Blizzy is Dizzy? (Started out 'dizzy', can't walk, won't eat)

[cowcreekgeek]

Thank you so much for all the information!!
I have been feeding her the raw eggs because she just won't eat anything else. I figured the yolk would at least have something in it to keep her going. I also know that the Epsom salt works as a laxative. I was considering another dose, however, because while I was researching the dosage, I came across someone that used it to treat a magnesium deficiency in a hen that had somewhat similar symptoms to Blizzy's.
I will be sure to try ACV with her and the rest of the flock as well--I was not aware that it would help in this case! Their waterers are rubber/plastic buckets. I'm assuming that's okay. Does it matter if the ACV is the store-bought kind, not the kind with the 'mother' in it? I don't have any with the 'mother' on hand right now, but I do have the other kind.
I am not tube feeding, sorry if I confused you with the wording in my posts. I have been administering 5-10 ml of vitamin/electrolyte water about every hour by just dropping it on her beak and letting her suck it up from there. I didn't know how much water she would need, so I was just giving her what she would take before dozing off (which she tends to do at about 6-7 mL). I will try to start giving her some water in the night, too, if that's what it takes to get her through this.
I have been washing my hands after every time I come into contact with her, no matter how brief. While I don't think at this point that it's contagious, I will not be taking that risk with my flock.
Thank you again for your post--I at least know some more things I can do to keep her going!
As for how she's doing this morning, I was surprised to find her pretty perky and looking around when I uncovered her crate. (I think she has been having bad mornings due to the fact that yesterday, her head had been hanging most of the night, and the day before that, her head had been stuck in the bars of the crate most of the night. Today, she was not able to let her head hang, and so it appears she is doing better than she has in mornings past.)
She is trying to use her legs again! The dog crate is small, but it wasn't quite small enough for her to reach the floor in her sling, so I will be trying to give her something to stand on today and see if she can get some strength back in her legs (hopefully without pushing herself out of her sling).
She ate more of her egg this morning than she did yesterday. I managed to get about 15 mL of her vitamin/electrolyte water in her before she dozed off, too. I will give her more when I next sit down with her.

Sometimes, in our efforts to help, we do so much that it tends to hinder improvement ... if she's tryin' to use her legs, I'd take her out of the sling. And, if she's incapable of walking? She ain't able to fly -- may not be much need for the crate, but you could place screen or hardware cloth of even fabric stretched across the inside of the bars, to prevent any further mishaps. Sounds mean, but I sorta push sick birds and animals around a bit, to force 'em to counter the imbalance, which makes 'em use their muscles a bit more ... sometimes, that's what encourages 'em to fight back a bit more.

As for the ACV? I'm not sayin' the 'mother' isn't beneficial, but it's the tannin that's in all 5% solutions of apple cider vinegar that you're after here -- the one that you have on hand, or the cheapest one you can find, is all you need ... you could scramble the eggs a bit, and stir your electrolytes into it. Add a bit of wheat germ if you've got it, and a bit of yogurt wouldn't hurt .. stir in some chick starter -- whatever you can get her to eat more of ~'-)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay, I will be mixing up some ACV water for her for her next watering, then. The sling at this point is more to keep her from rolling around in her droppings, 'cause that was unpleasant. But I do agree, perhaps she should not be so restricted so that she can rebuild her strength. (The crate is more to protect her than to keep her from wandering off. We've got cats that are pretty generous with their claws. )

I spent about an hour trying to get Blizzy to eat a raw egg and crumble concoction (the crumbles being Purina's Flock Raiser), but at long last she deemed it worthy and ate quite a bit! That made her a full-up and sleepy girl! Mom bought plain yogurt thinking it would help, so I'll mix some of that in the next time.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Okay, I will be mixing up some ACV water for her for her next watering, then.

The sling at this point is more to keep her from rolling around in her droppings, 'cause that was unpleasant. But I do agree, perhaps she should not be so restricted so that she can rebuild her strength. (The crate is more to protect her than to keep her from wandering off. We've got cats that are pretty generous with their claws.

)
I spent about an hour trying to get Blizzy to eat a raw egg and crumble concoction (the crumbles being Purina's Flock Raiser), but at long last she deemed it worthy and ate quite a bit! That made her a full-up and sleepy girl! Mom bought plain yogurt thinking it would help, so I'll mix some of that in the next time.

Sounds like you're on the right track, and -- remember that those cats can reach quite a long ways into that crate.

As for the droppings? They offend us far more than they do the chicken, and they'll soak right off one she's all better. And, just in case you haven't found this out yet? There's one every 8~10th time that is cecal, which really is worse than all those others put together; sick chickens can apparently time those perfectly, so as to be certain they land somewhere on me, but I've no definitive proof of this theory ~'-)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oh, yes. I have heard of the offensive dropping known as the cecal poop. My girls either save them until they're on my lap or make sure that they step through them before hopping up onto me.


Anyway, Blizzy had a supper of one raw egg, a handful of Flock Raiser, two heaping spoons of plain yogurt, and about 10 mL of vitamin/electrolyte water all mixed together. She ate this mixture like a starved hen should, washing it down with as much ACV water as I could make her drink.

