Can giving chicken too much water cause it to die

[Chickentender5]

I orally gave one of my hens corid yesterday since she wasn't taking water. I gave her some water(about 6 mLs) to wash it down and keep her hydrated. She died shortly thereafter. My sister works at a vets office and she relayed what had happened to one of the vets and he told her that the chicken was likely given too much water and this caused her stomach to rupture which is why she vomited (which chickens don't do) and why blood was coming out of her vent after she died. I feel so horrible. I did not mean to cause my poor hen's death. Has anyone else heard that giving a chicken too much water causes them to die?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. When giving water orally to a chicken, it can be possible to choke or aspirate if it goes down the airway. How much corid water did you give? I seriously doubt that giving her too much water killed her. 6 ml would not cause her crop to rupture. How old was she? What were her symptoms? Blood from the vent could be from coccidiosis, worms, ingesting glass or other sharp objects, or a bleed from an organ. The best way to know what happened is to get a necropsy by the state vet. If that is not possible, sometimes we can open the abdomen and do a brief home necropsy. I will check back in the morning for your answers.

 

[Chickentender5]

Sorry for your loss. When giving water orally to a chicken, it can be possible to choke or aspirate if it goes down the airway. How much corid water did you give? I seriously doubt that giving her too much water killed her. 6 ml would not cause her crop to rupture. How old was she? What were her symptoms? Blood from the vent could be from coccidiosis, worms, ingesting glass or other sharp objects, or a bleed from an organ. The best way to know what happened is to get a necropsy by the state vet. If that is not possible, sometimes we can open the abdomen and do a brief home necropsy. I will check back in the morning for your answers.

I first filled an unused syringe with about 1 mL of corid. I now realize this may have been too much. I didnt think to calculate her weight for an accurate dose. I just wanted her to get better. I did also dilute some in water and that I did measure out for the rest of the flock. Then after I gave her the corid, I filled the syringe up twice (it's a 3 mL syringe) with water and was trying to wash the corid down. Afterwards, she seemed ok, she just sat hunkered in the coop just as she was in the chickenyard all day, lethargic. I was cleaning the nesting boxes and about 5 mins later I heard a noise and looked down and she was vomiting up clear fluid. I picked her up and took her outside to try help her. She acted agitated and at one point managed to get on her back and flapped her wings. She then calmed down and her breathing became slower until she wasn't breathing. While I was preparing to bury her, about 10 mins later, I noticed a bit of blood oozing from her vent. She did not have this occur when she was alive. All my hens are about 6 mos old.

 

[Shezadandy]

6mls isn't too much water - as long as it went down the right tube, of course, and as long as she didn't already have a big crop issue going on.

It could be she had a heart attack - known more in the "meaties" breeds, they also refer to it as "flip over disease" as the bird ends up on its back/side. Convulsions/wing flaps in heart attacks are normal - and it can be sudden and without warning.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/flip-over-disease-or-something-else.409326/

 

[Banana01]

You absolutely did everything right. The vet obviously didnt get the whole story, or else he wouldnt make such a wild claim.

The digestive system probably already had failed before you gave the liquid. To me it sounds like the cause of death was nutritional deficiency caused by the cocci. After a certain amount of time deficient in nutrients, the digestive tract stops working, and death follows. Even if you pump her full of food and vitamins, the system has already stopped and they convulse and die as you described. Im not a vet, but this is what i have observed dozens of times from different causes.

Now to explain the blood, the cause could have been an internal rupture because of eating something sharp, or even a heart attack as @Shezadandy and @Eggcessive have said. Those are even more likely causes than the cocci.

But for sure the cause of death was not drowning or too much water.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

There is an opening in the center of the back of the throat. You don't want liquid to go down this opening, it leads to the lungs. Instead as you look down the chicken's open beak as she is facing you, you want liquid or food to go down along the side of the mouth to YOUR left (the chicken's right). I'm going to ask @aart to post again the graphic she has that shows how to tube-feed properly.

 

[Chickentender5]

6mls isn't too much water - as long as it went down the right tube, of course, and as long as she didn't already have a big crop issue going on.

It could be she had a heart attack - known more in the "meaties" breeds, they also refer to it as "flip over disease" as the bird ends up on its back/side. Convulsions/wing flaps in heart attacks are normal - and it can be sudden and without warning.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/flip-over-disease-or-something-else.409326/

I hadn’t heard of flip over disease. I figured she was just panicking or having some sort of seizure. I don’t believe she had a crop issue going on but I’m not certain as I wasn’t familiar with the crop and the issues associated with it. Thank for your time and response.

 

[Chickentender5]

There is an opening in the center of the back of the throat. You don't want liquid to go down this opening, it leads to the lungs. Instead as you look down the chicken's open beak as she is facing you, you want liquid or food to go down along the side of the mouth to YOUR left (the chicken's right). I'm going to ask @aart to post again the graphic she has that shows how to tube-feed properly.

Oh, I wasn’t aware of this. I was sitting just behind the chicken. She didn’t keep her beak open for very long so I don’t know in which direction the liquid went. Thank you for letting me know. I will keep this in mind if needed for future.

 

[Chickentender5]

You absolutely did everything right. The vet obviously didnt get the whole story, or else he wouldnt make such a wild claim.

The digestive system probably already had failed before you gave the liquid. To me it sounds like the cause of death was nutritional deficiency caused by the cocci. After a certain amount of time deficient in nutrients, the digestive tract stops working, and death follows. Even if you pump her full of food and vitamins, the system has already stopped and they convulse and die as you described. Im not a vet, but this is what i have observed dozens of times from different causes.

Now to explain the blood, the cause could have been an internal rupture because of eating something sharp, or even a heart attack as @Shezadandy and @Eggcessive have said. Those are even more likely causes than the cocci.

But for sure the cause of death was not drowning or too much water.

Thank you for your reassurance and words of wisdom. I surely hope I did not cause her demise. I noticed she had symptoms 2 days ago. On the second day she died. Would she have had nutritional deficiency after 2 days? Does cocci work this quickly? Or does it exist and multiply within the gut and wreak havoc before there are noticeable outward signs that something is wrong?

 

[aart]

I'm going to ask @aart to post again the graphic she has that shows how to tube-feed properly.

Not about tube feeding per se, but shows how to syringe:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/