Second opinion?

[Guest mick bowler]

Just after lads opinions on what causes a string like dropping.

 

I've just been emailed a query from a guy to whats causing them. I have a few pics but its not good ones, have put one below, but like i say poor quality, so have asked for some better ones. One looks like a fairly large brown stringy dropping with no more than usual urine. A couple are also yellow/greenish with the same stringy look. None look very wattery, just what i would describe as soft.The owner says his birds look fine and there no other problems and are sitting small Ybs or eggs.

 

I have my own theories, just wondered what yours might be.

 

 

 

 

[pearse1888]

maybe the cold weather mate ..

[Skull Lofts]

Maybe a change in the feed?

Breeding stress?

 

Skull

[sammy]

to much small feeding  

[Guest bigda]

feeding   a lot of barley, or groats ,wheat,

[Guest mick bowler]

Thanks for the replies.

 

My thought was also too much barley and possibly where they are sitting (size wise also). The owner been feeding over 50% barley into an economy mix.

[Guest Owen]

A lot of Fancier feed barley and depuritive while the birds are sitting. It could be a combination of a sitting bird emptying it's bowels and a diet with a lot of barley in it.

Why not test the droppings under a miroscope and satisfy yourself that everything is OK before the young hatch.

[Guest IB]

Parents, hens especially, when sitting tight on eggs or youngsters, are notorious for the size of their droppings when they come off the nest. They are anything but little round white-capped balls and I've often wondered where they keep that volume of stuff without doing harm to their innards.  

 

I think the pouch behind the cloaca gives the dropping its wrapped ball shape. When the pouch is full-to-bursting as with the sitting bird, this string of dropping might be held further up. When the full pouch empties, this backlog might go 'straight' through it like a 'poker' to form that stringy dropping.. anyway that's my guess  

 

[mick..1978]

sort your feeding out that should sort it