Multiple symptoms: Water out of mouth after drinking, tired, bubbles in eyes, lice

[Ali123123123]

Hi There,

My lovely chicken who has a cross beak is normally very healthy. She lives with 1 other chicken and in the city.

When she drinks water, then pecks the ground right after, the water drains out of her mouth. This does not happen every time she drinks. I believe this started more than a week ago, but I can't quite remember. It doesn't appear that her crop is enlarged, but I don't really know what I'm looking for.

A few days ago she was quiet and sleeping in the day which is unusual. I checked for mites/lice and there were lice around her vent. I have been treating the lice issue with garlic spray, DE, garlic in their water, providing dust bath and cleaning the coop with garlic spray & DE. She seems to be doing much better today, walking around the garden as usual, but still having water come out her mouth.

Her beak is quite long at the moment and I was thinking of trimming it with dog nail cutters, but she is almost 3 years old and I haven't done that before.

Any advice would be amazing!! Should I take her to the vet?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post some photos of her?

I would check her crop when she goes to roost, it should be full or you should feel food in there. Re-check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat or drink, it should feel flat/empty. If her crop is not empty, then let us know what it does feel like - hard, soft, fluid or air filled, if you notice a sour or yeasty odor on her breath, etc.
The crop is on the right side of the breast. You can do a comparison of her and her chicken friend.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
It's not uncommon for a bird to drink water and some come out after if they are pecking at the ground, but it's worth investigating.

If you have an active lice infestation, it would be a good idea to treat both hens with a Permethrin based dust or spray. Clean out your coop and treat it as well - don't forget inside of nesting boxes and roosting bars too. You may find the garlic and DE ineffective against an infestation.

Here's some tips on trimming. Depending on how long you may have to work on it over the course of several week or you may see that filing the beak down a little at a time will do the job. https://the-chicken-chick.com/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it/

 

[Ali123123123]

Thank you so much for your support!

Her crop seems to be more full later in the day and flat or empty in the morning. I believe more empty than her sister’s.
I don’t notice any sour or yeasty smell.

She seems to be drinking quite a bit. Some of her poops are very small and some are very watery. Today there was one poop that was basically all water. I live on the west coast of Canada and the weather has recently gone from cold to much warmer.

I’m working on trimming her beak. A little bit each day and she doesn’t tolerate it very well.

The lice are still there but maybe getting less and i haven’t tried a pesticide yet.

I don’t know if I should take her to the vet. She hasn’t laid in many days either.
Thanks for your help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Her crop should be full late in the day and when she goes to roost - this is "food storage" for overnight processing. The crop should be empty/flat in the mornings.

I would try to determine if she's drinking a lot (or seems to be) because she's having difficulties getting enough water due to the cross beak or crop problems. I realize she's managed all this time, but if the beak is getting longer it may have overgrown to the point where she's not successful in getting enough fluids.

 

[Ali123123123]

Her crop is more full in the evening for sure. But she isn’t eating too much so it’s not as full as usual. I trimmed her break and she seems to be getting loads of water. Her poops were almost 100% just water this afternoon.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

OK Then I would re-check her crop in the morning - see if it's flat.

 

[Ali123123123]

Ok I will check! Maybe there is something stuck in there. Thank you. I’ll keep you posted!

 

[Ali123123123]

Morning! I checked her crop this morning and it was completely flat. I couldn’t feel anything in there. She ate some mushy food this morning and I’ve seen 1 normal poop! She is still having water come back out her mouth when drinking. It fell on my foot ha ha and it’s hot and had bits of food in it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get some photos of her poop?

 

[Ali123123123]

I don't have photos yet sorry. But the poops is either 100% water after she drinks a lot or small normal looking poops. They are way smaller than normal is the only difference.