Hen with Splatter Gun Poop Action: Experienced Assistance, Please.

[MrsAuberry00]

As stated in the title, I have a one year old FCMx who has had very loose stools for about a week. In the past few days, I can tell exactly where she roosts at night by the watery poop that's splattered across the coop floor, (I would NOT want to be the girl roosting on the opposite side of her.) I've inspected her poo and don't see signs of blood, mucous, unusual color, or any VISIBLE worms, it's just watery. (Their may be an off color, but since the sand absorbs it and their run covering makes it impossible to see anything but normal poop...) The floor of the coop is sand, and gets sifted clean like a litter box every morning. She shows no other symptoms I've been able to observe. Her appetite, energy level, and behavior all seem normal and she lays every day. We are in the middle of a week long rainy spell and their covered 10' x 5' run is a mucky mess of my amateur attempt at the deep litter method. I have 5 hens in total who, due to my job and no one else being home to watch over them, have only free ranged outside of the run right now for 2 out of 7 days since the beginning of this month.

I have searched through and read numerous "watery poop" threads and have found varying suggestions. I'm exhausted, worried, and relatively clueless. If I take a sample of her stool to have a float test done, it would just be a clump of wet sand due to her near expert splatter gun technique. Can a vet still do a test? (I have images of trying to attach a Ziploc bag to her butt to catch it straight from the barrel. Nope... just... no.) Since she's showing no other symptoms, is there something else I should do? Something in their water? Should I let them out to free range unsupervised so they aren't "cooped up" in their mucky run? Help me, I'm in chicken hell.

 

[Eggcessive]

You might place her in dog crate overnight with puppy pad with the plastic side up, and a small roost pole in the dog crate. That would collect some of the droppings, hopefully. If you brought her to the vet, they might be able to do a swab inside the vent to collect some droppings.

Is there some reason that she might be drinking lots of water that is causing the watery droppings? I had a hen who did this for the whole time I had her, and none of the others did this. You might try feeding her a tsp of plain yogurt a few times a week, and little cottage cheese mixed into food might help to firm up the droppings. Apple contains pectin which can firm up droppings, but avoid applesauce or the juice.

 

[MrsAuberry00]

You might place her in dog crate overnight with puppy pad with the plastic side up, and a small roost pole in the dog crate. That would collect some of the droppings, hopefully. If you brought her to the vet, they might be able to do a swab inside the vent to collect some droppings.

Is there some reason that she might be drinking lots of water that is causing the watery droppings? I had a hen who did this for the whole time I had her, and none of the others did this. You might try feeding her a tsp of plain yogurt a few times a week, and little cottage cheese mixed into food might help to firm up the droppings. Apple contains pectin which can firm up droppings, but avoid applesauce or the juice.

I can't think of any reason why she'd be drinking more water. Maybe I should research that aspect more. I didn't really consider that since it's not hot and dry.