22 wk old hens drink H2O W/bleech

[Bronkzilla]

I think my small flock of 22 week old mixed breed chickens may have drank some water 2 days ago containing some bleach. They seem to be depressed & are drinking lots of water, not as much food. Poop is watery,one of 3 roosters (white leg horn) the head guy is not crowing during the day and only about 3 times this morning.(sound is not the same) Liquid has come from the mouths of a couple of the birds. The only other exposure they have had may have been to fire ant bait in the yard, as they roam the prop. for a few hrs daily. It had already rained for 2 days before they had access to the fire ant bait, and only a tiny bit if any in only a few spots on the 2 acres they roam. 2 birds seem unaffected. The water containing the bleach was very diluted, but these are the only things out of the ordinary that may be responsible for the sick behavior. What can I do ?, or what else could be the cause? Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[Casey3043]

Fire ant bait is poison. You need to keep the chickens away from it or cover it with a garbage can lid or some such. Bleach in small amounts is not poisonous (it can be used to make water drinkable), but it really depends on the amount they ingested. If ALL of them drank the water and two seem to be all right, then there probably wasn't enough to do any harm. Keep an eye on them, possible feed them some bread with olive oil to speed everything through.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[AllTheseCreatures]

It will irritate her digestive tract and kill nearly every micro-organism it comes in contact with, but it's likely they'll be just fine once the diarrhea fades. Give them some yogurt and make sure they get lots of water.

I have no idea about fire ant bait, sorry.

 

[Bronkzilla]

Only 2 eggs today, So, I know my babies are not well. They have always given us 6-7 eggs daily. The flock consists of only 8 hens & 3 roosters. I have gotten the bread & olive oil, and am heading to the store for yogurt. Thanks & I'll up date in the morning.

 

[OrganicEggs75]

Fire ant bait is poison... if they drank alot of bleach maybe not so good... If they all drank it and is was diluted i think it will be fine... I would give them some greens... Boiled egg, or yogurt...

 

[Bronkzilla]

Update: This morning we found that the smallest bird (by breed) was very weak and died in my wife's hands. I called the "Chicken Doctor". I gave him the symptoms and he thought it had nothing to do W/the bleach or the fire ant bait. Because of the general excellent conditions (free roaming,grass eating) and since we have had a lot of rain. We have put the birds inside extended periods. He thinks they most probably ate poop from the floor and have #@&%**itous, He is sending us medicine to put in the drinking water and feels it will take care of the problem. He was very helpful, spent about 45 min - 1hr on the phone asking questions on the birds behavior etc. He said this type of illness could cause death. When I got off the phone. My wife & I went to get the birds out and loose in the yard to find another of our babies dead. As the day went on. We feel the rest of the family seems to be improving in overall condition, no eggs at all today, but the rooster did crow a few times and the others are eating. The 2 or 3 that were not affected are Langshans and 1 Delaware, our 4 Star hens are strong and the white rooster is a stubborn and feisty leader. We are waiting by the mailbox for the RX to arrive. We have given them (by hand) bread W/olive oil, yogurt, cut up tomatoes(a favorite)but the most important thing is they are eating and drinking, and as long as they keep that up we can save the remaining 9. Thank you all, it's been a difficult thing to go through. i will update you in the morning.