Bloated silkie! Help!

[jillianmc04]

I noticed my silkie hen was acting lethargic and sitting alone So I brought her inside to observe. I put fresh straw in her cage an let's her rest. Then I started waking up with bites around my neck and arms. I started thinking maybe she had mites, so I gave her a warm garlic bath an checked her over more carefully. I noticed her chest seemed bloated, super soft, but very distended. I dried her well, got rid of the straw, gave her a Soft blanket and let her rest. I read that mites can come in on straw and since none of the other ladies seem to have any symptoms, I figured that could be the culprit. Anyone have any ideas on this bloat problem? Her eyes were also mattering. She's not eat ing or drinking either. Help!

 

[jillianmc04]

[B[/B]
While I continue to itch....I put a heating pad in with my girl and she seems a little more animated since her bath. After reading another post about bloat I decided to try massaging the bloated area. When I did this I could hear gurgling, she belched and I saw some fluid in her mouth. I kept massaging and the bloat went down some, but she wasn't very happy with me. I'm letting her rest for awhile and hopefully she will eat.

 

[realsis]

Is it her crop that's impacted? If she's not eating you will need to tube feed her the nutrition and fluids she needs. If the crop is impacted lots of water and massage hopefully will help it go down. I'm curious have you listened closely to her breathing? Do you hear a wheeze? I ask this because I'm trying to rule out the fluids origin. It could be from the lungs.check her breathing making sure you don't hear A wheeze also watch her tail if it's bobbing up and down while breathing she could be struggling to catch her breath. Let us know what you find after you checked that. As for mites I just got done battling those myself And I Got Bit In The process as well. Not fun. What worked for that for me was ivermectin. I mixed one part ivermectin to two parts water and painted on the back I followed with a second treatment 11 days later. It killed all the body mites but a few stayed on the crests. They are silkies. For that I carefully painted poultry dust on the crest with a small brush. It took a good three weeks but they are gone now. I dusted the house and cleaned out the shavings as well. Hope this helps and please answer the above questions about your girl it might help figure out what's going on.

 

[casportpony]

Mites and lice *love* Silkies, so if I were you I would dust her with poultry dust.

-Kathy

 

[jillianmc04]

It's very difficult to hear her breathe, but I did detect a small wheeze. What exactly is a Crop? It's her chest that is pooch. When I massage it she burps up a Little liquid. I did notice this morning that her vent had become impacted with hard poop, so she got a sitz bath this am. Then I tried to feel for any compaction with my little finger and there was none, so I put some Vaseline in and around the vent. It was very warm in there, so I am assuming she is running a fever. I also noticed that she's not opening her eyes this morning. That worries me, too. I have not found any mites on her, but I did find 2 in MY bath this morning. I checked my other girls yesterday and they all were fine.
Where can I buy the powders you are talking about? Would fleet farm carry them? Ann's how do I tube feed her? I have never done that before. Yuk, I have the creepy, crawls feeling all over me now.

 

[casportpony]

Pictures:

 

[casportpony]

Mite are very small and easy, sometime so small that I can only really see them with a magnifier. If you mean this Fleet Farm, they have the dust:
http://www.fleetfarm.com/search/?q=poultry+dust&searchSubmit.x=0&searchSubmit.y=0

About her crop... If it's not emptying, you need to figure out why. The best thing for you to do would be to take her to an avian vet, but I know that's not usually possible for most people, myself included.

-Kathy

 

[realsis]

Does her crop or the bloated Area go down in the morning? I'm not quite sure what to make of the bloating.but if your hearing a wheeze my fear is the fluids your talking about coming from the lungs. If your hearing a wheeze it's very possible she has a respiratory tract infection. I myself had a hen that had a respiratory illness and had fluids coming up as you described however she had no bloating. You can try going to your farm store and ask them for Tylan50 and syringes
A dose for a silkies would be 1/4 cc given into the breast muscle once daily for 5 days. Tylan50 is the antibiotic Tylosin and is geared for respiratory illness. If what she has is viral then the antibiotic won't kill the virus but it can prevent a deadly secondary infection. I'm afraid time might be of essence here with her. So I would treat soon. Also in this forum is a wonderful clear guide to tube feeding in the search look up tube feeding it will walk you through it.you can use a clean fish air hose tubing if you can't find a tube. The air hose works well. Sounds like she is in very serious condition and I am so very sorry to say she may or may not make it.with some supportive care she might be able to pull through.with my hen who had these symptoms she was a silkies as well.she had a slight wheeze and was bringing up the clear liquid as well when she got to the point of keeping her eyes closed I lost her soon after. In my girls case the virus had just gone too far. I really hope that's not the case with your girl. You can try the Tylan50 and see if it helps. Also you might consider tube feeding so she gets her fluid and nutrition and does not dehydrate. I really hope this helps and I wish you the very best. My prayers are with you for her. Im not sure about the bloating but if she has respitory involvement on top of that its possible the tylan may help. Its worth a try.God bless.

 

[jillianmc04]

I finally got my syringes , Exact mix, and made the pedialite. I was worried about doing the tube feed until my husband gets home so there's 2 of us. I did get a syringe full and hand fed her with it. It was like feeding a Baby solids for the first time! She got @ 25 cc' s in her though an.nd then drank some water from my finger. I think I'll try some straight socialite next and by that Tim my hubby will be home and We can do the tube feed. She hurled a couple of times toward th end of her feeding and I thought I was going to toss my cookies, it smelt so bad! She did get a little animated when I put her back in the crate, stood up straight and looked around. I even saw one eye open slightly. I felt her crop and it had seemed to go down some. Massaged it gently. She had pooped a bit while I was gone, too.
I wasn't able to find any of the antibiotics you mentioned. I put in a call to my sis who has a parrot to see if she might have some or know where I can get it. So far so good, I guess.
Also the 2 mites I found this morning were about deer tick size or a bit smaller. One was still brown and the other was plump and red with my blood. Red mites?

 

[jillianmc04]

Quick question...What are the chances of putting the tube down the esophagus an pouring the liquid into her lungs?
Also the "ivermectin"...is tha a Wormer? I keep reading about it being used for the de-bugging process.