Judy-n-Seth
In the Brooder
- Aug 25, 2015
- 9
- 1
- 44
Chick that stumbles and quacks like a duck:
First a big thanks to the BYC group! Thanks for all the great guidance!
12 days ago my little 10 week old Black Sex Linked chick suddenly lost the ability to make sounds and started stumbling badly. I brought her into the house and started researching what could be going on. Of the thre or four things that could cause this, all were fatal within a few days. Botulism poisoning looked likely since I did find some moldy feed and we had a fairly wet Spring. As weak as she was, she could eat soft foods as she was sitting (couldn't stand at all within 24 hours). Knowing a little about food science and even less about food pathogens, I did know about lactoferrin from dairy being a great anti-microbial, ant-fungal, anti-virus treatment for foods and living beings. It works by stopping the pathogens from attaching to the host and they get flushed out or washed off. It has a super high content in colostrum as a defense against possible pathogens getting passed around during child birth. Yogurt, sour cream, and other cultured dairy with high lactoferrin content was fed to the chick daily and she's now about 90% recovered after about 12 days. Still can't jump higher than about 12”. And she still quacks like a duck. I'm assuming her vocal cords are still a bit paralyzed from the toxin.
Any comments are welcome.
First a big thanks to the BYC group! Thanks for all the great guidance!
12 days ago my little 10 week old Black Sex Linked chick suddenly lost the ability to make sounds and started stumbling badly. I brought her into the house and started researching what could be going on. Of the thre or four things that could cause this, all were fatal within a few days. Botulism poisoning looked likely since I did find some moldy feed and we had a fairly wet Spring. As weak as she was, she could eat soft foods as she was sitting (couldn't stand at all within 24 hours). Knowing a little about food science and even less about food pathogens, I did know about lactoferrin from dairy being a great anti-microbial, ant-fungal, anti-virus treatment for foods and living beings. It works by stopping the pathogens from attaching to the host and they get flushed out or washed off. It has a super high content in colostrum as a defense against possible pathogens getting passed around during child birth. Yogurt, sour cream, and other cultured dairy with high lactoferrin content was fed to the chick daily and she's now about 90% recovered after about 12 days. Still can't jump higher than about 12”. And she still quacks like a duck. I'm assuming her vocal cords are still a bit paralyzed from the toxin.
Any comments are welcome.
