AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

I have a 10 month old rooster who has been passing green watery poo and has excessive thirst. I know that green poo is often due to the chook not eating. Before the green poo, he was passing watery caramel coloured poo that smelt. I put it down to stress at the time as he was being picked on by another dominant roo and he appeared to be eating,however, as chickens are very good at hiding their illness, I decided to have a close inspection and found his crop was empty. I then gave him some egg and brown rice which he ate, including some apple, which he just loves. I also have been giving him an Electrolyte and energy supplement called Spark in his water, which he drinks allot of. Have also given him some Solvita vitamins. However, yesterday I found he was not his usual self and seemed unwell, so I had to force feed him with "Critacare" last night as his crop was empty again. This has probiotic in it. Suspecting that it might be a bacterial infection, I also gave him 250mg of a penicillin based medication that an avian vet prescribed for one of my chooks when it was ill, that seemed to have perked him up this morning and he seems interested in his food, however, the excessive thirst is still there and he is regurgitating the liquid out constantly. I have also wormed him, just to be sure. I will give him some live probiotic after the penicillin medication course has been completed

Any ideas anyone out there as to what is causing the green poop and excessive thirst ?? I would take him to an avian vet, but experience has shown me that after spending hundreds of dollars on their services, their treatment is usually unsuccessful, so I'm opting out of going to a vet again. Would appreciate some advice please. Thanks guys.

After worming my roo with Vetafarm Worm Out, I found that he did have worms when he passed them out this morning. Could a worm infestation cause green poo and the excessive thirst? I am surprised as I only wormed him just over a month ago.

could be worms

sounds like he could have eaten rat bait. but if you didn't have it around i got no idea

So let me get this right.

Because you didn't get a successful outcome last time at an avian vet, you expect to get an answer from a forum where no one can actually see the bird? I understand your reluctance, but you must understand that every case is different.

I think you are clutching at straws - no offence intended.

The signs your bird is exhibiting suggest excessive fluid loss through the diarrhoea or excess urine loss.

This can be caused by many things. A microscopic faecal examination will identify any internal parasites or fungal/bacterial infections.

However, it could be a systemic problem such as kidney disease, liver disease or heavy metal poisoning.

Any chance that he may have eaten anything containing lead, zinc or copper- such as sinkers, lead shot, a battery etc? If so this needs a specific antidote that I suspect you will only be able to get from an avian vet. These sorts of conditions require a blood test or an Xray or both to diagnose.

Your supportive care is very good but it seems you need to do something more.

All I can suggest is that if the penicillin-based medication- possibly clavulox or augmentin -is helping then run a complete course- twice daily for at least 5 days, possibly longer.

Otherwise you might try some treatment for coccidiosis.

However, the longer these treatments are trialled unsuccessfully, the poorer is likely to be the outcome.

Sorry if I started by sounding a little harsh. I was just trying to point out the limitations of asking on a forum to deal with complex health issues based on a few clinical signs which are unfortunately not specific for any single disease.

Good luck and let us know how you go.

Thanks for all of your replies. Parvo, I have been to quite a few avian vets and sadly, none of them were able to help my chooks, however, I have found another one who has come highly recommended.Turns out that my chook has Cocci after a sample of his poo was examined. The roo was not showing any cocci symptoms like blood in poo and depression previously. He did have worms as previously mentioned, despite having been wormed just 3 weeks ago. Giving him Baycox treatment and will worm him again in three weeks time.

Not sure where you live? but a very good bird vet is Dr Bob Doneley he's Head of Service at the UQ Gatton Small Animal Hospital. He knows birds very well