Chick acts "drunk" can't figure out what's wrong??

[Megan Amber]

I am sorry to hear about both of you guy's chicks. Sorry We couldn't find an answer for you!

 

[erin175]

Duuuuuuh baby gate!! How did that not occur to me?!

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm a huge animal lover and struggle to separate "livestock" from "pets".

 

[jbs]

I hope the baby gate works for you Erin, ha, ha. I've been thinking about your styrofoam and wonder if your sick chick could have filled up on that instead of feed and that resulted in starve out and some sort of vitsmin deficiency? I'm actually wondering about that with my chick too. I had recently given my chicks sand and they went nutso over it, so I'd only leave it in the brooder for short amounts of time at first. They seemed to all be eating feed, so i left the sand box in, but maybe my chick filled up on it. I read that grit too young can cause starve out and not eating is one of the main reasons for vitamin deficiency.

I haven't put my chick down yet. When I checked on her this afternoon to make my final decison, she was eating. She barely eats but is always eating when I'm trying to decide if I should cull her or not. I guess I'll see where we're at tomorrow.

I'm sending you happy thoughts Erin. I had to put down my first chick a few weeks ago and know how hard it is. I'm hanging onto some hope that my chick has a vitamin E deficiency? I've been giving poly vi sol but also nutritional yeast for B vitamins and wheat germ, which I thought was high in vitamin E, but it's apparently just wheat germ oil, not wheat germ that's high in vitamin E. So I'll try some vitamin E with this chick (if she's still alive) and see how that goes.

Good luck to everyone with sick chicks.

 

[chicklvrbruce]

erin, can you explain baby gate? does that concern the"drunken chick"

 

[murfmagic]

After reading all your posts it's sad there's no definite answer to drunk chicken. My girl is has never lost her appetite and she drinks fine. One minute I'm thinking I should put her down and then when I go see her, she seams to be holding her own except for stumbling every now and then, so I think I should give her some more time to see if she improves. I think my chicken is any where from 6 months to a year old. I got her off Kijiji along with 4 other birds and they are all doing fine, If she got injured or had a stroke, does anyone know if they can recover fully.

 

[erin175]

Use a baby gate instead of the big piece of styrofoam Doesn't apply to the chicken itself, I'm just a little dumb for not thinking to use that instead.

 

[jbs]

Murfmagic, I feel your pain about not knowing whether or not to put your chicken down. Was your bird vaccinated for Mareks? At her age it's something to consider, but I hope that's not it.

I'm going to concentrate on vitamin deficiency, as it's treatable and the symptoms are reversible if caught early enough. Vitamin B deficiency can be caused by feeding medicated feed, which blocks the absorption of the vitamin. I don't use medicated feed, but something to consider for anyone who does.

There's a long thread on BYC about vitamin E deficiency and "crazy chicken disease", which does not describe my chick's behavior at all, but I read in the Merck Veterinary Manual that vitamin E deficiency can manifest itself in 3 forms: encephalomalacia, exudative diathesis, and muscular dystrophy. This is all a bit over my head, but I read that a hen might not show any signs of vitamin E deficiency but her chicks may be found stumbling around the brooder around 2-4 weeks of age. Merck says that a single dose of 300 IU of vitamin E is enough to put most birds into remission. That's for an adult I'm assuming, but a ML of Poly-Vi-Sol only contains 50 IU of vitamin E. I'm giving my chick a few drops twice a day, so not nearly enough.

If not treated in time, the muscular and neurological issues associated with vitamin E deficiency are irreversible. Merck recommends vitamin E be given with selenium, which will help the absorption. So I'm going to try a mega dose of vitamin E (maybe 50 IU?) and see if that has any effect on my chick. She's eating more, has some weight to her, but her muscles aren't doing what she wants them to do and I wonder if whatever is wrong with her is permanent.

 

[murfmagic]

Hi, jbs...I hope all goes well with your chick. I myself will try vit.e for my girl. She is not showing the typical symptoms of Merek's and today she is walking around a little better, so this gives me hope she might be on the mend. I have decided not to put her down as she doesn't seam to be in pain and she is not completely listless. Her poo is green and white and she actually has a stool, it was runny before but now seams okay. I am still keeping an eye on it. Like I said she eats and drinks no problem, I even gave her oatmeal and she pecked until she had enough. I've got my finger's crossed because now that she has lasted this long I would hate to put her down.

 

[chickenmoma]

I have a 3 mos old chick with similar symptoms. Where can I get Vitamin E and selenium?

 

[jbs]

Hi, I am new to raising chickens and must admit I didn't think much about disease or injury. Now I have a barred rock that is showing the same signs as your chicken for two weeks now. She is falling over when she walks and would rather just sit and be quite. She is eating and drinking and even showing signs of enjoying her treats such as scrambled eggs, yogurt, rice and whatever else I feed her. I will be giving her raw liver soon hoping the protein will help and I have started adding a B complex in the water, along with worming her. I isolated her as soon as I saw she was not well, but she doesn't seam to be getting any better or worse. I have even asked a vet what he thought it was and I got the answer vertigo and that is should get better. Well so far it's not better. All the forums I have checked all say the same thing in regards to her condition, an injury, Mareks, and even cancer but she's not dead and doesn't look like she's heading in that direction. I am frustrated that with the amount of people who's birds show the same symptoms I can't find the answer to this condition.

Sorry that I suggested Mareks, I didn't realize that others had already mentioned that to you. It's very frustrating - I like the vet who said it was "vertigo", like that answers anything. I hope that your Barred Rock pulls through. The BR's in my adult flock are my favorite birds.