Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[DonnaFreak]

OK y'all...this is my little Silkie that isn't doing very well. She keeps her head tucked down like this all the time. Not once have I seen her raise it up...in fact, sometimes it's tucked down so far that it's under her belly. If she tries to walk forward, she actually will somersault! Sometimes she runs backwards until she runs into something. Other times she'll just start spinning in circles until she falls like she is dizzy. These are my first chicks so I don't know for sure, but it almost seems like a neurological problem to me. When I first opened their box, she was in the middle of the box spinning in circles, and the other 7 were all up against the walls of the box to avoid being bowled over. I've checked often to see if any of the others are picking on her, but they all seem to just avoid her. Even though her eyes are closed in this pic, she does open them. Any ideas? Is there anything I can do to help her, or is it a lost cause? HELP!!!

Donna

 

[lazy gardener]

OK y'all...this is my little Silkie that isn't doing very well. She keeps her head tucked down like this all the time. Not once have I seen her raise it up...in fact, sometimes it's tucked down so far that it's under her belly. If she tries to walk forward, she actually will somersault! Sometimes she runs backwards until she runs into something. Other times she'll just start spinning in circles until she falls like she is dizzy. These are my first chicks so I don't know for sure, but it almost seems like a neurological problem to me. When I first opened their box, she was in the middle of the box spinning in circles, and the other 7 were all up against the walls of the box to avoid being bowled over. I've checked often to see if any of the others are picking on her, but they all seem to just avoid her. Even though her eyes are closed in this pic, she does open them. Any ideas? Is there anything I can do to help her, or is it a lost cause? HELP!!!

Donna

Hey Donna. What you are seeing is "crazy chick disease" or Vitamin E encephalopathy. You might be able to treat her by getting some Vitamin E into her. You can also add some selenium. I had a chick that had this issue, and brought him back from being nearly comatose when treatment started, to running around and being difficult to discern from the other chicks of the same breed within 2 weeks. Unfortunately, the systemic damage had been done by that time, and he was culled at 16 weeks with CHF, severe scoliosis and chronic vent gleet. Silkies are more prone to this issue, supposedly due to their vaulted skull. You can try treating, but the long term, and possibly short term outcome may require culling. I'd call the hatchery, and let them know that this chick has not been right since you received her, and ask them to issue a credit for her. I am not a vet, and am not qualified to be giving diagnostic or treatment advice. Merely telling you what I found in my reading, and what the treatment and outcome was for the bird I had.

 

[DonnaFreak]

Hey Donna.  What you are seeing is "crazy chick disease" or Vitamin E encephalopathy.  You might be able to treat her by getting some Vitamin E into her.  You can also add some selenium.  I had a chick that had this issue, and brought him back from being nearly comatose when treatment started, to running around and being difficult to discern from the other chicks of the same breed within 2 weeks.  Unfortunately, the systemic damage had been done by that time, and he was culled at 16 weeks with CHF, severe scoliosis and chronic vent gleet.   Silkies are more prone to this issue, supposedly due to their vaulted skull.  You can try treating, but the long term, and possibly short term outcome may require culling.  I'd call the hatchery, and let them know that this chick has not been right since you received her, and ask them to issue a credit for her.  I am not a vet, and am not qualified to be giving diagnostic or treatment advice.   Merely telling you what I found in my reading, and what the treatment and outcome was for the bird I had.

Thank you for your response. I sure hate to lose her, but I don't want to prolong her suffering either. How did you administer the vitamin E? Do you poke holes in the capsules you buy at the supermarket, or is there vitamin E for poultry you buy somewhere? I'll have to look up the selenium. If it makes a difference, I don't have a problem dealing with special needs. I have an autistic daughter, plus I'm quite experienced with taking care of special needs parrots. At one point I had an African Grey who was missing a foot, a Love Bird who was blind in one eye, a toeless Severe Macaw, a one-legged Cockatiel, a splay-legged Parakeet, and a Blue and Gold Macaw with a scissor beak (who I still have)! But I dont have experience with neurological problems.

Donna

 

[MichelleT]

This might help...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...y-and-crazy-chick-disease-photos-added-post-5

 

[chicken curious]

pad held under rack (first time for me)

aart, im curious why you went under the rack. Would the rack itself would warm up even with the heating pad on top?? I did my last one in the original design and can change it before chicks arrive Friday. I have this baking rack and love the adjustable legs! I don't have the bungees which is why I'm asking.

I also like that there is a back exit which my first cave didn't have. When this group of littles incorporates with my 6 week olds, I want the littles to have room to go under, but not get pinned under and then the bigs will probably hang out on top.

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: I used a pair of scissors to nick the capsule. As for the selenium, I used a sharp knife to scrape a bit of powder off the side of a capsule. If you consider how tiny a chick is and that a pill for human consumption is dosed to cover 100 or more #, you realize how easy it is to over dose! I simply wiped a drop of E on the chick's beak, and mixed the selenium in a bit of water, or made a tiny slurry of feed with the selenium in it. I treated him several times/day to start, and then decreased to 1 x / day. I initially had to hold him in an upright position and hand feed him, by the second or third day IIRC, he was standing on his own, and chowing down on his own. I used this to feed him: https://www.chewy.com/kaytee-exact-...niH2tEueyVGZgmnIwUnDMaAr6m8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

Once he was eating well on his own, I added some E and Selenium as well as a bit of PND to the feed/water for the whole flock. I figured that if one bird was showing deficiency, it wouldn't hurt for all the chicks to get some for a while.

 

[aart]

Quote: Just wanted to try it.
This rack with it's 1/2" square grid you could go either way,
but my other rack has larger spaces and heads can get stuck.

 

[chicken curious]

but my other rack has larger spaces and heads can get stuck.

Yikes!
See? I hadn't considered that as a possibility...glad I asked...off to check size of holes on mine...

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Many of us encase the pad and it's supporting frame (whether frame is placed on top OR on bottom) in a pillow case. Even doing so, those little chicks seek out new and novel ways to commit suicide. be sure the end of the pillow case is completely closed, and if you use tape, be sure that the tape securely adheres to the fabric! Chicks will try to burrow into the pillow case, and I had one chick last year that completely disappeared. I flipped the cave over, and found her stuck like a tar baby to the tape holding the pillowcase. If you're not familiar with a tar baby, read the story of Bre'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby.

 

[chicken curious]

I grew up on bre'er rabbit!

Thank you for the additional warnings.

Last time I used the original design with a rebar mesh frame in a cave shape, 1/4" hardware cloth on top of that for top perching stability and then the pad and then the glad wrapped towel. I threw old kids' shirts on top for traction and ease of changing. I guess I'm lucky I connected the hardware cloth so tight to to rebar mesh AND that the batch of chicks was at least a week when I started using it. Chicks I go get this Friday will go under MHP right away but will be 3-4 days old and used to a heat lamp at the breeder's (I assume). Hopefully none will find a dangerous spot.

I'll take all the new advice and designs and figure out what I can make this time for no--> almost no money