Mouse bait poisoning perhaps

I have a question, and if anyone knows the answer, would you please respond to me using the email system, I check that more often during the day, if you don't know an exact answer, please don't email me.

I have a rooster that I believe has consumed some mouse bait. About 4 days ago I noticed him feeling rather lowly. His condition over the past few days has improved a little I would say.

I know that he probably got into some mouse bait, as I had used that in the early spring and had placed the left over mousebait into a black shopping bag and hung it up where nothing could get in it. Well, guess what. Clearly a mouse or two has gotten into it and it had fallen onto the floor. This is my, really, really bad and I have learned a lesson. I did not have intention of using it this fall, I was going to use a drowning method instead and had absolutely forgotten about this bait I had hidden away.

I believe that this rooster must have eaten some of it, as it was clear to the view of eyes. I vacuumed up the room, which had a wooden floor and that bait has been disposed of correctly. I feel awful and feel like such an idiot for being so neglectful. But it is what it is and a valuable lesson I have learned.

As said, I believe that this buddy is on the mend, but he is still not roosting at night, preferring to rest on the floor below the perch. He got some poop on him, darn, had to clean him off.

He is eating, drinking, but just not himself.

Does anyone know how mouse bait effects? I know that it is an anti-coagulant, but does it eventually get "washed" out of the system? Is there anything I can do to replace the vitamin K that this stuff affects. I know nothing about this vitamin K, but I understand it is the clotting vitamin for blood.

Do I try and get some vitamin K into him? Orally? If anyone knows definitive answers, or has had experience please to mail me, or you can also make a post here, which would be good, so that others may have this information if anyone else has this happen. By the way, don't keep mouse or rat bait around, I was shocked that the mice got up so high to eat this. Also the green droppings, think they might have been attractive to this dude, so perhaps he only ate the droppings. But clearly, he has gotten into something. I will be phoning a vet today, but doubt if they can give any help. We do not have poultry vets.

I call the Canadian poultry consultants in Abbotsford yesterday and they pissed me right off. The girl said they had two vets, but they only deal with commercial hatcheries. That made me mad, and very annoyed and I will be sending an email to the administrator, but that is another story. Surely a darn vet there could have taken one or two minutes to help a poor gal that doesn't have a commercial hatchery, only a little small, time, chicken farmin' gal. I understand that they are huge, but hey, aren't we all in this world to help each other out? Well, I guess not......try and find a poultry vet, that is next to impossible here...have a wonderful and great day, CynthiaM.

Cynthia a lot depends on how much he ate and the type of bait he consumed.
When we would have dog come in that have eaten poison we would give them a pill that would make them vomit what they could out, then drench them with activated charcoal. That stops the absorption of the poison in their stomach. Then they would go on Vitamin K injections for 2 weeks to get their clotting factors back up. He has obviously eaten this a couple days or so ago by your explination so the vomiting and charcol wouldnt work any longer( not sure if you would do that in a chicken either?), but he seems to be on the mend on his own so guessing he didnt consume a lot.
I am sure if you started him on some vitamins to get his immune system back up, and foods rich in vitamin K it would help him recover faster. Not sure if Vitamin K orally would work as well as the injection, some vitamins have a harder time making it through the digestive system and still be effective.

Hidden this is what I am wondering about vitamin K, I know that is what the bait affects, K for clotting. I have been searching the internet alot, trying to find out information, but nothing has jumped out at me. Think I will now be checking to see how I an find something that has extra vitamin K in it. I do think it is too late for anything to be done by the vet, like charcoal and injections, so must wing it on my own, thanks for the reply, off to search vitamin K now. Beautiful days, CynthiaM.

Statistically in any flock a 5% mortality rate per year can be expected. The lack of vigour in this roo may have nothing to do with consuming mouse bait. I have two older roos that are no longer roosting. Are avoiding the rest of the flock and generally don't look like they'll last very long. About once a month a hen will start moping around, usually only eating and drinking if it is placed in front of it and in a few days dies. This has nothing to do with poisoning. My flock simply has no access to poison of any type.

