Roksteddie Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 While clearing out the poo tray yesterday I noticed there seemed to be a lot of watery red/orange liquid on and around some of the droppings. I tried not to jump to conclusions (as I'm prone to always fearing the worst!). Then this morning one of the girls who has only just started to lay seemed to be laying an egg. When she got off the nest there was no egg, but a small patch of reddish liquid in the wood shavings. Cause for concern? Should I be treating them for anything medically? They are all eating fine and behaving very normally... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 We've had a few stain wood shavings an orange/ red colour on occasions Roksteddie. Thought nothing of it as they were out eating all sorts of rubbish. In their case it was wet dead leaves and we presumed the staining was from the brown pigment in those leaves. You could be forgiven for thinking coccidiosis, but generally it affects young chicks (under 6 weeks) or chickens in very poor health. Might be worth giving them a dose of Avipro Avian, just to be sure their digestion is in good condition. Use only best quality feed as the cheaper stuff has 'yolk enhancers' in it; chemical dies to make the yolks yellow and perhaps that would affect poo colour. It's been so many years since we abandoned cheap feed I can't remember any colouration issues though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roksteddie Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 They've been coming to the end of their original feed, Verm-X layers pellets and so I've been slowly introducing their new feed, Dodson & Horrell layers pellets. So maybe the change is causing slight irritation? I assume they're both good quality feeds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 D&H is good stuff, I find the pellets to be quite big though and now use Smallholder. I wouldn't worry unnecessarily, maybe get a Fecal Worm Egg Count done to see if they need worming with a proper wormer but other than that carry on doing as you are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
