Chicken Falling Asleep While Standing Up - NOT COCCIDIOSIS

[Spicegirls4]

Hello Friends! .
I had trouble finding posts around this. My sweet little 17-week-old speckled sussex pullet went through two rounds of corid and two rounds of albon and she's fully coccidiosis-free. However, she still falls asleep while standing up. She also has trouble putting on weight. She eats and drinks and is still a watermelon-fiend but it's really just the lethargy. This has been happening pretty much since we got her at 8 weeks old.
The vet is prescribing antihistamines to try for potential allergies and said we don't have to have the euthanasia conversation until we see that she either isn't able to walk or she stops getting excited about things she loves (she is still very excited). She also said she doesn't think it's Marek's because it's been happening for so long and her symptoms don't include a lot of the ones you see there (she did tests with her feet, the bloodwork doesn't reflect it). Her latest fecal tests were clear of any internal parasites.
We're also going through a heatwave which I don't think is helping but they have two fans, cold water, and ice packs throughout their run.
I'm a first-time chicken mom and was wondering if anyone has experience with this?

Many Thanks

 

[Blue Raptor]

Hello Friends! .
I had trouble finding posts around this. My sweet little 17-week-old speckled sussex pullet went through two rounds of corid and two rounds of albon and she's fully coccidiosis-free. However, she still falls asleep while standing up. She also has trouble putting on weight. She eats and drinks and is still a watermelon-fiend but it's really just the lethargy. This has been happening pretty much since we got her at 8 weeks old.
The vet is prescribing antihistamines to try for potential allergies and said we don't have to have the euthanasia conversation until we see that she either isn't able to walk or she stops getting excited about things she loves (she is still very excited). She also said she doesn't think it's Marek's because it's been happening for so long and her symptoms don't include a lot of the ones you see there (she did tests with her feet, the bloodwork doesn't reflect it). Her latest fecal tests were clear of any internal parasites.
I'm a first-time chicken mom and was wondering if anyone has experience with this?

Many Thanks

I don’t know if I could offer much medical advice but I’ve seen my hens fall asleep standing up, so it seems pretty normal.
Questions I assume others here will ask are; Do you have a picture of her? How much does she weigh? Is she falling asleep all the time and not moving much?

 

[Spicegirls4]

I don’t know if I could offer much medical advice but I’ve seen my hens fall asleep standing up, so it seems pretty normal.
Questions I assume others here will ask are; Do you have a picture of her? How much does she weigh? Is she falling asleep all the time and not moving much?

Thank you for replying! I think she's around 2lb and it sounds like things are worse than thought (I'm out of town and have parents watching them until I get back tonight). I was sent this picture and told that she falls down often when she walks. She gets up and runs for watermelon but doesn't have much stability. I think that tonight I'll have to call the emergency vet and talk to them about putting her down

 

[nuthatched]

What's her diet?

 

[Spicegirls4]

What's her diet?

She eats medicated chick crumbles (we were planning on switching to unmedicated today after we learned about the coccidiosis result being negative yesterday). Beyond that, she eats mealworms and melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon) for treats.

 

[nuthatched]

She eats medicated chick crumbles (we were planning on switching to unmedicated today after we learned about the coccidiosis result being negative yesterday). Beyond that, she eats mealworms and melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon) for treats.

It could be vitamin deficiency, stop the treats, feed only feed and give her 400i.u vitamin E capsule and about a third of a B complex tablet every day for a few weeks. Any brand from the grocery store.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she still getting antihistamines? Those make you sleepy. I would stop them. You may want to have them place her in the shade, and a chicken sling might be helpful for periods through out the day with breaks every so often. Food and water can be fastened in front of the sling. Here are pages of examples, and the design is in post 11:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Spicegirls4]

It could be vitamin deficiency, stop the treats, feed only feed and give her 400i.u vitamin E capsule and about a third of a B complex tablet every day for a few weeks. Any brand from the grocery store.

Thank you! After looking more into it, she does fit all of the symptoms of vitamin B deficiency. I was just informed there are some head tremors, as well. We got some from Rite Aid and gave her her first B complex dose

 

[Spicegirls4]

Is she still getting antihistamines? Those make you sleepy. I would stop them. You may want to have them place her in the shade, and a chicken sling might be helpful for periods through out the day with breaks every so often. Food and water can be fastened in front of the sling. Here are pages of examples, and the design is in post 11:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

Thank you! She hasn't started them yet - those were prescribed yesterday and have to go through a compounding pharmacy so we won't have them for a few days (if she's still around). The sling looks like it would be really helpful we'll try that thank you so much!

 

[Eggcessive]

The vitamin E would be helpful too, since it helps with neurological problems.