7 wk chick staggering and falling-what to do?.

[True Grit]

UPDATE Her crop is empty now, I think and now she really can't balance herself very well and lies down. I will bring her inside but I wish there was a magic answer. She is quieter than normal and didn't protest as much as she should have when I picked her up to look at her ears. She only scratches the right one and then kind of falls to that side. I have seen her eat and drink a little. She is on medicated feed, is vaccinated for Mareks and has always had vitamins in her water. The other 4 chicks are fine, so far. She had watermelon, her crumbles and a little oatmeal scratch today. I'm really worried about her. Do the symptoms ring a bell with anyone? Those are the only things I have noticed and I first noticed them today. I will be very grateful for any suggestions.

 

[True Grit]

I brought Zippy into the house as, even though she made it up into coop, who knows how, she couldn't get on the roost and would just flap her wings while staying on her belly. I doubled the vitamins in her water and that is all I know to do. She ate a little bit. Will see what the morning brings.

 

[True Grit]

Zippy went to the vet today and he didn't know what wrong either but she was underweight and did not have worms. He gave her a supplemental feeding and an antibiotic shot and I will give her 2cc of antibiotic orally am and pm for a few days. Can someone please tell me the best thing to feed her now? If I mix her crumbles and some mealworms in yogurt do you think that would be ok or would canned dog food be better?

 

[True Grit]

I don't want to jinx her but Zippy seems noticeably improved tonight. She still falls over but seems a little more upright and moving around the brooder/kennel more and is stronger and fights me harder when I give her the oral antibiotic. I first observed her scratching her right ear and falling over on Tuesday night. On Wed she went t to the vet. So it is 5 days that she has been ill. She won't eat anything but her crumbles. I'm hoping it is an ear infection and the antibiotic is doing it's work. If she continues on this path I will out of meds by Monday and will call the vet to see if I should continue giving her the medicine. I'm cautiously hopeful now.

UPDATE: Zippy is really a lot better. We upped her dose to .25ml twice per day and it has been about 11-12 days since I first noticed that something was wrong. She is much stronger but not flying out of the brooder yet so she is still separated. The last two times I have given her the antibiotic she has closed her eyes after a short headshaking struggle and just accepted it. It is so pathetic and sweet of her. Then she gets some watermelon. She had lost her appetite for a couple of days but is back to eating now. She is a little unsteady on her feet but is working around her disability by standing against the wall to preen and she can walk and stand upright pretty well. I'm so happy for her!