HELP!! Very Strange Problem!! :-(

[dgeter]

Hi Rancher,

He is eating just fine. I am not sure about pooping since the coop has shavings in it and there's other chickens poop mixed in there. He has been grazing around in the yard from time to time. Other than that, the only other thing he's eaten is his regular feed, and some bread today.

However, we've been having a huge mouse problem and the mice keep eating the chicken food and pooping in it. I keep dumping the poop out and putting in fresh feed but the mice poop just poop in it again.

I haven't quarantined him so I'll go do that tonight.

 

[tammyd57]

Have you actually seen him drinking too much water? Or just assumed he was since it looked like it was coming out his eyes/nose/mouth? Because there are diseases that cause gurgly breathing and bubbly looking eyes. I would search the terms "gurgly breathing" & "bubbly eyes" and see what you get. I've never see those symptoms so I have no information myself.

 

[dgeter]

Yes I've watched him drink too much many times. I'll search for those terms

 

[loot4louie]

I have never seen a chicken do this- but Im a newby. However, I have a friend with a dog that will drink itself sick again and again. It is a psychological type thing and she has to limit water intake. The dog is a healthy 3 year old otherwise. Sorry I couldny really help.

 

[dgeter]

Odly enough.. our dog does that as well. He'll drink until he throws up.

 

[rancher hicks]

Rodents are a big carry of salmonella and not something to take lightly. You need to deal with them quickly. If your feed is in the coop you must find their access hole and plug it up. Do not use poisons around other animals even if they can't get to it. The mice could eat it and pass it in their droppings. The excessive thirst leads me to believe there may be poison problem. Some rodent poisons have a side effect of excessive thirst.

I recommend snap traps for mice control or cats. Even sticky traps have poisons on them.

Stop all feed and just give him some chick grit and see if he eats it. Just for a day. Put him on paper towels and watch to see if he's pooping. Check his crop to see if it feels full.

Keep us posted

Rancher

 

[dgeter]

Yeah we've been attacking the mice aggressively. Constantly keeping traps out there and not using any poison because of them pooping it back out. I have a peanut butter/plaster of paris mixture out there as well because that kills the mice before they can poop. It seems to be working. The number of mice is down. I'm going to put Peanut into a rabbit hutch so I can monitor his eating and pooping.

 

[spiritdance]

Umm, I don't want to be an alarmist, but two of the symptoms of salmonella in chickens are excessive thirst and conjunctivitis: http://www.avianbiotech.com/diseases/salmonella.htm
How long ago did the others have eye infections? Did you consult a vet at that time? If these were my chickens, I'd be getting them checked ASAP, and please be aware that salmonella can be present in the eggs of infected chickens, so I also wouldn't collect any more of them until I knew for sure it's not salmonella.

 

[rancher hicks]

I've never heard of the peanut/plaster of paris thing. Is this something new? You are aware chickens will eat mice? Can you be sure he hasn't eaten any?

Keep us posted

Rancher

 

[dgeter]

Haha yeah they haven't eaten any. For some reason, my chickens are FRIENDS with the mice!! I'll walk in and they'll be sitting together in their roost.

I dont know how knew the plaster of paris thing is but I've read about it in several places. Basically, the mice can't digest it.

I just went out and put Peanut in the hutch. He looks totally fine right now. No bubbles, gurgling or anything and his crop is smaller now. I put him on newspaper so that I could monitor his poop better