Yellow poop from hen

---

by Richmond Porter
(Waves, NC)

Question

Yellow poop from hen: There is yellow poop coming out of one of my hens butt. It’s a Rhode Island Red, around 2 or 3 years old.

Over the past week it won’t move very much and it will stay away from the other chickens.

Answer
Anytime a chicken is staying away from the others is a good time to remove it from the flock, give it a heat lamp, vitamins and electrolytes, probiotics, (soaked feed) and figure out what’s wrong.

It’s best to assume it’s contagious and prevent the spread.

She may have internal or external parasites, she may have an imbalance in her digestive system that is causing the unusual poop.

You might try 1 tbsp of raw apple cider vinegar in each cup of her water for a few days as well as soaking her feed in this mixture.

This can help balance digestion. She doesn’t feel well, probably isn’t eating and drinking enough and the vitamins and electrolytes may help her feel better and restore some energy and general well being.

The probiotics will also help with good digestion by restoring a good balance of good digestive bacteria.

By the time a chicken has been acting sick for a week, she has probably been going down hill in health for some time.

They do their best to hide weakness as long as possible to prevent attracting predators and negative attention from the rest of the flock.

They have probably let her know to stay away from them, not liking her sick behavior. It is a threat to the flocks safety (attracting predators) and their health.

If the above doesn’t help her improve in the first day or so, she will probably need medical attention to save her.

Getting her poop tested at the vet would be good. She may need deworming as well as being treated for external parasites, if you find any signs.

In her weak condition, be cautions with chemical treatments as they may be too strong and cause her to get worse.

She may have been having problems for a month and has just now become too weak to keep up with the flock. You will need to act quickly to save her.

It would be a good idea to thoroughly clean the coop and disinfect to protect the flock. If there are mites, lice, poultry fleas or internal parasites they can spread quickly to others.

There are good pyrethrin sprays that are a good natural deterrent for external parasites on chickens and their environment.

Return to Raising Chickens Home Page