Hen won't stop drinking water (recovering chicken)

[Psyche123]

Hi all,

First time owner, first time poster. My fiance and I inherited chickens from the house we just moved to. One of them, Little Bear, got bumblefoot and I took her to the vet. This was the 1st. We were given all the meds but because of COVID, I wasn't allowed in to see how to administer the oral meds. I watched a ton of videos and we have been getting along until today. She is super wriggly and even after I have closed her eyes, she still struggles. This has made it really stressful getting her meds in
Today I think she got a small amount in her trachea. She was mostly ok but coughed maybe 4 times over a 15 minute period. After that she wouldn't stop drinking water. She peed like three time and spit up water once. She has stopped now and has just been pacing her quarantine cage. It might all be fine but I am very very new to all of this and all the vets are closed for the holiday.

 

[azygous]

You can do this. You just need to understand how a chicken's throat works. Look at this photo of a chicken being given fluids by syringe.

Notice it's inserted at the far right of the chicken's throat beside the tongue. That's the esophagus, a straight chute into the chicken's crop, located on the center right of the chest. The hole you see behind the tongue is the airway or trachea. As long as you give fluids on the right side of the mouth, you will avoid getting them into the airway.

If you need to give pills, wrap the chicken tightly in a towel to confine wings and feet. Then pry open the beak and push the pill in. The pill will go right down the esophagus without the chicken choking.