sick silkie. Not eating or drinking.

Hi. I have recently purchased 2 white silkie chickens. I think they are about 4-6 weeks old. They wont eat anything but grain and grass but the problem now is one of them is sick. I noticed a huge amount of mites on them so I have treated them, my other chickens and their run and nesting boxes. They only go in at night and free range around a small backyard through the day. The other day I found one of the silkies on the other side of the fence and not moving. That's when I noticed all the mites, but that does not explain how she got to the other side of the fence, although she could probably fit through the wire in a pinch. I bought her inside and made her comfortable, I treated the mites ( several times now as there was heaps of them) but she will not eat or drink. I have been force feeding her food and liquid with a syringe.


She walks around now but slowly, tail down and hunched over. Her poos are small, white and watery, about the same as milk. She doesn't really make any sounds except sometimes when I pick her up she makes a small chirp. I am very worried about her. There are no vets here that deal with chickens that I am aware of. She has been like this for about 4 days now. Any ideas of what could be wrong and any help would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Ohh goodness... Chick illness is hard to figure out... She could be bound up... Keep her warm. Give her gaterade and feed her soft foods like eggs... Maybe olive oil to help if she is bound up... Any other symptoms.

too young to lay yet, so not egg bound. But thanks anyway. I have been giving her staminade, vitamin B and apple cider vinegar as well as yoghurt, medicated chicken crumbles in water and weet-bix. These are fairly runny as I need to get them into a syringe. I will try her on scrambled egg tomorrow. I have no eggs at the moment so have to wait till the others lay some.

Crop bound.... Long pieces of grass that bound together in the digestion..... Or bedding that won't move down their digestion

I wouldn't force feed her yet until you know what's going on.

Does she have other symptoms.... Runny eyes... Or anything...

I didn't force her to eat and drink the first day and the second I only gave her a little water but by the third and she still was not eating or drinking I thought I best do something. So I gave her water on 3 separate occasions and a little bit of food twice and today I gave her a little food this morning and she has had water 3 times so far. I will give her more this afternoon. She does not have any other symptoms breathing is fine, eyes look good, no runny nose, no poop stuck in her feathers. She looks fine except for being fluffed up and sort of hunched over. She does like to sleep a lot and when she wanders around its like she is looking for something because she wanders the same path for a while and then moves on and does it again. I am not sure if she is looking for somewhere comfortable to go to sleep or somewhere to dust bath herself or she is looking for mum. She just sort of wanders aimlessly. She doesn't startle at loud noises nor does she become alert when the magpies are around. If the others peck her she just stands there and takes it, she wont move away. I do try to keep the others away from her but I let her out to see if she will eat the grass or have water on her own and if I miss one of the others come near her they will sometimes peck at her. I am worried that something has gotten her, like a magpie and tried to take her away the morning I found her and that she was dropped because she would be too heavy for the magpie and maybe she is in a bit of shock because she was perfectly healthy and happy the night before when I put them to bed. I don't close off the run unless I have too. So I left a small opening for her and her sister to get out in the morning and join the others as they pretty much come and go as they please in the backyard. And then with the mites I guess it was too much for her. I am at a loss. She is a sweet little girl I would hate losing her. The chickens are more pets than egg producers. That's just a bonus. I wouldn't care if they didn't lay eggs.