Chick is constantly yawning

[lazy gardener]

If you can't find poultry ND, you can buy Sheep/goat ND, which is pretty much the same formula. Any feed store should carry PND, and it is also available on line.

 

[mustangrooster]

Okay so since I have posted this, little Piku (short for Pikachu) has been doing great and thriving and hasn't been yawning.

However....I now have a bit of an emergency with Piku.

I went into the large outdoor brooder to put Piku, her sis Rio and the 8 other chicks into their nighttime indoor brooder, to find Piku lying down, looking drowsy and unable to walk. Of course, I panicked and went straight into assess the situation. I checked to make sure she had no food lodged in her throat because her head was hanging low, but apart from her tongue occasionally sticking to the roof of her mouth, she is fine. No injuries, and is cheeping out as if nothing happened. But it seems like she is paralyzed, she can not walk, and if I put her on the ground, she flops onto her side. I'm very worried and I don't know what to do, as she was fine a few hours ago.

She is separated from the other chicks and is with me as I type.

Help?

 

[mustangrooster]

She has now no control of her head it seems, and it is leaning all the way back against her body (if that makes sense) I don't know what to do guys, she cant move, she is still cheeping but her eyes are closed, her toes are curled, and she is lethargic. I have never had this happen to a chick, and I'm stuck.

 

[theoldchick]

She might have a bacterial or viral infection that has finally spread to her brain. In this situation the best thing to do is supportive care: keep her warm. In a veterinary situation she would be placed in a oxygen cage to see if she will be come stable enough to do lab work. I'm sorry to say she may not survive.

 

[mustangrooster]

Yeah, I understand that chances of her surviving are low. She is now sprawled out, legs in different directions, same for her wings. I'm just keeping her warm and talking to her softly, could this spread to the other chicks?

 

[theoldchick]

Yes it can if it is viral or bacterial.

 

[mustangrooster]

RIP little Piku .

 

[azygous]

I'm so sorry. We were rooting for this chick to make it, and it sure looked like she had the will.

There's probably a 50% chance she was "failure to thrive" and this won't have consequences for the other chicks. But the other 50% points to the possibility of a virus. If that face of the coin is the one that's up, the other chicks are also infected.

You have the option of refrigerating the body of the chick and locating a lab today to do a necropsy. That will tell you what killed Piku and how it might affect the rest of your flock.