emergency! my chicken will be put down tomorrow if she doesnt get better in the next 24 hours!!

madasincrazy

Hatching
Aug 14, 2015
2
0
7
My chickin, Jasper, is a sick silkie baby ;-; She's maybe 1.5 months? no more than 2 months.

On Tuesday I went outside to feed the chickens (we have 4 normal sized half grown chickens and 1 other silkie slightly bigger than jasper) and found jasper with her foot tangled in the chicken wire around the coop. She was alive and seemed uninjured, just dehydrated. I gave her water via dropper and she improved so i set her on the floor, i gave her some scratch and she ate for a bit then shuffled under a chair. I wanted to make sure she was 100% before I put her back with the others because she's the smallest of the flock. She slowly got worse until this morning she was breathing heavy and very weak and droopy. My mom and I took her to the vet and they wanted to put her down but me being the stubborn idiot i am wouldnt let them... so they gave her fluids administered under her skin and a shot of anti inflammatory and said if she hasnt improved by tomorrow she has to be put to sleep.

Here are her symptoms:

- I believe they said it was her left leg that wasnt working, most likely because she pulled a nerve they said.
- She falls forward and her legs splay out on either side when you set her on the ground.
- She can move them a bit ( the left leg less than the right), just not stand for very long or walk properly.
- Possibly unrelated, but her vision is bad. She can definitely see out of both eyes but she has bad aim (far sighted maybe?), this doesn't affect her more than a few missed pieces of food.
- Not sure if this helps, her poop is fairly watery (but not just liquid) alternates greeny brown and brown brown, sometimes it bubbles out like she has air in her digestive system; we give her lots of water now, as much as she will let us administer.
- There is no external bleeding or evidence of injury.

Her care routine currently:

- I have her in a box with a towel rolled into a doughnut so she is supported constantly.
- I clean her poop regularly, because of her position it gets on her but I clean it up and use saline water on her poopy feathers to clean them.
- I cut the fluff around her eyes short so she can see as well as possible.
- we've been giving her her starter mash with boiled and scrambled eggs and cut up dried meal worms and sometimes a bit of cherry (her fav food) we were told to get high calorie mash for her which we will get later today.
- i have a little bowl of water next to her and some food which she eats whenever she's awake
- I also give her water with a dropper to insure she stays hydrated.

any advice to help her strength, keep her hydrated, keep her comfy, and any suggestions on what to do about her leg are much appreciated !! and if anyone has ideas on keeping her entertained that'd be nice :) She's sleeping and eating lots on her own

(can i mix water with her feed to make keeping her hydrated easier??)

Thank you all replies are valued have a beautiful day
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Yes. You can add water to her feed if you wish. You can mix in a couple of drops of Poultry Nutri Drench as well. Pulled nerves are painful, may never heal like a sprained tendon or ligament. The moment her quality of life deteriorates, I recommend that you cull her.
 
udate: I've given her sav-a-chick electrolyte and probiotics mixed with water and then mixed with mash. she loves it to the point of stuffing her face with it !
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she's much more alert and noisy which is good to hear, but still falling forward (although not limp like before, if you press her down she resists so strength is returning)

I'm going to keep the heat lamp on her tonight, and let her sister in so they can snuggle.
 

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