Chicken drinking too much water

[Talyn featherhead]

Idk if this is the right place for this, but my hen is acting strange.
She drinks excessively. As in, 30 minutes non stop if I don't take her out. She's also lighter than before, her nails are growing out which could mean she isn't as active, she stands half asleep with either foot tucked in, and I scattered seeds but she was the only one disinterested, despite having next to nothing on her crop.
Any ideas as to what's causing this weird behavior?

 

[nuthatched]

Excessive drinking is usually sign of inflanation or fever.

 

[Perris]

She drinks excessively. As in, 30 minutes non stop if I don't take her out. She's also lighter than before, her nails are growing out which could mean she isn't as active, she stands half asleep with either foot tucked in,

Is she going into moult? Moult is accompanied by a substantial expansion of the vascular system and blood volume, and an increased body water content and turnover. For details see Jenni and Winkler The biology of moult in birds 2020.

 

[Talyn featherhead]

I'm not sure, but she did get attacked by an opossum a few weeks ago and has a lot of feathers to grow. I haven't seen any of my other chickens act like this during their moult, or her in previous moults

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Idk if this is the right place for this, but my hen is acting strange.
She drinks excessively. As in, 30 minutes non stop if I don't take her out. She's also lighter than before, her nails are growing out which could mean she isn't as active, she stands half asleep with either foot tucked in, and I scattered seeds but she was the only one disinterested, despite having next to nothing on her crop.
Any ideas as to what's causing this weird behavior?

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of her and her poop?

She was attacked by a Possum, did she suffer any injuries, have any wounds? Any signs of infection, swelling, bad odors, pus, angry red tissue, etc.?
Where on the body?

When was her last egg?

Ime, drinking excessively is usually due to a crop/digestive issue. You mention next to nothing in the crop, but sometimes there can be a partial blockage in the digestive system. I'd re-check the crop to see if it's emptying by morning (check before she drinks or eat after a full night's sleep).

I'd try offering some wet mushy feed. See if you can interest her in eating. Other things to try would be bits of egg, fish (sardines/mackerel), a little beef, etc. Sometimes when one is very ill, watermelon or tomato are interesting. Just small bits to see if you can entice her.

If the crop is not emptying or you feel that the digestive system is a bit sluggish, then I'd start with giving her 1tsp coconut oil chunks twice a day. This will make for a bit of loose stool sometimes, but it can sometimes get things moving.

She's standing with a foot tucked in. Either one? She doesn't favor one or the other?

Any lice/mites?

I'm not sure, but she did get attacked by an opossum a few weeks ago and has a lot of feathers to grow. I haven't seen any of my other chickens act like this during their moult, or her in previous moults

 

[Talyn featherhead]

She does

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of her and her poop?

She was attacked by a Possum, did she suffer any injuries, have any wounds? Any signs of infection, swelling, bad odors, pus, angry red tissue, etc.?
Where on the body?

When was her last egg?

Ime, drinking excessively is usually due to a crop/digestive issue. You mention next to nothing in the crop, but sometimes there can be a partial blockage in the digestive system. I'd re-check the crop to see if it's emptying by morning (check before she drinks or eat after a full night's sleep).

I'd try offering some wet mushy feed. See if you can interest her in eating. Other things to try would be bits of egg, fish (sardines/mackerel), a little beef, etc. Sometimes when one is very ill, watermelon or tomato are interesting. Just small bits to see if you can entice her.

If the crop is not emptying or you feel that the digestive system is a bit sluggish, then I'd start with giving her 1tsp coconut oil chunks twice a day. This will make for a bit of loose stool sometimes, but it can sometimes get things moving.

She's standing with a foot tucked in. Either one? She doesn't favor one or the other

Sh

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of her and her poop?

She was attacked by a Possum, did she suffer any injuries, have any wounds? Any signs of infection, swelling, bad odors, pus, angry red tissue, etc.?
Where on the body?

When was her last egg?

Ime, drinking excessively is usually due to a crop/digestive issue. You mention next to nothing in the crop, but sometimes there can be a partial blockage in the digestive system. I'd re-check the crop to see if it's emptying by morning (check before she drinks or eat after a full night's sleep).

I'd try offering some wet mushy feed. See if you can interest her in eating. Other things to try would be bits of egg, fish (sardines/mackerel), a little beef, etc. Sometimes when one is very ill, watermelon or tomato are interesting. Just small bits to see if you can entice her.

If the crop is not emptying or you feel that the digestive system is a bit sluggish, then I'd start with giving her 1tsp coconut oil chunks twice a day. This will make for a bit of loose stool sometimes, but it can sometimes get things moving.

She's standing with a foot tucked in. Either one? She doesn't favor one or the other?

Any lice/mites?

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of her and her poop?

She was attacked by a Possum, did she suffer any injuries, have any wounds? Any signs of infection, swelling, bad odors, pus, angry red tissue, etc.?
Where on the body?

When was her last egg?

Ime, drinking excessively is usually due to a crop/digestive issue. You mention next to nothing in the crop, but sometimes there can be a partial blockage in the digestive system. I'd re-check the crop to see if it's emptying by morning (check before she drinks or eat after a full night's sleep).

I'd try offering some wet mushy feed. See if you can interest her in eating. Other things to try would be bits of egg, fish (sardines/mackerel), a little beef, etc. Sometimes when one is very ill, watermelon or tomato are interesting. Just small bits to see if you can entice her.

If the crop is not emptying or you feel that the digestive system is a bit sluggish, then I'd start with giving her 1tsp coconut oil chunks twice a day. This will make for a bit of loose stool sometimes, but it can sometimes get things moving.

She's standing with a foot tucked in. Either one? She doesn't favor one or the other?

Any lice/mites?

She does have mites, though I don't think she has lice. As far as I observed she didn't favor either foot, but would stand on one for a long while with her eyes closed. I felt her legs/chest and while she had enough food in her gullet to be semi-full, there's little meat on her bones rn despite being the heftiest chicken a month ago. I also noticed gurgling sounds in her sounding like the oncoming of soupy poops

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She does have mites, though I don't think she has lice.

I also noticed gurgling sounds in her sounding like the oncoming of soupy poops

Mites can suck the life out of them, so it's a good idea to treat her, the other birds and the coop/housing.

Dust the birds with a Permethrin based Poultry Dust. Put the dust in a sock and use it like a Powder Puff and work the dust all the way down through the feather to the skin. Redust in 5days.

For housing, get Permethrin base poultry spray (I like to buy the concentrate and mix it up). Clean out the housing, trash the bedding or burn it, don't compost when dealing with Mites.
Spray housing with the Permethrin making sure to get into nooks/crannies, nesting boxes, etc. where Mites live and hide. Repeat in 5 days intervals.

For this girl I'd work on getting her to eat. The Beef would be good to give if she's got Mites, but you can also give a poultry vitamin like Poultry Cell at a rate of 1cc per 3lbs of weight orally 3times a week.

The gurgling, I'd re-check the crop.

I'd try offering some wet mushy feed. See if you can interest her in eating. Other things to try would be bits of egg, fish (sardines/mackerel), a little beef, etc. Sometimes when one is very ill, watermelon or tomato are interesting. Just small bits to see if you can entice her.