3 Month old Ameraucana holding one eye closed and dozing off!!

[dthomascg]

Good Morning All,

We let our three 3-month olds out into the yard yesterday for a few hours as we do almost everyday (supervised). They all took part in their usual routine of jumping and flapping about for a few minutes and then went to scratching and picking, but I noticed our Ameraucana, although following the Leghorn and the Maran, wasn't doing much other than keeping up, and she had her right eye closed. At first I thought perhaps she had ended up in a tussle with the Leghorn, as he has been acting awfully rooish lately bowing up to the other two and giving a jump with a few kicks of his legs, but there seems to be no physical damage to her eye. The thing I found very weird, is that once I had her picked up and layed her back against my chest, rather than chuckle and look around curiously as usual, she seemed to go to sleep, closed both eyes and layed her head back against my chest. Then today we let them out, and it seems to have gotten a bit worse. She did partake in the initial flapping and jumping routine, but now she seems to be hanging out by herself, both eyes closed, head down, as if she is dozing off. She looks up every couple of minutes and catches up with the other two, and then hangs her head and closes her eyes. I know thats not THAT much to go on, but are these symptoms characteristic of anything?

They are currently in a 4x4 plywood box in the garage until their coop is done (i know i know), eating the purina medicated food they have been on since they came home, with meal worms for treats and whatever else they may come across as they roam around in the yard. They had probiotics added to their water for the first two months, but have been on straight water for the past month. The Leghorn and the Ameraucana in question are right at 3 months old, and the Maran is about 12 days behind. They have been off the heat lamp for about 3 weeks. Currently on corn cob bedding that gets scooped or changed as needed.

Thats about all the info I can think to give. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks!

Dan

 

[dthomascg]

really? no thoughts or guesses? she doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but definitely not any better. she is extremely lethargic. please throw me a bone if you have any thoughts or ideas. thanks.

Dan

 

[ten chicks]

really? no thoughts or guesses? she doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but definitely not any better. she is extremely lethargic. please throw me a bone if you have any thoughts or ideas. thanks.

Dan

The starter feed,is that for chicks? At 3 months they can be on grower feed(think teenagers). Do they have access to grit? Check her for impacted/sour crop. How is her poop? I would bring her inside your home to keep an eye on her. Is she eating/drinking? The way she is acting is not normal,something is wrong. Check her vent area,no discharge red looking,check for mites/lice(base of tail feather,under wings,vent area). No discharge from eyes/nostrils? Look up information for Coccidiosis,some symptoms are runny/watery poop(may or may not contain blood),fluffed feathers,lethargic,general look of not well.

 

[dthomascg]

I gave them a dose of Wazine for 24 hours on friday, after not getting a response on here, it made sense to me that if worms were eating all her food, she would be naturally be quite tired, so I decided to give it a shot. None of them have pooped out a big mess of worms like I thought they might, but I dont know if that is what is supposed to happen. Maybe I wasted my time and money with that one.

Thanks for the heads up on the grower feed. The stuff I am feeding is called "Start and Grow" by Purina, and I was told by the feed store to feed that to them until they start laying, and then switch to Layena, does that sound off? They do not have access to grit, as they dont have access to whole grains or "scratch", just their feed, some meal worms, and the grass and leaves they pick up along the way, but if you think they need it grit for that I can change that today. Her poop seems fine, all three of them tend to have softer, runnier poop when they are outside in the yard, and then regular firmer poops inside, which from what I have read is actually normal, since their poop tends to be runnier when they are hot. No blood, no worms, nothing abnormal about the poop. She is eating and drinking. No mites anywhere. Her vent is squeeky clean. No discharge from her eyes or nostrils. sometimes her fluffy ameraucana face feathers (sorry, rookie cant remember what they are called) get in the corner of her eye, but as soon as its wiped away, everything goes back to normal. I checked her crop the best I could, not sure if I pinpointed it perfectly but her entire chest area feels exactly like that of the other two, and she doesn't have sour breath.

She seems to be doing better today, but still not quite right. At no point so far has she in any way "looked not well", just really lethargic. She does seem to be grooming herself a lot today, and there were a few of her feathers in her pen this morning, but the grooming may be a result of me combing her over all morning looking for mites/lice. I am just really really confused at this point. Maybe these pictures will help?


Sleepy for no reason


Is this normal for the underside of wing feathers?


Her latest poop, typical of their outside poops




All three of them took a poop within seconds of each other, and this is what three poops from three different birds looked like. Again, typical of what I see when they poop outside.


The only bare area I can find on her body, in her armpit area, looks healthy and clean, and the other side is identical


The usual coloration in her face, no eye or nose discharge, just sleepy (this is her laying on her back on my legs).


Kinda dandruffy looking area on her underside, is this normal? Again, no mites/lice to be found.

I tried to take a picture of her vent but I couldnt keep her feathers spread long enough to get a shot, but as I said before, it is clean as a whistle, normal coloration, no discharge or abnormalities of any kind.

Soooooo, any other thoughts? Is it bad to treat for cocci if I am not 100 percent (or even 50 percent) sure that thats what she has? OK to treat for cocci right after giving wazine? Should I give an antibiotic in hopes that it will take care of whatever is bugging her? I really don't to throw a bunch of meds at her, but I don't want to lose her just because I cant properly diagnose her. Thanks for your response Ten!

Dan

 

[SWFLChickens]

Hi! Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your chicken? I have one doing the exact same thing and she is also 3 months old!
If you could help in anyway please let me know!!!!
Thanks