A chicken discharging fluid from its mouth is usually a bad sign. Chickens have many openings, the mouth, eyes, vent, and nostrils. If these openings suddenly start leaking fluid, then your worrying is justified.

If your chicken is starting to leak fluid you’d need to quickly figure out why. A variety of illnesses and conditions can cause chickens to leak fluid out of their mouths, this article looks into why this happens 

Fluid coming out of your chicken’s mouth is not normal, in fact, this can be a sign that your bird is in danger. Reasons, why your bird has fluid coming out of its mouth, include excess water in the bird’s stomach, an impacted crop, water belly, or an illness caused by microorganisms 

Chicken has fluid coming out of its mouth, 4 reasons why this happens

The reason why your chicken is leaking fluid out of its mouth can be because of an infection in its digestive system, respiratory system, or other parts of the body.

By the time you realize that your chicken is sick, it may have been hiding being ill for quite some time, because of this, finding the reason why your chicken is ill is of utmost importance. Here are reasons why your bird may have fluid coming out of its mouth: 

Water filled crop:

If your bird has clear fluid coming from its mouth worrying may not be necessary, this is normal. Sometimes birds drink too much water and this water fills their crops. If you press on the bird’s crop, you may squish it and accidentally push the water out.

In addition, another water-related reason as to why your bird has fluid coming out of its mouth may be because it didn’t swallow properly when drinking. Birds tilt their beaks in water when drinking and tilt their heads back to take the water down their throats.

If all the water doesn’t go down the bird’s throat, then it can come out of the bird’s mouth.

Crop impaction:

Chickens have organs called crops, the crop is a storage organ where food is housed before it moves down into the bird’s proventriculus for digestion.

Sometimes, if a bird swallows too much food at one time, or if a bird eats materials that are indigestible, then the crop can become blocked up with food.

If this happens, whatever food you feed your bird will be regurgitated, if your bird has fluid coming out of its mouth this can simply be regurgitated fluids from before

Water belly:

This condition is quite serious and can cause a lot of suffering to your bird and even death. If you think your bird has water belly, have it seen by a vet as soon as possible.

Water belly generally develops in fast-growing broiler hens. These birds are usually grown very fast and their heart and lungs can’t keep up.

If the bird has water belly, its heart will begin to fail and its lungs will malfunction. The liquid will then begin to leak out of the bird’s abdominal cavity. This liquid has to come out somewhere, and it can sometimes pour out of the bird’s beak 

Other illnesses:

The color of the fluid coming out of your bird’s mouth can help determine what the bird has. If the fluid coming out of the bird is yellow then your bird likely has some fluid stuck in its respiratory system.

The reason behind this may be spiral bacteria, macrorhabdus, parasites, or regular bacteria in its body. A vet will be able to test for these organisms. 

What to do if my bird has fluid coming out of its mouth 

If you’re not sure why your bird has fluid coming out of its mouth going to a vet will usually clear things up. A vet will assess your bird and treat your bird for whatever ailment it has if the ailment is treatable.

Doing this may be the best decision as certain diseases can wipe out entire flocks.

When looking for a vet try to find an avian vet, if you cannot find one you can visit a large animal vet. They are often more accepting of birds, these types of vets may also be cheaper 

Why is my chicken drooling?

A chicken’s beak is not designed the same way that a human mouth is. These birds cannot drool, well not if the bird is healthy.

They cannot drool because their beaks don’t produce enough extra saliva to be able drool, their mouths only produce enough saliva to wet the bird’s food and allow for easier swallowing.

Thus, if your chicken is drooling, you should be concerned. Here are reasons why your chicken may be drooling:

• Merck’s disease

• Yeast infection

• Chicken cholera

• Crop impaction

• Roundworms

If you think that your chicken is suffering from any of the above conditions it is recommended that you take the bird to a vet for a consultation. The vet will be able to accurately diagnose your bird.

Why is my chicken spitting up clear liquid?

Chickens produce very small amounts of saliva, they don’t create enough saliva to drool and they don’t produce enough saliva to spit either, if your chicken is spitting clear liquid this can be because it:

• Ingested excess water

• Has worms

• Is suffering from ascites syndrome

If the bird has simply ingested too much water then you don’t have to worry about the bird. If the bird has worms or is suffering from ascites syndrome, it is recommended that you take the animal to a vet for a check-up.

Conclusion

In conclusion, reasons, why your bird may have fluid coming out of its mouth, may be because the bird is taking in too much water, because the bird is suffering from an impacted crop, water belly, or because the bird has spiral bacteria, macrorhabdus, parasites or regular bacteria in its body. 

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Chicken foaming at the mouth, why this happens, what to do, How to drain water belly in chickens, Chicken spitting up clear liquid, why this happens, Chicken’s crop is full of liquid, why and what to do, Can sour crop kill a chicken?, Chicken vomiting yellow liquid, what to do