Fully formed poop with yellow cap

[Eggcessive]

The (normally white) yellow urates in her poop are what is concerning. I would be concerned about a possible reproductive infection. Fatty liver disease and water belly (ascites) are two other things that may cause yellow urates. Have you seen any unusual or thin shelled eggs recently? What is her diet and feed? How long ago was the last worming? Have you any antibiotics?

 

[chickdiane10]

The (normally white) yellow urates in her poop are what is concerning. I would be concerned about a possible reproductive infection. Fatty liver disease and water belly (ascites) are two other things that may cause yellow urates. Have you seen any unusual or thin shelled eggs recently? What is her diet and feed? How long ago was the last worming? Have you any antibiotics?

Her shells have always been nice and strong.
I feed new country organics pastured perfect layer feed.
Wormed Feb23 and March 8th, 2024.
I have denegard and amoxicillin here.

 

[Eggcessive]

I might consider treating her with Amoxicllin 250 mg given orally twice a day for 7-10 days. Does she get any extra treats beside the the feed? Then I would keep an eye on her droppings to see if the yellow persists over the next week.

 

[chickdiane10]

Ok. I'll start antibiotics.

She's not overweight, feels normal/ leaning toward slender but not bony.

As far as treats, I give a small handful of black soldier fly larvae between all 5 once in the morning, (maybe they get 5-8 bugs a piece). I don't do scratch. I wet about 1/2 cup of feed in a bowl each morning for them, I sprinkle it with a little mixture of probiotics, cinnamon, tumeric, black pepper, oregano, and alfalfa leaf. A couple days a week I'll add poultry cell.

I'm definitely concerned on a reproductive issue bc she was such a good layer from the beginning.

I worry we haven't eradicated the cappilaria too. I'm thinking of sending off another sample.

 

[Eggcessive]

H-m-m-m, I wonder if it might be the Poultry Cell causing the yellow urates? Could you hold off on that for a few days and see if they become white again? Just a thought. Wait on the antibiotics if she is not acting sick.

 

[Eggcessive]

It should only take a day or two to know if the yellow urates was do to the thiamine in the Poultry Cell. If you ever take B complex, you may notice it causes bright yellow urine. If they don’t change color, it may well be one of the other issues mentioned before. Reproductive disorders are usually more common after 2-3 years, but occasionally happen to young ones. Fatty liver disease and cancer are also common. I offer soaked fresh feed to my chickens as a treat as well. Dry feed is always available. Chickens that eat corn and scratch, and other treats tend to get fatty liver disease, and those chickens may stop laying.

 

[chickdiane10]

The feed I have is corn and soy free. Not sure if that affects anything.

She's standing weird this morning. I'll observe her more often through the day as I have some desk work and their run is in eye shot.

 

[chickdiane10]

I thought you said you fed a layer feed? If you give corn extra, then don’t. They only need a layer or all flock feed. Anything else is a treat, and should be very limited.

I went to poultry dvm and put in every symptom my chickens had/have and the top 2 items were blackhead and roundworm.
I had fecals done recently that said capillaria and coccidia. They didn’t test blackhead.
We are losing #4 chicken right now, #5 has the yellow in droppings and off as per original post.

Apparently valbazen will only kill cecael worms (which can harbor blackhead, a protozoa), but not actually kill blackhead. There is no "approved antiprotozoal" for blackhead. But
Metronidazole, Ronidazole, Dimetridazole, and papaya seed extract are listed in poultry dvm as treatment.

I only had 6 full sized hens, they all keep dying slowly since Christmas.
We tested ALV and Mareks negative as well.
I haven't asked a vet yet, but not seeing how they test for blackhead. They just confirm in necrospy . All things in common are yellow diarhea and wasting.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens normally don’t get blackhead. Blackhead is more a of a turkey disease, from being kept with chickens and being exposed to cecal worms. In other words, chickens can carry blackhead, but turkeys are more affected by it.

Both Valbazen 1/2 ml given orally once and again in 10 days,and SafeGuard 1/4 ml per pound of weight given for 5 consecutive days will treat capillary, roundworm, cecal, and gapeworms.

Since you stopped the vitamins for a couple of days, I think the bright yellow dropping is a reproductive infection.

 

[Eggcessive]

Poultry DVM is a vague website. It is not an official source of facts that something like Merck Veterinary Manual, or a professional veterinary college source. Some of their info is accurate, and maybe helpful, but they have had some inaccurate info on their website over the years. Here is an article to read about blackhead:
https://extension.psu.edu/histomoniasis-blackhead-disease