hybrids should be at least 20 weeks old and its fine to worm them with Flubenvet. Marriages premix is easiest but if you mix the 6g scoop of Flubenvet with a teaspoon of Olive oil, making a paste and then mix as instructed it is far easier and safer to do. Forget Vermex; Ok for an intermediate worming but not very effective. Just need to make sure that the hens only eat the medicated pellets for 7 days and nothing else, so no free-ranging or treats. I would wait until the coccidiosis treatment is completed first.

[Heather B]

Hi Chris, thanks for advice, girls are now about 20 weeks.  Am going to worm with the flubenvet after the coccoid treatment and then hopefully everything will be okay.  Thanks everyone for your advice.