Don't know what to do for my poor olive Egger. she was doing great and out of no where today she's puffed up and doesn't want to walk around. Usually seems very strong but today she's really lethargic. Gave her water with electrolytes, some yogurt and apple cider vinegar. Any other advice?
A week or so ago I had the same problem-With one of my young Silkie Chicks. I found her all puffed up and hidden . It was hard to get her at first because she was wedged away tightly and refused to walk eat or drink by herself. As soon as I noticed this strange behaviour I took her inside and placed her in a cosy room temperature crate/box/mesh thing (Not sure what you call them ) with no lid so that she could see me and was less stressed and I had easy access to her. I had read that sugar water and rolled oats does the trick than yoghurt and a little bit of apple cidar vinager when they seem perked up. It worked for me. She recovered in one day from being lethargic after I continued to force feed her sugar water ever 5 or 10 minutes. After a good few hours of rest and sugar water she was perking up a bit so I decided to give her some crushed up rolled oats and sure enough she was weakly pecking at it. The following day she was out with her buddys running around as usual. My advice would to just force feed her sugar water (dissolved sugar in warm water) every 5 to 10 minutes and offer her a nice comfy room temperature place to sleep . Remember the main problem with Lethargic chicks is dehydration so you need to keep the fluids up. Once she seems perked up enough offer her some food. Yoghurt is a good choice as well. But remember not every chick makes it. I think mine made it through because the whole flock receives apple cidar vinegar in their water on a day to day basis and the chicks receive a little piece of garlic each month until they transfer to adults-So in general the flock have strong immune systems. Best of luck! -Mustang
At 5 weeks of age, coccidiosis can be a problem. Dehydration and overheating should be ruled out first. Symptoms of coccidiosis are lethargy, puffing up or hunching, not eating, runny poops with mucus or blood, and ruffled feathers. Corid or amprollium is the treatment, available at feed stores. Dosage is 1 1/2 tsp of the powder, or 2 tsp of the liquid Corid per gallon of water, for 5 days.