whats wrong?

[knat]

Have 7 chickens (2 were introduced about 3 weeks ago and all now cohabit peacefully!!). When we had the hotspell egg production went down and still hasn't really gone back up. There are a few yellow poos some a but runny although seem to be firming up and the occasional brown runny poo. They are all feeding ok and seem to be ok - quite active etc. The last couple of days there have eben some feathers lost not masses but quite noticeable in the runs etc. I've checked and can't see any red mite and we have treated for this. We have only been keeping chickens for about 3 months. Anyone have any thoughts? We did use verm x about 3 weeks ago and regularly louse the birds.

Verm-X isn't a wormer. I may help by making the digestive tract less pleasant for the worms to make their home in, but it won't kill any worms that are already there.

Try flubenvet (this doesn't kill gapeworm however) or an ivermectin spray (you get this from the vet). Ivermectin kills both internal and external parasites and is quite powerful - it also kills gapeworm.

It is really important that you de-parasite your chickens as lice etc. can kill. Don't just think it's red mite that can kill.

Don't rely on the powders either - they aren't powerful enough to kill any lice/mites on the bird. Kitten strength frontline drops will help. Just use the powders to sprinkle into the bedding if you use straw etc.

Feather loss around the rear may be due to Northern Fowl mite - only a permethrin spray will deal with this. Other symptoms include a sort of grey, greasy diarrhoea and sore bum.

Coccidiosis is another relatively common infection which causes hens to stop laying, general loss of condition, sitting around with a hunched up appearance.

Chickens are very adept at hiding the fact that they're ill and often you don't realise there's a problem until it's too late. As a chicken keeper you'll soon develop a keen eye for a sick bird and some detective skills can help you to figure out what's wrong and a lot of things are treatable without going to the vet. Most vets don't know much about chickens anyway.

www.thepoultrygarden.com/phpbb/index.php

This site is very useful and there's some good health information - the people are friendly and helpful too.

thanks for your reply. The feather loss doesn't appear to be from the rear and their vents are fine. The poo is more a mustardy colour i've noticved today and not all poos - the majority are normal. I'm going to get some flubenvet and will look for the kitten frontline drops. They're not sitting around - generally active although like to dustbathe! Thanks again for your advice.

have a look at Aunt Sally's poo pictures too - it might be that your poos are just normal poos, but you're not used to it.

you should follow the pest prevention from atomic as a matter of course.

The mustard colour poos are fine - They are being expelled from the caecum apparently and this is normal. Every few poos come out this colour - they're a pain to clean up because they're so smelly as well.

You're definitely doing the right thing by dealing with any parasites. I lost a hen shortly after getting her due to the fact that she was infested when she came from the breeder and I didn't realise that the powder wasn't killing the lice. They were also full of worms when I got them too and the flubenvet was very good at clearing them up.

Curry poos are completely normal, usually every ten poos or so. They are gross, but harmless. It's the hens way of clearing the exit, so to speak. Definitely get on top of any parasites, I second the flubenvet suggestion. I worm my flock four times a year regardless, and there is no egg withdrawal period. I'd give the hens a good going over, looking closely at the base of the feathers near the tail, the neck and under the wings (favourite parasite hang outs).It could just be a semi-moult, however. In very hot weather it's not unheard of for chickens to shed some feathers. My girls are a little off lay at the moment too, and it's almost certainly down to the heat.