Bantam Silkie Eggbound?

[RaintoRoots]

Hi all, I got my first flock of silkies about 5 months ago and no eggs yet. Yesterday I noticed my most advanced hen (fastest in development and most active) acting sick and today shes gotten worse. She has an arched and drooping neck, and is walking akwardly, unable to jump very high. I noticed a small amount of mold in their feed, but removed it when I saw it days ago and don't think its that since they free range all day. My second thought is she is eggbound, but she just passed a small amount of poop so now I'm totally confused. Her vent is clean. I gave her a warm epsom salt bath (only for 5 min so might not be long enough), I separated her from the rest of them, gave her probiotics in her water, and fresh feed with crushed egg shells. Any help is appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

Was she vaccinated for Mareks disease? She sounds like she may be showing some neurological signs with wry neck or torticolis. It is possible that the mold in the feed is affecting her. I would try to get her drinking some water with electrolytes, and offer some wet chicken feed, chopped egg or liver. Vitamin E and thiamine (B1) are usually recommended for treatment of wry neck, and you can get some Poultry Cell or NutriDrench which has electrolytes and those vitamins, and give her 1 ml daily. Or you can get those vitamins or use food rich in them.

Wry neck is a neurological symptom, and can be seen in head injuries, vitamin deficiencies, and also in diseases such as Mareks, and other serious ones. She may need to be fed several times a day if her neck is not working well or if her appetite is not good. Keep her warm as well.

 

[RaintoRoots]

Thank you for the quick response! I did research on Youtube and ruled out Mareks because she doesn't have the same symptoms (neither toe clutching or paralysis). She also doesn't have wry neck either, although her neck is arched and her body is limp and weak. She was 100% healthy just a couple days ago and it seems her condition is getting worse fairly rapidly over the last day. She is laying in her crate with her head on the ground and I don't think she is going to make it through the day if I don't figure this out ASAP. The rest of the flock (my other 12 chickens) are all acting totally normal.

 

[RaintoRoots]

Just put a heat lamp over her crate. She isn't eating or drinking and her head is hanging so low it's resting on the ground.

Any reccomendations for an eggbound bantam chicken? She is 5 months old and I think she is dieing from not being able to lay her first egg!

 

[Chicks 'n ducks]

I've had 2 chickens die the same exact way. They died with 12 hours. I don't think she's egg bound. I'm so sorry your going through this.

 

[RaintoRoots]

I've had 2 chickens die the same exact way. They died with 12 hours. I don't think she's egg bound. I'm so sorry your going through this.

Thanks for the sweet response, I'm so sorry you lost yours the same way. I can't help but wonder what could have caused otherwise very healthy chickens to go through this.

 

[Chicks 'n ducks]

I've been puzzling over it for a while, It just doesn't make sense. I suspect some weird strain of Marek's, maybe.