Day 4 of no eating or drinking

[ske1806]

Thanks everyone for all your help! Such a relief to get some feedback! The silkie is still the same. She's on Day two now on the cocci meds and is pooping -- but mostly clear liquid with a bunch of green and some mustard colored stuff.

It is truly bizarre but I can place her anywhere and she won't move an inch. Even though she has strength -- she fights like a champion when I try the syringe on her, kicking her legs, batting her wings, squawking, etc. But I mean she moves NOT AT ALL. So food isn't even on her radar. I've tried so many foods now, and she doesn't even bat a lash. I hold them under her beak, leave them on a plate nearby, dip her beak. She won't have it. It's like she is on a food strike. I'm getting better at dropping little bits in her beak and having her swallow, but that's about all -- and that's under extreme duress, her wrapped in a towel, and me having to change clothing afterwards from all the stuff she's managed to spray everywhere, shaking her beak.

She has the bathroom to herself. She has the towel, food and a wood piece to perch on and I rotate her location around. If she is due for a poop, I try and have her on the wood for easier clean-up. The shower door is open though and a window lets in sunshine and the room is small and warm. So she got some pretty good accomodations. I tried her back in the run to see if she missed her buddies, but she was like a dead chick -- not moving, not reacting and being ignored by everyone else.

Before this all started, the reason she ended up outside for the cold rainy night, was that she was always a loner and always avoiding the company of others and the coop. She is also the tamest, most people oriented.

Ugh, I'm so frustrated with her I just want to wring her neck! Can't wait for my baby to be born -- she can only be easier than this one

 

[purpletree23]

You say that she was always a loner. Is she a different breed from your other chickens? Ex. Is she the only Silkie out of a bunch of Orpingtons? Do they tend to pick on her?

Could it be possible that she is miserable (absolutely no fault of yours..please don't misunderstand) and just wants to die?

I had a beautiful polish hen but I had to re-home her. All of the other chickens would gang up on her and peck at her all day long, wouldn't let her eat or drink. She had no peripheral vision because of the fluffy feathers on her head and she couldn't get away from the others.

I'm all out of ideas. Can you re-home her or turn her over to an animal rescue? Heck...if you're near NH I'll take her.

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
My Silkie must be related. She is literally doing the exact same thing as yours. I put her on the floor and she sits there or stands there not moving. It can be fore 30min to an hour. She doesn't move.

She was always the most active of all my birds.


Tomorrow I will be administering some Gapeworm meds and we'll see how it goes.

 

[SuziQ991]

Hey just a thought but maybe try mealworms. I've never seen a chicken pass up mealworms. I hope she gets better!

 

[purpletree23]

How is she doing?

 

[ske1806]

My silkie is still the same. She won't move or eat or drink. I have brought her to the vet and the blood test shows an infection. The fecal test came back saying it is NOT coccidia. She has been on 4 days of twice daily antibiotic with Sulfur which should have taken care of cocci and some other stuff, but it has made no difference. So, today the vet switched her to another antibiotic to see if this will treat the infection and make her better.

On the bright side, she doesn't seem to be in pain, and the two of us are getting better at feeding her with a little syringe. She swallows yogurt and kernels of corn I pop in her mouth, as well as sips of water with mushed up feed. Very little sustenance, as she splatters as much on me as goes down, it is time consuming and I am just waiting for her to resume the will to eat. She seems to have perked up some otherwise, she moves her head lots, looks and makes noises, stretches, preens herself, clicks her beak when she sees me (which I take to mean she wants food) and the vet says she doesn't seem like she's ready to die anytime soon. So I am just trying to be patient with the infection.

I will definitely pick up mealworms next chance I get. The vet was very clear that feeding her some with a syringe is better than her not eating and drinking at all.

 

[Cass]

Sending healing vibes to your poor chickie....hope she gets well before you wear yourself out treating her.

 

[SuziQ991]

Aww it sounds like you are taking great care of her. I sure hope she gets better!

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
Can you give us an idea of what types of antibiotics your vet has recommended?

I gave my bird 1cc of Safeguard 2 days ago. She pooped funny that day but seems to be getting better. I'm not sure if she is getting better on her own or it's the safeguard getting rid of Gapeworm.

Yesterday she actually walked around a bit on my hardwood floor and did the moonwalk a few times.
This morning I found her perched on top of her box in my kitchen which is a significant improvement over sitting down all day long.

My bird has been like this for well over a week. Hopefully it doesn't take as long for yours to get better.

 

[purpletree23]

Wow! You are an awesome chicken mommy. Glad you brought her to the vet and she is doing a bit better. You have the patience of a saint!

Keep us posted.