Help Please

I have a Turkish Tumbler hen that is about 6 years old that I raised from about 7 days old. Her name is Pickles and she is so sweet. Here latley she has taken to soaking her nest area. I'm not sure how she does it but I keep drying it up and putting down fresh floor covering and she does it again. She has a baby that's about 3 weeks old right now and sometimes she soaks the baby too. I use either pine or cedar shavings in the hutch. There are about 15 other birds in the hutch with her with plenty of room. Thanks, Marie

Hi Marie,
Is Pickles (love the name) displaying any ill symptoms?

When you say 'soaking' her nest area, two possibilities come to mind:
1) Her droppings are complete liquid or
2) She is possibly vomiting liquid.

Others will be along to give their opinion.

I agree with Cindy. How has she been acting otherwise? Have you noticed her poops? If so, how do they look? Have you noticed if she has been drinking more water lately?

Odd you should post this now.

Just yesterday morning, my little hen Romy passed a huge amount of clear liquid and shortly after vomited. I suspected worms and took her to the vet for a confirmation. I was kind of on track...the vet found Giaridai. It is kind of a mystery as to how she got Giaridai as she is kept inside and her water bowls are washed 2 times a day.
I'm wondering if your little hen could have the same.
Does the baby pass a lot of clear liquid too?

We suffered a bad bout' of Giaraida with one of our dogs...

The vet recommended GSE ,5 drops in the dogs water daily....... I have done this ever since and have had no issues... You can purchase it a a health food store I have had mine 3 years .. it lasts a long time....


I have read some posts that people have used it with pigeons... I would only add 1 drop per water dish unless you find otherwise.

Here is a link that gives some info: http://www.nutriteam.com/pets.htm

AZJourney wrote:

We suffered a bad bout' of Giaraida with one of our dogs...

The vet recommended GSE ,5 drops in the dogs water daily....... I have done this ever since and have had no issues... You can purchase it a a health food store I have had mine 3 years .. it lasts a long time....


I have read some posts that people have used it with pigeons... I would only add 1 drop per water dish unless you find otherwise.

Here is a link that gives some info: http://www.nutriteam.com/pets.htm

What a great idea. I had some of this years ago and I forgot about it.

Its a great product...and the studies behind it are very impressive... I give it an A+!

We use it for many things!!! The best thing is it lasts!

Here is the link with a good info on Giardia:
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/giardia.html

Still I would monitor mother and especially baby if is getting enough nutrition.

Thank you all so much for your input. Pickles is great. I just finished treating her for worms and coccidia. The baby is fine also. Their behaviour is normal, it was just weird. I thought she was vomiting the water into her nest. Do the parents bring water to their babies like they do food? Each time I try to spy on them to learn what is going on they just all stand around twiddeling their thumbs. LOL All the action takes place after I'm gone so I can't catch anybody in the act. The water doesn't seem to be doing any harm so I'll just keep and eye on things.

I will check back later. Thanks again. Marie

Rocky17 wrote:

Thank you all so much for your input. Pickles is great. I just finished treating her for worms and coccidia. The baby is fine also. Their behaviour is normal, it was just weird. I thought she was vomiting the water into her nest.

* Do the parents bring water to their babies like they do food?

Each time I try to spy on them to learn what is going on they just all stand around twiddeling their thumbs. LOL All the action takes place after I'm gone so I can't catch anybody in the act.

** The water doesn't seem to be doing any harm so I'll just keep and eye on things.

* No. Not that I've ever heard about.

** The problem I see is that there shouldn't be all that water. That isn't normal.

No, they don't bring back water to the babies. The baby might get a little damp from the feeding, but there shouldn't be water all over the box. Are you sure it isn't wet from the baby poops? If there is water, then something isn't right.

Thank you, Jenn and Plamenh, for the info on GSE and Giardia, I've added them to my notes and I'm going to try and get some GSE.

The water in the nest I find very worrying, as I lost both my rescues who were wetting their nests in a very short time, without showing any symptoms. I hope there's a much more pleasant explanation for what is happening to mother and baby.
Please keep us posted.