Poultry really doesn't make for long term "pets". Best to not get too attached to any individual. Some will live for years but others will fail to thrive and die at a very early age.

I believe that Agriculture Canada will autopsy one bird at no charge, but after that charge something like $75 each. Whether or not they actually identify the real cause is another question. I'm sure with the number of small flocks around that they don't have time to discuss possible causes of disease and death with callers.

High dose of vitamin K is the answer. The way that the poison works in the rodents body is that it destroys all of the vitamin K in the body which gives the clotting factor and without it we would bleed to death internally . The blood would simply flow out of our blood steam through the ends of our cappilaries ( smallest blood vessels ). A sure sign that your rooster ate some of the mouse poison is that his poop will turn green. Check your poultry vitamins as in Super Booster or another vitamin suppliment for poultry and see if it has vitamin K in it. The more poison he ate the more vitamin K he will need. Also a call to your vet for his/her advise. One of my brothers dogs ate mouse poison years ago and because he ate so much the vet gave him a shot of high dose vitamin K and followed up with vitamin K pills. Good luck.

I have taken a dead bird on more than one occassion to the government agricultural health location in Airdrie Alberta and they didn't charge a penny and they gave a complete autopsy result as well as a cause of the problem and a treatment if there is one.

Dan Smith wrote:I have taken a dead bird...to the government agricultural health location in Airdrie Alberta and they didn't charge a penny and they gave ...a treatment...

Wow, no PST and now this? I'm totally moving to Alberta. Do they do people too?

Cynthia,

If he did eat some he would continue to go down hill. In dogs we look for letheragy and unusual bruising on the gums and on lighter colour fur types their bellys. In our clinic we start them on injectable vitamin k then use the injectable orally for usually 2 to 6 weeks depending on what they ate and then retest their clotting factors. There are a couple of pet hospitals in kelowna that do look at pet birds you could maybe call. Rutland pet hospital ( laverne - not sure his last name, he raises silkies I think) might be able to help you or westbank animal care hospital). I am highly doubtful if he injested any.

I had one of my bantam hens come back from the ipe rather sad. Eating and drinking but super lethargic. I brought her into work with me to xray to make sure she was not egg bound ( which she was not) but I started her on baytril and dewormed her with ivomec for good measure. BY the 3 dose of baytril she was almost back to normal! My docs like to play with the chickens but are not really bird experts but do help out in a bind for sure!

Good luck,

Anne

DeYager, Laverne (dr) is at Rutland pet hospital. Came to me while scrubbing water troughs!

I don't think I have made myself clear enough. The rooster had eaten something that made him seriously ill. it was mouse bait, I know that for 100%, it is not just an illness.

I know this 100% because I saw him hanging out in the entry part of the chicken house. This is where I store the food, my small incubation room, in that part, everything that has to do with chickens in there, and my small supply of nails and bolts and screws, it is a small room, open all day long.

I had a black shopping bag hanging on the wall inside the incubation room. That bag housed other little bags, plastic bags and some mouse bait poison that I had forgotten to dispose of. It was in that black cotton bag. The mice must have climbed the wall, gotten into that black cotton bag and eat the mouse bait, chewed a hole in one corner of the black cotton bag and the mouse bait had fallen onto the floor, all in powdered form, and pieces, and tons and tons of green mouse poop below too. They must have been eating it for awhile. I have learned a very valuable lesson about how to store toxic things. Well, such a valuable lesson, that I will never use mouse or rat bait again. I have done internet research on this product (it was the green cubes that have the hole right through them so one can nail the product onto a board, or something like that). I never realized how awful it was, the manner in which the mice/rats die until I had done the research. I will use alternate methods that kill rapidly, no more slow death stuff like poisoning. I was sickened to the bottom of my soul when I understood what happens when this stuff is ingested in large amounts.

My rooster ate that stuff, no question about it, and probably eat some green little mice poops too, I do not know how much, but absolutely he ingested some.

