Pullet w/botulisim UPDATE added in reply

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montana girl

montana girl

Songster
12 Years
Aug 23, 2007
160
0
142
Kalispell, Montana
My buff orpington pullett who was fine last night, has her head hanging down like her neck is weak. Please help, what do I do?

I have put her in isolation in a dark room so she doesnt try and move. Her eyes are closed most of the time, but she does open them. She is making pathetic little chicken sounds every now and then.

It seems that around her eyes is all bruised, but that could be because she was getting picked on before I found her. I did her a great tussle in the hen house this morning, and I thought maybe a dog had gotten in the yard or something. I looked out and all seemed fine, so I didn't pursue it further. Everyone was acting normal, but I didn't notice that Eleanore wasn't there.

I found her when I went to gather eggs this morning.

She is a buff orpington, about 14-16 weeks old.

Bedding is hardwood mixed with paper.

All chickens seem normal in the population.

Eleanore's comb looks normal and healthy.

She is a robust bird that has always been curious, friendly and healthy.

Please help me!

From what I can determine, could it be crook neck? Would she have shown signs prior to this morning? (there were none)

Could she have been chased by the "mother" hen who rules the roost? My bantam cochin is rather mean to the other chickens but there has never been a problem like this, I am wondering if she could have chased her into a wall and she broke her neck?

THanks for any help you can provide
 
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i'm new at this, but i would give her baby oatmeal mixed with egg yolk(cooked) with multivitamins and vit e caps- thats what i did with my silkies, not sure if that works all the time- is she eating at all?
 
Buffs are easy-going sweet birds. I would like my next flock to be Buffs or a cross with Buffs. Oddly my alpha is part BO while the others are golden comets. Though not agressive, she makes all the flock decisions calmly and I adore her.

Your hen may have banged her head, too, came down off a roost and hurt herself- they should have low roosts. Vitamin E gelcaps (oil-based) can often revive an traumatized bird by speeding healing in the nerve sheath. Can be offered by drizzling the oil slightly above the curve in the beak (avoid the nares) to stimulate a sipping reflex. You are right to separate her- please let us know how she is doing.
 
Here is an update on my poor little buff orpington. She is hot to the touch, and her comb and wattles are bright red. Prior to this illness, her comb and wattles were pale as she had not yet begun to lay. Does this mean anything to anyone?

I cannot get her to eat. I do get water down her.. but she is far weaker than this morning. This morning she could drag herself around, now she cant

any help that any one can give me I would appreciate so much.

Thanks
sad.png
 
I'd say the hen house drama has something to do with it since this was so sudden. I'm also likely to suspect an injury. But really it's hard to tell on what we have.

The important thing is that you have to give her fuel for her to be able to eat. She's hurting and weak and won't on her own. When you dribble water into the side of her beak, first dissolve her laying crumbles, a little karo syrup or honey into it, some yogurt if you have it, maybe the vitamins and even boiled egg yolk made into a paste with water - make a 'broth' of whatever of those you have on hand and use that to hydrate her.

Also, because without eating and drinking she's surely dehydrated, you could use gatorade or pedialyte instead of water in the dribbling stuff and then try electrolytes tomorrow to help hydrate her.

If she has internal injuries, she will continue to decline and you may lose her, but maybe if it's just something else this could give her some fuel to help her get up a little so that she can eat and drink more to heal better. I do agree with the vitamin E in case it's neurological - oil based, not water-based vitamin.

I'm sorry this has happened, and hope maybe our help will help you out a bit. Hang in there!
 
Thanks so much for your help.

I just went out and checked on her. She is still unable to move her neck. Her poo is green, very green and very smelly.

I have given her egg yolk, water with vitamins and vitamin E. She will eat if I can get it into her beak, but she is very very weak, poor baby.

I did let everyone free range for a bit yesterday and I am wondering if she may have gotten into the compost pile? I didnt see her do it, but it is possible.

A question for anyone who might know, is the botulisim contagious to humans? Sorry if thats a dumb question.

Thank you again
Darlene
 
Botulism will happen very quickly, has bright green and very very smelly droppings, and has the nickname "limberneck" because it causes a limber neck and paralysis.

In any case, very smelly droppings mean a very strong bacterial infection in the digestive tract.

In case it was botulism, you can do a flush. This is one of the rare cases where I'd even suggest using a flush to flush otu whatever bad bacteria have taken over her gut. Then she MUST have good bacteria to replace it, and nutrition.

Two solutions recommended by MSU that I have used are the molasses and the epsom salt flush.

For molasses, it's 2 cups of molasses per 5 gallons of water. (That's 16 ounces of molasses per 5 gallons of water -> less than a 1/2 cup of molasses (0.4 cups) per one gallon of water. Since she can't drink, use the solution. This is also one heaping teaspoon per cup of water. Warm.

For epsom salt, 1 teaspoon of Epsom Salt in 1 fl oz water.

(reference: http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/solutions.html )

One of the ways you tell if it's botulism can be pulling at some feathers. If they come out easily and you're seeing these symptoms, it's botulism. It still could be. Clostridium is a VERY smelly bacteria and is very hard to treat, and not treatable like most bacteria because it's gram positive. If you smell it, it can sometimes run you out of the room. Does this sound right?

Note: flushing is VERY VERY stressful to their systems. But at her rate, it she might not get much better - and I really can't tell from here, and might not be able to tell from there honestly. But if you decide to flush, you just give that fluid in the crop. You'll use a long dropper. If you look in a chicken's mouth, you'll see the main big throat. Also you'll see a hole that opens and closes as the bird breaths. That's their air hole. You must get past that air hole with the dropper so that you empty the syringe or dropper into the actual crop and don't drown her. Unless you can get her to swallow the water (maybe with molasses, doubtful with epsoms).

She'll need probiotics (plain yogurt), and food after this. The treatment itself could kill her. But if you feel this is life or death and truly feel it's botulism and feel you have no other choice, at least there's this.

It's a tough call. I wish we could know if she got into something for sure.
 
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I just wanted to update on Eleanore the chicken, who it ended up, had botulisim.

Eleanore was burning with fever, completely paralyzed and limp. She was not able to move a muscle, the only thing that would move was her eye as she watched me care for her. Her legs were splayed out from underneath her, her neck was like a noodle, and she was unable to flap or move her wings.

I mixed egg yolk, vitamin E capsules, enzymaticly pre-digested fish protien, strong probiotics, trace minerals and a splash of gatorade. I would hold her beak open and feed it to her, hoping I was not killing her, and at the same time thinking I was being horridly cruel for not putting her out of her misery.

The first night, I closed the shed door fully expecting she would die in the night. I ran out in my pajamas in the morning to find that she was trying to move her neck. This was amazing because she could not move a muscle the night before. I continued with the feedings and water. By nightfall Saturday, she was fighting me slightly when I tried to feed her. By sunday morning I had to have someone help me feed her as she could flap her wings and argue with me. On Monday morning I opened the door to find her preening herself. By tuesday she was back in the main population and today she is a proud happy hen.

It was a miracle. I have never seen an animal so sick, return from the dead that way!

Thank you all for your help.

Darlene
 
Quote:
WOW I'm just absolutely amazed. Very good job! I'm so absolutely glad that she's better. Thank you so much for letting us know!!
 
If your having rain like we are here keep an eye out for mushrooms. I just had a rooster recover from eating mushrooms with symptoms very much like botulism.
 

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