It was the ACV water, not the strange brownish goo mix, that put her off. Man, was that bird ever determined not to drink that water! I did not pay as much attention as I should have to how much I got in her, but it had to be at least 25 mL. Better than nothing, I say!

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Oh, yes. I have heard of the offensive dropping known as the cecal poop. My girls either save them until they're on my lap or make sure that they step through them before hopping up onto me.

Anyway, Blizzy had a supper of one raw egg, a handful of Flock Raiser, two heaping spoons of plain yogurt, and about 10 mL of vitamin/electrolyte water all mixed together. She ate this mixture like a starved hen should, washing it down with as much ACV water as I could make her drink.
It was the ACV water, not the strange brownish goo mix, that put her off. Man, was that bird ever determined not to drink that water! I did not pay as much attention as I should have to how much I got in her, but it had to be at least 25 mL. Better than nothing, I say!

Yeah, the concentration mighta been a bit high for her taste ... most any bird loves it at about three teaspoons to the gallon, and the suggested four teaspoons to the gallon isn't a problem for most, but beyond that? Many will can turn their beaks up at it ... try using 1/2 teaspoon in a pint of water, keeping in mind that she's gonna drink less water when her food contains quite a bit of it.

As for being surprised that she liked that brown goo? They eat worms, and bugs ... peck at poo ...

It's

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

As for being surprised that she liked that brown goo? They eat worms, and bugs ... peck at poo ...

Point taken.

I slept through the night instead of waking up like I wanted to, so Blizzy didn't get a feeding last night. Oops.

This morning, though, Blizzy happily ate her strange brownish goo until she was so full, she was practically asleep as I was giving her her ACV water. I halved the strength of it, like you said, which did not motivate her to drink it herself, but she drank it as I dropped it on her beak.

She will grab my finger with her toes if I push up on her leg, but she still isn't putting any weight on her legs. It's getting harder not to be optimistic..!

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Point taken.
I slept through the night instead of waking up like I wanted to, so Blizzy didn't get a feeding last night. Oops.
This morning, though, Blizzy happily ate her strange brownish goo until she was so full, she was practically asleep as I was giving her her ACV water. I halved the strength of it, like you said, which did not motivate her to drink it herself, but she drank it as I dropped it on her beak.
She will grab my finger with her toes if I push up on her leg, but she still isn't putting any weight on her legs. It's getting harder not to be optimistic..!

Hopefully, she'll continue to improve ... are there any new symptoms, so as to determine her overall health? Check her dropping for signs of internal parasites, and check for deposits at the base of her feathers or any other indications of external ones as well. For certain, even sick birds can tolerate amprolium (in case of coccidia) and fenbendazole (in case of roundworms), if you think either might be a problem for her.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

The only noteworthy observation I have made is that her left leg seems to be more sensitive than her right leg. When I was trying to see if she would hold any weight, whenever I tried her left leg, she would kind of wince and make a strong attempt at balancing herself with her beak like she had been doing before. She doesn't have any signs of injury in that leg and everything feels the same as her right leg.

Her droppings are still loose, but getting some substance to them the more she eats of the strange brownish goo. No signs of internal parasites in her droppings. I haven't seen signs in any of the birds since the previously mentioned worming we did in the spring this year.

I have not given her a very thorough look for external parasites, but I periodically give some of the birds in the flock a check over for signs of lice and mites. No signs at my last check. I'll give Blizzy a look-over the next chance I get.


She pigged out on her lunch at noon and I once again had to convince her to drink the ACV water. She sure can be stubborn when she wants to be!

I just wanted to check in real quick, and now I'll be off to give her her supper.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

The only noteworthy observation I have made is that her left leg seems to be more sensitive than her right leg. When I was trying to see if she would hold any weight, whenever I tried her left leg, she would kind of wince and make a strong attempt at balancing herself with her beak like she had been doing before. She doesn't have any signs of injury in that leg and everything feels the same as her right leg.
Her droppings are still loose, but getting some substance to them the more she eats of the strange brownish goo. No signs of internal parasites in her droppings. I haven't seen signs in any of the birds since the previously mentioned worming we did in the spring this year.
I have not given her a very thorough look for external parasites, but I periodically give some of the birds in the flock a check over for signs of lice and mites. No signs at my last check. I'll give Blizzy a look-over the next chance I get.
She pigged out on her lunch at noon and I once again had to convince her to drink the ACV water.

She sure can be stubborn when she wants to be!
I just wanted to check in real quick, and now I'll be off to give her her supper.

Sounds like you're doin' about all any flockmaster could ... if chickens could talk? It'd sure make it easier to know what's wrong, but then they'd be a whole lot less fun to have around ~'-)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Nevermind the leg stuff. Blizzy does the same thing with her right leg. It appears to depend upon which leg I mess with first.

She has no external parasites as far as I can tell. She did not want to eat this evening, likely because my sister had me caught up in something until 8 pm and she had settled in for the night by then. She slept through the entire meal and I could only get into her roughly half as much as usual. I guess we'll see how that works out.



That's for sure about the talking thing! Just imagine the egg song if they could talk!