4th day not eating drinking. Pullet. 21weeks. Silkie. HELP!

[Greebo]

Please read, this is about our dearest, tamest, most loved pet chook!
Please help us save our Little. She is not eating or drinking, barely moving around, overall appearance of being disinterested in life. One of her sisters from same hatch date began laying 3 days ago so she may be on the brink herself, or may not because she was a failure-to-thrive so may have delayed development of adolescence. I have tried separating her to feed. When I cupped food to her mouth she pecked some down then gave up and shut her eyes. I bought mealworms because we all know how chooks react to them, she gently pecked 2-3 of them down, then just watched the others wiggling away. Again I held some up to her, she ate a few from my hands then just shut her eyes and became a statue. She normally gobbles them voraciously like every other chook ever known. The last 3 nights she had nothing in her crop when going to roost. I had her inside under heat overnight last night and she hasn't touched the food/water.
Have posted yesterday about this with all details for every question I could think people would ask, but don't think people wanted to read it all through. Will just answer questions as they come instead.
Please help us, we love her dearly!
No poultry vets around us to assist.

 

[nightowl223]

First, and most important, is to get fluids in her, preferably with electrolytes and vitamins in it. I use a Durvet powder that comes in a bottle, which is just measured out for the amount of water it is to go in, and mixed into the water. If you don't have any of that on hand, just add some honey or even just sugar into some water, and use a dropper to drip it onto her beak where it slowly drips over her top beak and into her mouth. Just keep at it until you've gotten at least 60 cc into her. Without water, she will die before any other treatment can even be started. I'll continue my advice in a next comment, in case you're sitting there waiting for questions, answers, etc. Go. Water. Now.

 

[nightowl223]

Now, is her comb the same color it has been, or is it pale, or is it blueish, or is it shriveled? It's actually probably shriveled, since she's likely severely dehydrated. But any previous color changes would be important to know.

Is her abdomen hard? Feel around gently. Is there a hard lump near her cloaca? (That's the business end of the egg-laying machine that is a chicken... it's where both the egg and the poop come out, though they both start from a different "tube," so to speak. If there is a hard egg-shaped bump really close to the opening, then the next step is a warm bath, because it's a sign of being egg-bound. It's possible a first egg is not wanting to cooperate with her system. Also, if she had been standing extra straight upright, more like a penguin than a chicken, that would be another sure sign of being egg-bound. If the only hardish thing you feel is up nearer her ribs, then that will be the gizzard, and nothing to worry about.

Is there any detritus or goop around her cloaca? (Also known as vent, BTW) If so, what color? What color was her last poop? (Please, please, don't tell me bright green... )

Are there any signs of sniffles, runny nose, goopy eyes, wheezing, etc.?

Next, do you have a children's rectal thermometer? You need to gently take her temperature. A chicken's normal body temperature is higher than ours, at 104 to 107 (some sources say up to 109, but I have seen more state 107 for the top of the range), but a rectal thermometer will be able to tell you what she's at. There could be an infection going on that makes her feel too bad to eat. Gently take her temperature... as gently as you would a baby, because there are very delicate structures inside the cloaca.

The answers to these questions can get us well on the way to figuring out what's wrong with your little sweetie.

 

[Greebo]

Hi, thank you for responding! I only just got the comment when I refreshed the page, I hadn't gotten a notification, sorry! Just ran out and got her (had put her in yard outside). I don't have an eye dropper etc to drop water on her beak, only a small 3.5ml syringe, or one that is 1ml only as well. Would this work? Should I squirt it in her mouth? I have Avi-Vital vitamin and probiotic and Avi-lyte (electrolyte). Should I combine all or only put one in, if so which one? Haven't read 2nd msg yet, still doing the 'go water now' part

 

[Greebo]

Now, is her comb the same color it has been, or is it pale, or is it blueish, or is it shriveled? It's actually probably shriveled, since she's likely severely dehydrated. But any previous color changes would be important to know.


Her comb was always yellow as a chick. She is 100% silkie as there were only silkies on the farm she came from, no other chickens for 10's of kilometres, but she was always 'different'. She didn't develop a proper comb, it's pretty much flat to her head, and that and the skin around her eyes and her wattles were always yellow. Her sisters were all the usual black/mulberry combo and all developed normal rose combs. About 2 weeks ago her face, comb and wattle turned red/pink. 2 days ago she began to hen crouch when I passed. Today her wattles look a little more purpl-ish at the base, but I've not looked close enough previously to know when that might have changed.

 

[Greebo]

Sorry, think I did the reply wrong. You have to click the one above to expand and see my answer.

For the next Q about abdomen. I can't feel anything hard. She was standing more in a squat than upright. Or sitting.
No mess around her cloaca/vent. Don't know last poo as been outside. Overnight poos were small, only 2 instead of the usual big pile they each drop. Both were brown and white but looked very soft if not runny. Yesterday she had a poo that had some yellow fluid but none I've seen had green.

 

[Greebo]

No signs of sniffles, snot or goopy eyes. No wheezing.
Going to get pet thermometer now.

 

[nightowl223]

Hi, thank you for responding! I only just got the comment when I refreshed the page, I hadn't gotten a notification, sorry! Just ran out and got her (had put her in yard outside). I don't have an eye dropper etc to drop water on her beak, only a small 3.5ml syringe, or one that is 1ml only as well. Would this work? Should I squirt it in her mouth? I have Avi-Vital vitamin and probiotic and Avi-lyte (electrolyte). Should I combine all or only put one in, if so which one? Haven't read 2nd msg yet, still doing the 'go water now' part

The syringe would be fine. You don't want to squirt it into her mouth if you can avoid it, because she could end up breathing it, and then things would get even worse.

Sorry about the delay in answering, as I got distracted with checking on one of my own critters (I have two crippled chooks that are mostly house chickens... they can't be out unsupervised, unfortunately).

 

[nightowl223]

Sorry, think I did the reply wrong. You have to click the one above to expand and see my answer.

For the next Q about abdomen. I can't feel anything hard. She was standing more in a squat than upright. Or sitting.
No mess around her cloaca/vent. Don't know last poo as been outside. Overnight poos were small, only 2 instead of the usual big pile they each drop. Both were brown and white but looked very soft if not runny. Yesterday she had a poo that had some yellow fluid but none I've seen had green.

Okay, so far so good. The yellow *might* be a concern of a broken egg, but as she hasn't laid yet, we'll hold off on that worry for now. Everything else I've read sounds like it's as it shoud be except for the purplish area of the comb. That could have been a temporary thing, though, so let's not concern ourselves with it too much.

 

[nightowl223]

Hi, thank you for responding! I only just got the comment when I refreshed the page, I hadn't gotten a notification, sorry! Just ran out and got her (had put her in yard outside). I don't have an eye dropper etc to drop water on her beak, only a small 3.5ml syringe, or one that is 1ml only as well. Would this work? Should I squirt it in her mouth? I have Avi-Vital vitamin and probiotic and Avi-lyte (electrolyte). Should I combine all or only put one in, if so which one? Haven't read 2nd msg yet, still doing the 'go water now' part

Crud, I forgot to answer the other half of this - yes, having the vitamins, probiotics, and electrolytes all together will be perfect, actually!