1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Golden Comet, 7 weeks old, and I am not sure about the weight but she is pretty small still.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
not eating, drinking, extremely weak, laying to one side, not walking, tries to sit on hocks but slides to one side.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
found bird on friday in the run, thought she was dead, but when I picked her up she was still moving.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No other birds are exhibiting any of these symptoms they all look and act healthy, are eating well and behaving normally
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
there is no injuries that can be seen to this pullet, her legs are moving fine but she cannot stand on them, she can curl and uncurl toes and move legs and wings, she can move neck etc...
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
It has been really hot here lately and she was laying in the full sun instead of the shaded area when I found her, she looks to be the smallest bird in the flock, initial crop check revealed she hadn't been eating, but an hour prior to being found in that situation she had been walking around just fine, I had gone in to give them fresh cool water prior to dropping Dh in town.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
chicks have been on medicated chick starter from day one, no moldy food and feeders/waterers are cleaned out every single day. water refilled three times per day due tot he heat making the water warm.
I have administered Polyvisol drops to the pullet, she refuses to drink or eat, so I have been placing water/electrolytes in small dip bowl and dipping the tip of her beak into it until she begins to take small drinks, she is not drinking enough to do her any good. I mashed up a banana and made a liquidy mash of her medicated food and have been doing the same thing as with the water. She is also not eating enough to help her. I have also given her a small clear thawed freeze that has vitamin C added to it, but she again didn't drink enough of it. after a few sips or bites she closes her eyes and wants to rest.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
poop looks normal, she did not poop the first 24 hours, I thought she might have been suffering from a block, but she wasn't.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
brought her inside out of the hot temps, cool water/electrolytes, polyvisol, vitamin C mashed up liquidy food
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
there are no vets who treat chickens here so I have to care for her myself. I would like this pullet to survive. She is very weak and its really hampering her ability to eat anything thus making her weaker. my attempts at watering and feeding her are not very successful. I fear I may be prolonging the inevitable, and thus causing her more stress. But everytime I go make a decision she is awake giving me hope she will get better, but after the feeding and watering attempt she needs rest again and seems wiped out by the experience of being fed and watered. she chirps a bit right now when I pick her up and she does try to scoot away from me.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
there are no wounds, I think she might have been picked on, or got into an altercation, I did notice they were establishing their position in the flock lately, a part of me thinks its due to the high temps we have had lately, but if that was the case would she not be better already? or maybe she is still suffering from dehydration?
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
the chicks have an 8 foot by 8 foot by 7 foot high brooder coop, due to the summer heat the heat lamp was shut off a few weeks back, the birds are nicely feathered and have been going outside for a week and a half, they have their own covered run, grass for the ground, with no poisonous plants or weeds in it. prior to being let out the ground was reinspected for foreign material to be sure they wouldn't ingest anything harmful.
we use shavings for their bedding.
I do not know what else to do for her, I have been giving her water/electrolytes mashed up food every half hour since she cannot eat or drink on her own accord. I will say thought that when I first found her she was limp and her head would go limp. she is no longer limp which makes me think dehydration of course, but would that cause her not to be able to regain her walking ability? and she does not show much interest after a few sips/bites of food. I am going to be giving her more drops today because I haven't given her any today yet. I need help from people who have treated their sick birds in giving me pointers on how to make her eat, I have tried opening her beak and placing a little bit of food and water just on her tongue so she doesn't aspirate it but she peeps and gets annoyed and she does have a tiny bit of fight, but not a whole lot.
Golden Comet, 7 weeks old, and I am not sure about the weight but she is pretty small still.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
not eating, drinking, extremely weak, laying to one side, not walking, tries to sit on hocks but slides to one side.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
found bird on friday in the run, thought she was dead, but when I picked her up she was still moving.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No other birds are exhibiting any of these symptoms they all look and act healthy, are eating well and behaving normally
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
there is no injuries that can be seen to this pullet, her legs are moving fine but she cannot stand on them, she can curl and uncurl toes and move legs and wings, she can move neck etc...
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
It has been really hot here lately and she was laying in the full sun instead of the shaded area when I found her, she looks to be the smallest bird in the flock, initial crop check revealed she hadn't been eating, but an hour prior to being found in that situation she had been walking around just fine, I had gone in to give them fresh cool water prior to dropping Dh in town.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
chicks have been on medicated chick starter from day one, no moldy food and feeders/waterers are cleaned out every single day. water refilled three times per day due tot he heat making the water warm.
I have administered Polyvisol drops to the pullet, she refuses to drink or eat, so I have been placing water/electrolytes in small dip bowl and dipping the tip of her beak into it until she begins to take small drinks, she is not drinking enough to do her any good. I mashed up a banana and made a liquidy mash of her medicated food and have been doing the same thing as with the water. She is also not eating enough to help her. I have also given her a small clear thawed freeze that has vitamin C added to it, but she again didn't drink enough of it. after a few sips or bites she closes her eyes and wants to rest.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
poop looks normal, she did not poop the first 24 hours, I thought she might have been suffering from a block, but she wasn't.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
brought her inside out of the hot temps, cool water/electrolytes, polyvisol, vitamin C mashed up liquidy food
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
there are no vets who treat chickens here so I have to care for her myself. I would like this pullet to survive. She is very weak and its really hampering her ability to eat anything thus making her weaker. my attempts at watering and feeding her are not very successful. I fear I may be prolonging the inevitable, and thus causing her more stress. But everytime I go make a decision she is awake giving me hope she will get better, but after the feeding and watering attempt she needs rest again and seems wiped out by the experience of being fed and watered. she chirps a bit right now when I pick her up and she does try to scoot away from me.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
there are no wounds, I think she might have been picked on, or got into an altercation, I did notice they were establishing their position in the flock lately, a part of me thinks its due to the high temps we have had lately, but if that was the case would she not be better already? or maybe she is still suffering from dehydration?
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
the chicks have an 8 foot by 8 foot by 7 foot high brooder coop, due to the summer heat the heat lamp was shut off a few weeks back, the birds are nicely feathered and have been going outside for a week and a half, they have their own covered run, grass for the ground, with no poisonous plants or weeds in it. prior to being let out the ground was reinspected for foreign material to be sure they wouldn't ingest anything harmful.
we use shavings for their bedding.
I do not know what else to do for her, I have been giving her water/electrolytes mashed up food every half hour since she cannot eat or drink on her own accord. I will say thought that when I first found her she was limp and her head would go limp. she is no longer limp which makes me think dehydration of course, but would that cause her not to be able to regain her walking ability? and she does not show much interest after a few sips/bites of food. I am going to be giving her more drops today because I haven't given her any today yet. I need help from people who have treated their sick birds in giving me pointers on how to make her eat, I have tried opening her beak and placing a little bit of food and water just on her tongue so she doesn't aspirate it but she peeps and gets annoyed and she does have a tiny bit of fight, but not a whole lot.
Last edited:
