*Sorry for the long post, just hoping to be as detailed as possible to shorten the back and forth as she may not have much time left.*
We have a sick Blue Laced Red Wyandotte that has gone down hill pretty bad over the last few days. She is one of 13 other chickens. She is 23 weeks old and we have had her for about 18 weeks.
We have noticed she has been somewhat lethargic for about the last month. Getting around, eating, and acting normal, she just seemed to rest in the yard more than the others. A few days ago we noticed she was resting a lot more and not interested in much. The strange part of it was she kind of had her feet slightly in front of her while sitting down.
The next day she started getting worse. When she ran up to get some treats we noticed the toes on her right foot were starting to curl and she was walking with a clenched foot and starting to lose her balance slightly.
We brought her into our climate controlled shop in a small pen to start giving her a vitamin solution in her water and let her rest. Also gave her some eggs. The next day she progressed to not being able to stand up, laying down slightly on her side with her feet out. She could she eat and move her head around just fine. The next day she started having trouble keeping her head up and having trouble making contact with her food. She also started doing something strange, she was clicking her beak a lot.
The following morning we decided to start tube feeding her to ensure she didn't waste away. We used kaytee exact parrot hand feeding formula. Also, we used the vitamin water solution as the water source for the mix so we could continue the vitamin supplement. We have been feeding 25ml of the solution twice a day given her medium size, didn't want to overflow her crop and choke her.
We have been doing this for 2 days now and today is the worst she's been. She lays down with her neck out and her legs out to the front and back, like the splits. Every now and then she can muster the energy to raise her head up and try to move around until she lays back down and closes her eyes. She also has a thick mucous discharge from her mouth only. Not a lot, but a thick slimy somewhat cloudy mucous. She is also having trouble breathing from the mucous. Every now and then she opens her beak to take a breath and you can hear it.
Other symptoms to note: Her legs are cold and she has these tiny red spots on them. Not bleeding, just like red pores.
Her face and comb are red, not pale. Her crop drains and does not appear to be impacted. We can find no damage. Her stools have never been bloody or shown any signs of parasites.
We are hoping this is just a vitamin deficiency and not Marek's. None of the other chickens have ever show any symptoms. We are going to start giving SMZ/TMP in her feed solution just in case. We have read if you continue tube feeding and supplementing vitamins they can possibly survive as the reason they die is starvation/dehydration.
Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. She's such a great looking BLRW and we would hate to lose her. My husband was also wondering if there's even any hope for her possible recovery or if we should just end her suffering.
Thanks!
We have a sick Blue Laced Red Wyandotte that has gone down hill pretty bad over the last few days. She is one of 13 other chickens. She is 23 weeks old and we have had her for about 18 weeks.
We have noticed she has been somewhat lethargic for about the last month. Getting around, eating, and acting normal, she just seemed to rest in the yard more than the others. A few days ago we noticed she was resting a lot more and not interested in much. The strange part of it was she kind of had her feet slightly in front of her while sitting down.
The next day she started getting worse. When she ran up to get some treats we noticed the toes on her right foot were starting to curl and she was walking with a clenched foot and starting to lose her balance slightly.
We brought her into our climate controlled shop in a small pen to start giving her a vitamin solution in her water and let her rest. Also gave her some eggs. The next day she progressed to not being able to stand up, laying down slightly on her side with her feet out. She could she eat and move her head around just fine. The next day she started having trouble keeping her head up and having trouble making contact with her food. She also started doing something strange, she was clicking her beak a lot.
The following morning we decided to start tube feeding her to ensure she didn't waste away. We used kaytee exact parrot hand feeding formula. Also, we used the vitamin water solution as the water source for the mix so we could continue the vitamin supplement. We have been feeding 25ml of the solution twice a day given her medium size, didn't want to overflow her crop and choke her.
We have been doing this for 2 days now and today is the worst she's been. She lays down with her neck out and her legs out to the front and back, like the splits. Every now and then she can muster the energy to raise her head up and try to move around until she lays back down and closes her eyes. She also has a thick mucous discharge from her mouth only. Not a lot, but a thick slimy somewhat cloudy mucous. She is also having trouble breathing from the mucous. Every now and then she opens her beak to take a breath and you can hear it.
Other symptoms to note: Her legs are cold and she has these tiny red spots on them. Not bleeding, just like red pores.
Her face and comb are red, not pale. Her crop drains and does not appear to be impacted. We can find no damage. Her stools have never been bloody or shown any signs of parasites.
We are hoping this is just a vitamin deficiency and not Marek's. None of the other chickens have ever show any symptoms. We are going to start giving SMZ/TMP in her feed solution just in case. We have read if you continue tube feeding and supplementing vitamins they can possibly survive as the reason they die is starvation/dehydration.
Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. She's such a great looking BLRW and we would hate to lose her. My husband was also wondering if there's even any hope for her possible recovery or if we should just end her suffering.
Thanks!