The day before yesterday I was watching this dude. He seemed like he was beginning to feel somewhat better. He never stopped eating and drinking, just acted lethargic. Then I noticed him doing a poop. A little blood came out, like a pea sized blob. That was it. Then I watched and he did another poop, kind of a greeny coloured poop, (just like you mentioned, Dan)a little watery, but not all watery, kind of had some solidness (is there such a word? smiling). That blood triggered a reaction with me and I took to calling the vet that is in Armstrong. I know their focus is livestock and dogs and cats, but I am sure that the vets deal with poisoning of critters. Poisoning is poisoning, and the antidote, whatever you may wish to call a remedy, would be the same for poultry as would be for the four legged creatures I would expect.

The woman vet was very helpful to me. And I am very grateful. she indicated to me that the bird would need two injections of vitamin K, injected into muscle mass. She suggested the thigh or the breast. She asked if I was OK with giving injections. I told her yes, although I absolutely cannot stand to do this thing. I have in the past given injections to horses, and still don't like that, but have the capacity to bite my tongue and do it, I find it just disgusting and almost makes me cry -- but I can do it. It is an important part of farm life to be able to do these types of things. I am just so squeamish about stuff, sigh. She figured out the proper dosage for a rooster of his size and I went to the clinic and received two syringes with the vitamin K. She indicated that the vials must be kept refrigerated and in the dark, they came in a brown bag. Two injections 24 hours apart.

I took that rooster, and with the help of my Husband, took his leg, found a nice meaty part of the thigh, which wasn't hard to do, and inserted the needle, pushed the lever (well, what the dickens is that thing called that pushes the liquid out anyways), right it is called a plunger -- so I pushed the plunger. the bird did not even flinch, I think I was very gentle or something. Well, that is my human mind thinking this, it did not hurt him.

Today I will see how he is. He just acted kind of lethargic, wasn't running out and foraging, as the rest of his pen mates were, just standing around, not laying, just walking slowly, eating slowly, hanging out slowly.

There was not any follow up about any further medication, just the two injections that I was to give, 24 hours apart. Who knows. Only time will tell the tale. I wish that I would have acted sooner with the vet call and the injections, but just thought I would let time take its toll and see what happened. I will comment further on how things turn out. This dude may still die, I am prepared for that. Another good reason to always have a back up rooster, one never knows about life. Thanks for the comments. have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

I'm glad to hear you got access to vit K inections and got that job done, Cynthia. That is really good news! And it's great to hear that you have such a caring vet that wanted to help your poor rooster. It was an unfortunate thing that happened but he should be OK now.
Last summer my beloved Golden Retriever ate some rat poison at a cabin by the lake. I was just sick with worry! It was a long weekend, no vet clinics open but did manage to speak to a vet over the phone. Long story short, the vitamin K shots did the trick, and she was right as rain afterwards. Here's sending good thoughts your way for a complete recovery in your rooster, too.

Sigh, the rooster was not good this morning when I opened up the coop. Laying on the ground, face down in the dirt, not looking good at all. Knew that the deed must be done. I contacted a friend, as I knew that there is a very humane way of dispatching birds, without pain, fast, and without blood -- cervical dislocation. I boxed up my poor rooster and travelled 20 minutes to her home. We had a nice look around her beautiful farm and birds. Time now to have demonstrated how to end the life of a critter in need of that. Clearly there was no recovery for this young dude. He would have been one year old on October 1, sigh. Opened the box and there was no need to look further, he has passed to that world where he can chase all the bugs he wants, blue, happy and warm skies.

The vitamin K injections were probably just too late. Had they been administered just shortly after ascertaining what made him sick, there may have been a chance, but he just never recovered. All is good. Valuable lessons learned -- and that is what life is all about, learning, living and hopefully things to not repeat. I am very happy that I have a backup rooster that is even a little better quality than he was. Good reason to always keep a backup rooster. Have a wonderful and great day, CynthiaM.