Chickens all want to stay in the doorway!

[Chickbait101]

Hi - new chicken owner. One of my Pekins - I think - is excreting what looks like diarrhoea  - she is very lively and perky otherwise. See attached. Is it perhaps ceacal? She is about 18 weeks old. The Orpington has one runny eye - should I be concerned? And, none of them - 3 days in - look anywhere near going up that ladder to roost on their own. They don’t seem to like the ladder or the roosting bars - they seem to struggle walking on them. I will get grips for the steps and I have put a brick at the bottom of the ladder so they don’t have to jump so far but they just ignore it completely. I have a tyre with sand in it at the back of the run and under the coop as a dust bath - they tend to congregate there - I am wondering whether that is where they would ‘choose’ to roost - one stands on the tyre, the Orpington puts her head under her wing and, the other one, just stands or sits on the ground. They don’t seem to be eating much at the moment - I am giving them a mix of growers and layers - same brand as the farm where I got them - bit of corn - they like that. Tomato - they ignore it. A few spring cabbage leaves they like. Any advice welcome. 

[Cat tails]

That very much looks like a cecal poo, nothing much to worry about. The runny eye might be more of a concern, but as long as the hen is happy enough doing chicken things, you can see how she fares of the next few days, but you could give the farm a ring. When in doubt, do contact a vet.

How old is your orpington? Heavier breeds don’t do as well with the Cube ladders. You could add a perch in the run, halfway up the ladder, just in front of the door. This way they can hop onto the perch and then into the Cube.

Do you just have the two hens, or are there more ladies?

[Chickbait101]

Thanks. Three ladies - one Orp and two Pekins. Orp is about 18 weeks 

[Beantree]

Yellow frothy cecal poo can be a sign of worms, so worth asking if they have been wormed with Flubenvet yet? The runny eye could be a variety of things so find a poultry knowledgeable vet for now and just make sure it doesn't get any worse. If it does get her to the vet immediately, but I would expect it to settle on its own.

I've seen the ladder, which in my opinion is extremely chicken unfriendly. Perhaps replace it with a gently sloping wooden ramp as Orpingtons are not particularly agile and with possibly obscured vision the ladder will be impossible at the moment.

[Plum]

None of mine ever used ladder I have used a piece of picket fencing over it and at present have an ikea stool they can hop onto with extra bricks to get into the cube.  Poo is normal and don't worry about the veg it takes them a while to realise it's food maybe weeks.  At least they like corn so it'll make it easy to tempt them into the run.

With the sticky eye I'd wipe it with boiled water at least twice a day and if there's inflammation or it doesn't clear up a trip to vet for some drops or check for problems.  

[The Dogmother]

The ladder thing may just be temporary - I have bantams of various breeds, including shorter legged ones, and they can all manage the ladder fine - give them time to get used to it.

As other have said bathe the eye with either cool boiled water or cold black tea (is antiseptic) and see how it goes. If it closes up, bubbles or looks pus-y, then get her to a vet soonest.

The poo looks like a caecal one to me - I would either worm with Flubenvet as a precaution, or send off a mixed faecal sample to Eastgate Labs and see what they say. Caecal poos are produced roughly every 8-10th poo, and look a bit like dog bile - they are just the caecal glands emptying and so long as they are producing normal-looking poos otherwise, aren't a problem. This is one thing which comes up time and again on my advanced courses, so don't worry about worrying if you get my drift.

[Chickbait101]

4 hours ago, Plum said:

None of mine ever used ladder I have used a piece of picket fencing over it and at present have an ikea stool they can hop onto with extra bricks to get into the cube.  Poo is normal and don't worry about the veg it takes them a while to realise it's food maybe weeks.  At least they like corn so it'll make it easy to tempt them into the run.

With the sticky eye I'd wipe it with boiled water at least twice a day and if there's inflammation or it doesn't clear up a trip to vet for some drops or check for problems.  

 

Thank you. I’ve put some chicken wire over the ladder today - let’s see what that does!

[mullethunter]

I have a perch just outside the house door at the top of the ladder, and a piece of run mesh attached to the ladder. Some of the girls (all bantams) go up the mesh ladder, but most of them fly up to the perch, and shimmy along it to the house.

[Chickbait101]

Thanks 

[Patricia W]

I used pipe insulation on the ladder rungs for a while till they got used to it, but it usually doesn’t take long.