Rooster lethargic with green and yellow diarrhea

[dedicateddourly]

Hi there,

My 9 month old Wheaten Ameraucana, Wickham, is suddenly lethargic this morning. Yesterday he was acting completely normal.

This morning my husband found green and yellow diarrhea in the coop (which is definitley Wickham's as I've found some stuck to his butt feathers). I've checked him over for parasites, but didn't see any. He has clear eyes and nostrils. I offered him some scrambled eggs and he ate a few bites ravenously, but has not finished it.

He's inside a carrier inside the house. I haven't seen him drink in his own, but will give him some with a syringe in a little while. I've made up a solution with Durvet's electrolytes in it.

I can't imagine what's wrong with him. His three girls seem perfectly fine and are pecking around the yard as we speak. I did do a couple things out of the ordinary yesterday. Around 4pm yesterday, I gave them some watermelon which they haven't had since summer. Wickham ate some, but not a huge amount. One of the girls ate a ton. I also dusted the coop and nest boxes with DE, which I also haven't done in awhile. Could either of those things cause a problem?

The only thing I can think of is that maybe there are mites in the coop. I did see a couple tiny brown bugs hanging around the nest boxes. AND Wickham does have a number of small black spots on his comb. Mites are the ones that hang out in the coop during the day, and feed on the chickens at night, right? I will have to check the other birds tonight. But then, why would only Wickham be affected?

If anyone has any insight, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[dedicateddourly]

So I just tried to syringe water Wickham. I did notice he was clicking his beak a bit and swallowing before I started. Crop issue? I honestly don't know what a normal crop feels like. And while I was watering him, he 'might' have sounded a bit congested. He let out one little gasp, or maybe that's normal when you're trying to syringe-water a chicken?

I don't hear him breathing right now. He's slowly exploring the room and preening himself. He just pooped and it's slightly formed but definitely dark intense green, with yellow urates.

Hm, he's closing his eyes now. Maybe I'll let him rest.

Any ideas?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Poor rooster. It can be so tough to diagnose a chicken. I doubt it had anything to do with the DE or water melon. It could possibly be sour crop or impacted crop. Greenish poop can mean that food is not making its way through the digestive system. Since he is not eating much his crop should be kind of small. If it feels mushy and full of liquid or hard when you massage it could be impacted.

Here is a link to other poultry diseases to compare symptoms: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

When giving liquids to a bird just run the syringe along the beak while pushing some of the liquid out of the syringe and let the bird take as much as he wants at his own pace. Give him a break between squeezes so he can regulate the amount. It's easy for a bird to aspirate.

Did you get a good look at the bugs you saw? They should be reddish in color, round with legs.

An impacted crop won't empty quickly. After he eats in the morning check his crop, then take food away. After a couple of hours you should see the crop has gone down. If it continues to be as full as it was before then you know you have a crop problem.

It's all about the process of elimination. Eating watery foods like watermelon would certainly make stools more runny. I don't think that dusting them has anything to do with it. I wish I could be more help.

 

[dedicateddourly]

Thanks for the responses. And hi, KKH!

The mites were brown, not red. The crop is sort of squishy, but then, there IS scrambled egg in it. I'll remove the food.

He pooped again and while it is still green, there is also red in it. Though it looks more like shed intestinal lining than blood to me. Will try to post a pic.

 

[dedicateddourly]

So what do you think? Blood or intestinal lining? And that little thing on the left, is it a worm or mucous? I seriously couldn't tell.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Looks like mucous to me. You have probably already seen this chart, but just in case you haven't:

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

 

[dedicateddourly]

Looks like mucous to me. You have probably already seen this chart, but just in case you haven't:
http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

Thanks! Yes, I'm familiar with that site. Love it.

Based on deduction, I'm starting to think it might be a crop issue. None of the other birds are affected. I just inspected the yard and all fresh poops are normal.

If a chicken has crop issues, will he still try to eat, or will he be too uncomfortable to? When I last checked on Wickham, he was eating the yogurt I left for him. I know I said I would remove food, but doesn't he need it?

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

If you feed on top of an impacted crop you could choke the bird. If it's not passing, then it's building up in the crop and eventually will have nowhere to go but up in the throat, therefore killing the bird.
I would let his crop empty before you add more. When you feed him after it empties just feed enough to fill it partially. If it does become sour you'll be happy not to have a full crop to deal with. Just continue feeding him small amounts of easily digestible foods until you determine that his crop is functioning normally.

I used to work at the zoo's Avian Propagation Center. It was a short stint, but I learned a lot there.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

If it is crop issue he probably wouldn't eat much. You can just remove the food and water over night. Check the size of his crop before turning off the light and then compare it to how it feels in the morning when it should be empty.

I suppose another thing to rule out is coccidosis. That possibility occurred to me when I saw the red in his poop. I haven't had any personal experience with this disease cause by a protozoa.