Chicken help needed!

[Wildsky]

I don't know all the symptoms etc. but there have been cases of encephalitis or something similar in birds that was mistaken for another illness.

I remember Seminole writing about her bird on BYC - look up posts by seminolewind (I think thats her full user name)

I fiound the thread http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=276035

 

[miss_thenorth]

It sounds to me like failure to thrive. If certain birds are lower in the pecking order, due to either being more submissive, or old, or not well, the stronger birds will chase her away from the food bowl. i have seen it several times, and that is what it sound like to me. To remedy this situation, you need to keep her hydrated, electrolytes in the water are a good idea, or yogurt etc. What I have done is mix some chicken feed with yogurt, and make the consistency really runny. You will probably need to administer this to her with an eyedropper for the first bit, since she will be too weak to do it on her own. also offer water the same way. Once she startseating on her own, scrable up or hard oil and egg and chopp it up finely and offer this to her also.Keep a close eye on her. eventually, if it is failure to thrive, she will start to get her strength back and start feeding on her own. My sil had a chicken who suffered from this. After a coupla weeks, she was healthy enough to be reintroduced to the flock. Right now, she has top rank in the pecking order.

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

After reading a lot and seeing her more, I'm definitely thinking it's a stroke. She's weak on one side of her body and less so on the other, has improved in responsiveness since adding the anti-inflammatory (aspiring water hoora, thanks for the dosing!) and so on.

She's still doing okay, hanging in there. She tried to get up today kind of. She didn't uncurl her toes, but she pulled her leg towards her and kicked a bit like she was trying to get it under her. I can't describe it very well, but if you've seen a chicken get up from their side just picture that but unsuccessful... She also pecked up like two seeds of millet that were in her bed! I was excited about that.

Right now what I'm feeding her is veggie moosh (very dilute, I can't get the syringe to get thick stuff) and a little bit of mollasses dissolved in water with a tiny bit of salt added for electrolyte balance so she doesn't get water poisoning or anything like that. I also still have the millet-oats-water slurry, which I've added some pieces of homemade wheat bread to, so its nice and starchy and mooshy. If I tilt the container of oat moosh up on a towl near her face, she drinks and pecks a bit of her own accord sometimes.

I don't have any plain yogurt or coconut milk or anything like that right now. I'm out of money at the moment and won't get any until my paycheck on the 20th. Do you think she's lacking enough nutrition that I should borrow a few dollars from a friend and pick up coconut milk or yogurt or something? Would adding bean liquid or something with more protein help? What about plain ol' milk? I have some of that...

Thank you so much you guys. I know there's still a very real chance I'll lose her or have to put her down, but I want to be sure I did everything I could to help her and make sure she wasn't hurting.

And thank you for not saying anything like "but it's just a chicken".

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

Also, in case it's an intestinal bug, will probiotic type things work at all? I have saurkraut, ginger carrots, and komucha that I've made. Any way to use these in the case of bad gut flora situation? Especially in terms of syringe feeding? Also, are any of those things bad?

I'm not trying anything new until I get some corroboration for my hair brained schemes!

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

Bitty isn't with us anymore. I'm not quite sure what happened, since I was asleep. But I woke up to a very strange noise (can't even describe it, it was one she was making) and ran out. She looked like she was having a seizure, and then she just stopped. From looking at her body, I'm pretty sure she started out fairly sideways in the door of the crate, and when she had the seizure, broke her neck. By the time I got there her body was twisted really strangely.

Thanks for all the help you've been everyone.

 

[Dace]

Aw sweetie I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved girl.

You did an excellent job nursing her and keeping her warm and safe. I am very sorry that she was not able to pull thru.

 

[meriruka]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[bibliophile birds]

yes, you did a very good job. really, our biggest job is just making the end easiest for them (yes, even the ones we eat) and you did fantastically.

i'm sorry you've had to go through this.

 

[Javamama]

I'm so sorry. You did a great job taking care of her

 

[cjparker]

I'm sorry. That was one lucky chicken, to have been tended to and cared for with such respect and honor for her wellbeing. You did everything right, but it was beyond human control. RIP little chickie.