Goodmorningelaine
Hatching
- Oct 6, 2023
- 4
- 2
- 6
Hi all, I am new here. I've had chickens for a number of years. Had a flock wiped out by dogs, lost a batch of baby chicks to some respiratory virus but nothing more than that illness wise. About 3 months ago we lost a silkie with no warning. All other chickens were fine and we moved them to the big coop, buried the silkie. We got another batch of Silkies about a month later, kept them indoors for a bit and then moved them out to the little coop. I dont think these chicks were vaccinated. I've never vaccinated any chickens which I am now realizing is a mistake.
Today I went out to the silkie coop (this is a new batch of Silkies a few months old.) And one girl who had seemed fine yesterday (we've all had covid this week so the chickens have not had much attention) was curled up leaning on the wire. She did not react to the dog so I scooped her up. At first she tried to run but was easy to catch. She made a fuss about it. I had a look at her and wondered if she had a broken foot. She kept falling over. I wondered if this had prevented her from eating and drinking because it would have been difficult to get to the food and water. I brought her inside and realized she had wet poop stuck in her feathers. I cleaned her up and put her in a tub with bedding and food and water. She attempted to eat but not drink. I went to pick up my kids and go to the store. When I returned I picked her up and she was pretty limp. Made no real fuss but she was still cheeping almost in a song like way. Her head sort of slowly fell backward like she had no control of it and her wings opened but she was alive. I called the vet and they were closed. I called animal control. Same. I called A&M and they told me how to bring her in for a necroscopy. They were lovely they just couldn't provide advice.
I googled and thought it sounded like Marek's disease but found some things that might look the same. I went to tractor supply and ultimately injected her with b1 and gave her a large dose for vit E by mouth. She kept opening as if she wanted more so I syringe fed her some water. The lovely cheeping now stopped completely and I think now she was gasping for air and not asking for water.
I'm afraid I've killed her. Could I have given her too much vit b1? Could I have drowned her? She was not gasping for air before I fed her water by syringe. I could have accidentally stabbed an organ when I tried to administer vit B1. Ive never injected a chicken. This is really devastating.
Its been an anxiety filled week (COVID) and now I'm afraid I've killed this chicken. I'm afraid maybe she had something transmissible and I shouldn't have been handling her. I'm worried the kids will get it. I'm worried about the other chickens. I'm worried about bird flu. In short, I'm spiraling. Does anyone have anything helpful?
Today I went out to the silkie coop (this is a new batch of Silkies a few months old.) And one girl who had seemed fine yesterday (we've all had covid this week so the chickens have not had much attention) was curled up leaning on the wire. She did not react to the dog so I scooped her up. At first she tried to run but was easy to catch. She made a fuss about it. I had a look at her and wondered if she had a broken foot. She kept falling over. I wondered if this had prevented her from eating and drinking because it would have been difficult to get to the food and water. I brought her inside and realized she had wet poop stuck in her feathers. I cleaned her up and put her in a tub with bedding and food and water. She attempted to eat but not drink. I went to pick up my kids and go to the store. When I returned I picked her up and she was pretty limp. Made no real fuss but she was still cheeping almost in a song like way. Her head sort of slowly fell backward like she had no control of it and her wings opened but she was alive. I called the vet and they were closed. I called animal control. Same. I called A&M and they told me how to bring her in for a necroscopy. They were lovely they just couldn't provide advice.
I googled and thought it sounded like Marek's disease but found some things that might look the same. I went to tractor supply and ultimately injected her with b1 and gave her a large dose for vit E by mouth. She kept opening as if she wanted more so I syringe fed her some water. The lovely cheeping now stopped completely and I think now she was gasping for air and not asking for water.
I'm afraid I've killed her. Could I have given her too much vit b1? Could I have drowned her? She was not gasping for air before I fed her water by syringe. I could have accidentally stabbed an organ when I tried to administer vit B1. Ive never injected a chicken. This is really devastating.
Its been an anxiety filled week (COVID) and now I'm afraid I've killed this chicken. I'm afraid maybe she had something transmissible and I shouldn't have been handling her. I'm worried the kids will get it. I'm worried about the other chickens. I'm worried about bird flu. In short, I'm spiraling. Does anyone have anything helpful?