- Aug 18, 2010
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So, I have been lurking here for a while. A bit of background. We had about 160 chickens then got two Silkies about a month old that we have had isolated in the coop in a large cage. Last week we got 5 young turkeys and 3 young game birds from the auction. We weren't really prepared for the addition of other young birds, but I just couldn't stop bidding on their cuteness! Needless to say, we retuned late at night and settled the new birds in with the Silkies with the intent of better accommodations the next day. We got out there and considered moving them, but they all seemed to be getting along well and there still seemed to be plenty of room. Its a very large cage.
Yesterday morning, I go out to tend to the critters. I always start with the babies and work my way up. So, baby turkeys ( one week old ) were first, then the mixed cage of Silkies , turkeys and game birds. The one Silkie was laying there, all lethargic and just letting the others run all over her. I got her out and she was ice cold. The temp outside had dropped about 15 degrees cooler than we were expecting and the low turned out to be about 54 degrees that night. I stuffed her quickly in my shirt and started working on warming her up. She was so cold and it became much more obvious with her tucked in my shirt and apron top. After about 15 minutes, she finally warmed up enough to shiver
She shivered off and on for about an hour and once the shivering finally stopped I thought we should just put her in a carrier with some bedding, food and water and give her some time to rest and recover and me some time to get some other things done. She slept most of the morning and afternoon and when she did wake , I would get her out, put her back in my shirt and she promptly went back to sleep. Later that day, I forced a bit of water with added baking soda on her. Not much, just enough to ensure she had plenty of electrolytes. This perked her up considerably and she started working on getting herself cleaned up. She is standing on her own today and is sleeping a bit more than I would expect a healthy chicken, but not much more. She is alert and bright eyed. However, she is not eating. I am not certain that she is drinking either. I have noticed she does this thing like she is 'chewing' but has no food in her mouth. Yesterday she had a bit of seepage out of her sinuses and I thought maybe she had a sinus infection going on. Thats stopped now. She also chirps and makes normal chick noises. I am wondering at what point that I should ( if at all) force food on her. Since I am not entirely sure whats going on with her, I dont want to make her worse for trying to help her get better. I was also thinking about bringing the other Silkie in with her?
Sorry this is so long. I am REALLY new to keeping chickens. The first birds I cared for ever were 120 baby chicks just this past April.
Yesterday morning, I go out to tend to the critters. I always start with the babies and work my way up. So, baby turkeys ( one week old ) were first, then the mixed cage of Silkies , turkeys and game birds. The one Silkie was laying there, all lethargic and just letting the others run all over her. I got her out and she was ice cold. The temp outside had dropped about 15 degrees cooler than we were expecting and the low turned out to be about 54 degrees that night. I stuffed her quickly in my shirt and started working on warming her up. She was so cold and it became much more obvious with her tucked in my shirt and apron top. After about 15 minutes, she finally warmed up enough to shiver
She shivered off and on for about an hour and once the shivering finally stopped I thought we should just put her in a carrier with some bedding, food and water and give her some time to rest and recover and me some time to get some other things done. She slept most of the morning and afternoon and when she did wake , I would get her out, put her back in my shirt and she promptly went back to sleep. Later that day, I forced a bit of water with added baking soda on her. Not much, just enough to ensure she had plenty of electrolytes. This perked her up considerably and she started working on getting herself cleaned up. She is standing on her own today and is sleeping a bit more than I would expect a healthy chicken, but not much more. She is alert and bright eyed. However, she is not eating. I am not certain that she is drinking either. I have noticed she does this thing like she is 'chewing' but has no food in her mouth. Yesterday she had a bit of seepage out of her sinuses and I thought maybe she had a sinus infection going on. Thats stopped now. She also chirps and makes normal chick noises. I am wondering at what point that I should ( if at all) force food on her. Since I am not entirely sure whats going on with her, I dont want to make her worse for trying to help her get better. I was also thinking about bringing the other Silkie in with her?Sorry this is so long. I am REALLY new to keeping chickens. The first birds I cared for ever were 120 baby chicks just this past April.
