Sick chicken :/

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mirandadaviss

mirandadaviss

Hatching
5 Years
Nov 26, 2014
8
4
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Hey guys, so I have a flock of 7 (2 silkies, 3 Rhode islands, and 2 silvers) and one of the Silvers is pretty sick. 2 weeks ago, I noticed she was extremely lethargic. We just had a mite infestation that we took care of with DE, so I assumed she was just recovering from that. Then, she began losing a lot of weight and I noticed she was no longer free ranging throughout the day, but just sitting on a hay bale or in bushes all day. Then last week, I brought her inside because she was getting picked on by the other chickens. When I held her, I noticed just how small she has gotten and she was hardly walking very wobbly. I dusted her with some DE and fed her some in her food, (it's food grade DE) just in case it was a parasite. I have been doing that now for almost a week and she isn't improving. She can still hardly stand and is very wobbly. She is eating and drinking well though, and she seemed to be doing better until today. This morning, she started gaping her mouth when she breathes in and it sounds kind of like a quiet wheeze. I don't have the money to spend $200 to take her to the local vet, and I'm not sure what to do. What do you guys suggest? I heard Tylan 200 may be what I should use if its respiratory..
 
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To BYC! I would post this in the Emergencies forum, there are people there who really know their stuff. Here's the link: emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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I am so sorry about your bird. Definitely follow the link that Xiao Casa left for you to our emergency section. I hope someone there can help you with your baby.
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I would really suggest that if your birds have a mite infestation you treat them with poultry dust or Sevin. DE will not solve an infestation. You also have to strip and treat the coop and both the coop and birds need to be re-treated every 7 to 10 days since these treatments don't kill mite eggs. If you don't retreat then very soon you are right back at square one. Mites can be hard to get rid of but if you treat everything a few times you should be able to get on top of it. I prefer Sevin spray for the coop since it's much easier to get it into all the little nooks and crannies where mites like to hide.

Also consider deworming your birds if they have not been dewormed. And not with DE, use something effective like Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats. Standard size birds get 1/2 cc orally, repeat the dose in 10 days. Bantam size birds get 1/4 cc.

I would start by eliminating those problems and see if your bird improves. Heavy loads of internal and/or external parasites certainly do have the ability to weaken a bird to the point of death.

The slight wheeze you are hearing may be related to a respiratory problem or it could be related to parasites. Is she still eating/drinking well? Any discharge from the eyes or nose?
 
Last edited:
cafarmgirl said:
I would really suggest that if your birds have a mite infestation you treat them with poultry dust or Sevin.  DE will not solve an infestation.  You also have to strip and treat the coop and  both the coop and birds need to be re-treated every 7 to 10 days since these treatments don't kill mite eggs.  If you don't retreat then very soon you are right back at square one.  Mites can be hard to get rid of but if you treat everything a few times you should be able to get on top of it.  I prefer Sevin spray for the coop since it's much easier to get it into all the little nooks and crannies where mites like to hide.

Also consider deworming your birds if they have not been dewormed.  And not with DE, use something effective like Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats.  Standard size birds get 1/2 cc orally, repeat the dose in 10 days.  Bantam size birds get 1/4 cc.  

I would start by eliminating those problems and see if your bird improves.  Heavy loads of internal and/or external parasites certainly do have the ability to weaken a bird to the point of death.

The slight wheeze you are hearing may be related to a respiratory problem or it could be related to parasites.  Is she still eating/drinking well?  Any discharge from the eyes or nose?  
Click to expand...


Ok, thank you. And no, she doesn't have and discharge from eyes or nose, just diarrhea. And she is eating and drinking well on her own..
 
It would really help if you could just have a stool check run at the vet, to know what kind of worms if any. I'm wondering if she has gape worms. She is already in a weakened state, worming her if she has none ' or treating for the wrong type of worms will just make it worse.
 
Welcome to BYC!
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We're glad to have you.

I'm sorry to hear about your bird! Definitely post in the Emergencies section. She may have a respiratory disease.
 

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