Rooster with swollen ear, won't stop drinking

[Wyorp Rock]

How is he this morning?
He drank all that water yesterday, did his crop empty?

Usually a chicken that is drinking that much water either has a blockage somewhere or they may have something stuck in their throat.
The swelling of the ear might be making him feel like he needs to "clear" something - I just don't know.

 

[mountaingirl196]

It’s so hard to say.

I just opened my office window to give him some natural light to wake up to. Crop is empty. Not much poop overnight, he didn’t eat much yesterday. What there is is normal.

Swelling seems to have gone down somewhat.

His breathing is quiet but every once in a while he makes a little noise like he has some congestion.

I will let you know if he starts up with the drinking again when he wakes up a little.

I’m going to trim the broken feathers today so at least those won’t be hurting him, and check again for injuries. I didn’t see any yesterday but this guy is all plumage/not much bird. He is the biggest bad-ass I have and he weighs maybe 2.5 lbs.

 

[mountaingirl196]

And.... he is awake and back to drinking. Not interested in the food. Some bloody discharge from his nostrils.

 

[Eggcessive]

Bloody mucus from the beak can be a sign of ILT, so I would keep an eye on that. The only reasons for excessive drinking I know of are crop disorders, hot weather causing thirst, and a brain disorder called diabetes insipitus. The swollen ear could be from a respiratory infection, an ear infection, a peck to the earlobe, and insect stings. Here is a good reference on common diseases including ILT (infectious laryngo tracheitis) :
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Wyorp Rock]

His breathing is quiet but every once in a while he makes a little noise like he has some congestion.

And.... he is awake and back to drinking. Not interested in the food. Some bloody discharge from his nostrils.

I agree, bloody discharge from the nostrils and congestion could be ILT.
I would again, look inside his beak just to see if there's anything at all (would be good to see if there's mucous/blood in there too).

That drinking a lot of water is puzzling though. And his poop is "normal" though he didn't produce a lot overnight. Crop empty this morning too - so where did that Quart of water go?!
Was it possibly just coming back out of his beak and spilling down his front and he didn't actually keep all that water down?

 

[mountaingirl196]

Thanks for the link. Great resource.

I'm happy to report that none of it really fits, so I'm confident my boy will get better soon.

Honestly, I'm utterly stumped. I guess all I can do is wash my hands/change clothes after I deal with him, and watch.

 

[mountaingirl196]

Just felt his crop, doesn't feel like there's any water in it at all. The front of his body is wet but not soaking. The water is down about a quarter inch.

I need to go take care of everybody else, will come back and watch him for a while.

 

[mountaingirl196]

I'm thinking that most of the water is running back out of his beak. He is swallowing but I don't think much of it is getting down. I looked in his mouth again and didn't see anything, but will try again when my husband gets back in the house and can hold a light.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm thinking that most of the water is running back out of his beak. He is swallowing but I don't think much of it is getting down. I looked in his mouth again and didn't see anything, but will try again when my husband gets back in the house and can hold a light.

That's what I was afraid of

He may have a blockage.
When you go to trim those feathers, feel all over his body (and try to look too) for any swelling or bruising (bruising may not show up for a couple of days but it's usually greenish). I'm still wondering if he's gotten into a fight or was attacked by something.
The blood is another puzzle too, but he really has no respiratory symptoms right? Was the blood in both nostrils? Could he have been preening and got blood from one of those broken feathers?

This fella is a mystery!

 

[mountaingirl196]

Very minor noise when breathing, and not consistent. Occasional vocalizations.

My husband is still outside but I grabbed a headlamp and it does look like he has a deep obstruction of some sort. Looks like wet food, kind of an off-color yellow mass.

Good call.

Dr. Google is telling me that this may be thrush. Lovely, but if that's what it is he likely told me he was sick in plenty of time to treat it.