What's the deal??

[BettyG]

Back in June, I posted about a sick pullet, asking for help, I got no response, none...she died, not anybody on here's fault, but it would have been nice to have gotten some help. Today I posted about a sick chicken, not sure if he's going to make it, if he lives I'll take him in to my vet in the morning. I thought this site was the place to go for chicken help, I'm doing everything I can think of to help this little guy survive, and not one person will help me, sorry kinda sucks, and it's breaking my heart to watch this little guy slowly fade away... I hope he makes it till morning so I can get him to my vet.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Well, it is the place to go for chicken help, but... it's also volunteer. And kind of pot-luck.

Can you link us to the post you made today about your sick chicken?

 

[BettyG]

It's so far down...hard to find it...basically 5 month old chick/chicken, sudden onset ataxia, looks anemic, is eating but is very weak. He had the same thing happen at about 3 months, but with abx and wormer he recovered and was doing fine until this past Friday. Breaking my heart to watch him, I keep thinking he's going to die, then I walk in, and he's trying to eat..hope he makes it through the night and my vet can help him.

 

[emmaie892000]

I'm sorry that nobody helped you with your hen last time. Sometimes threads that have no replies get buried a few pages down, and get lost to a lot of people who only view the first page. It can be busy on here, and sometimes the right person to help doesn't come along.
I'll try to find your new thread and help in any way I can.

 

[Mutt Farm]

I'm so sorry your roo is sick and you had a bad experience. If you hover on your user name on the right of the page and click All My Posts you should be able to find it quickly. I've found that if you add an update to a post, such as "still no help" or Roo still sick"it stays active. Very best of luck to you.

 

[BettyG]

Thank you all for the reply, I understand that this is a busy board, but I really just wanted to do the best I could for this little guy, and it's been frustrating not getting any answers...I know they're just chickens, but I kind of like them, and want to do whats best for them...I'm pretty adept at caring for my other animals, dogs, sheep, horses etc...but not so up on chickens...I've got dewormer on board, B-12, vit. K&A...molasses, coconut....I've got him in my house right now, hope he makes it.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Was he vaccinated for merks? That might explain the ataxia.

 

[Eggcessive]

I've been on the emergency thread every couple of hours all day, and this is the first I have heard about your other thread (which I just read.) Weekends, holiday weekends, and night time are bad times to get help. But if you aren't getting help, just post again and say "can anyone help?" and it will go to the top of the page again. Since he got better with the Sulmet, it may be possible that he again has coccidia, or now could have enteritis. Hopefully with the meds he will start to act normal again. I would be concerned about his lack of immunity. Some diseases, such as Mareks and lymphoid leukosis can cause a lack of immunity to simple common diseases because of a lack of white blood cells. Hopefully, that is not the problem, but after his treatment, I would give some probiotics and vitamins for a week, and do a twice a week treatment thereafter. Good luck.

 

[BettyG]

I had planned on taking him in to the vet this morning, but they are closed for the holiday :-( He actually made it through the night, but he still doesn't look too well. Shaking his head a lot, and not wanting to eat this morning. He was eating yesterday, and he's been pooping, and the poop looks normal. I dosed him with some more B-12 + vit. K, I guess I'll give him some more molasses as well. Going to see if I can get him some special treats that will get him to eat, he seemed to like peas and carrots. Is there anything else I can give him? abx wise perhaps? Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sulmet is actually a sulfa antibiotic that will treat some intestinal infections, and some respiratory and ear infections. A multivitamin such as poultry vitamin powder added to the water, or Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell which can be given directly by mouth might be good. Some chickens can be kept from their water and food if there aren't 2 or more stations available, especially if they are low in pecking order. In summer dehydration can lead to a lot of neurological symptoms from electrolyte imbalance. Be aware that molasses acts as a laxative in chickens, and will give them diarrhea.