Emergency! Suddenly lethargic, shaking head like a sneeze, mouth open

[Cluckthorne]

Daisey is my mystery hchicken. I think she is around 6 months old, about 5 pounds and is maybe a Wyandotte mix. I found her about a month ago. She has been happy and healthy. She eats organic layer feed with a little cracked corn.

Tonight I came home and she was totally normal and running around after me, then she started doing something like a sneeze and shaking her head like she was trying to cough up something. I isolated her and had to leave for a couple hours. I just got back and she is very lethargic, silent(not like her at all), and seems to not want to or not be able to close her mouth well. her breathing seems ok, she's not panting. She is usually set against me opening her beak, but in her present state I can open it up and look right down, I don't see anything stuck in her throat and her crop feels a little "pastey" and about a third full. She seems like she might be a little dehydrated, I'm going to try to give her some water in a syringe. Anyone seen this before? I wonder if she ate something that is stuck in her somewhere, it happened so fast.

Thanks in advance.

 

[LilBizzy]

I really don't know much about chicken illnesses, but I do know you did the right thing by isolating. Keep her quiet, in a darkened area. Try giving her some water with a little bit of sugar, or some gatorade if you suspect she is deydrated. Just dribble it on the corner her beak,and let her swallow.
I'm sure someone with experience will come along and perhaps have suggestions.

 

[sammi]

don't pour or squirt water down the throat..give by drops on beak.
you don't want to get water in her lungs.
.electrolytes in the water is a good idea.

describe droppings...in detail, color and consistency..

has she been wormed?

recheck crop in the morning to see if it has emptied..
do the same thing with some oil...such as olive oil, or vegetable oil..a few drops on beak..and massage the crop..see if anything breaks up..

could she have been exposed to any dusts or molds?
any lawn/garden dusts/chemicals

feel "jaw"joint area for any swelling..

 

[Cluckthorne]

She had not been wormed. But out of desperation and after reading about gape worms I just wormed her with the Valbazen I recieved yesterday from First State. So hopefully this will not further her sickness.

Her droppings that have been produced since her isolation are healthy looking and pretty solid smaller brown/green with white.

I also gave her pedialyte with her water and a small bowl of food. She is usually a great eater but now just looks at the food like she wants it but her mouth doesn't seem to work so she just stares at it.

She did run in the garage briefly and although we just bought this house a couple months ago and have blown out the garage there may have been something she could have picked up in there. No obvious containers of poisons or fertilizers or anything like that, we don't own or use any chemicals of that sort.

I cant really tell if there is any swelling of the jaw, she never usually lets me touch her face, tonight is the first time. I did feel all around her face, neck and throat and everywhere else to make sure she didn't swallow a nail or have something like that poking out that I could maybe feel. I've massaged her crop a couple times and it almost feels pastey like I said previously and lopsided. She usually fills it right up and it feels like a stuffed purse around her neck.

I just went and checked on her and she peeped a little bit, but she isn't even laying down, she's just standing in her crate in the dark looking uncomfortable. Poor girl.

What would jaw swelling indicate?

 

[Cluckthorne]

Update.

This morning Daisey's condition was about the same. She was still lethargic and quiet and it seems like she can't pick up any food, her mouth just stays partially open. The only dropping she produced overnight was small and mostly white, which was suprising because after her wormer (valbazen) last night I was expecting more. Her crop had also emptied overnight. It's so sad as she is usually a great eater and now she just stares like she wants the food but can't eat it.

Does anyone with birds that have had gape worms have any experience with these symptoms? If so can these symptoms come on this quickly when they reach a certain point?

Any other thoughts???

I'll be home to check on her in a couple hours, hopefully she is getting better. I will try some watered yogurt to try to get some moisture and nutrients in her.

 

[Cluckthorne]

Daisey is still about the same, but now I noticed she is drooling pretty constantly. It sounds like she may have gotten into something toxic according to other posts with similar symptoms. I'm going to run up to the grocery store for some vitamin e and selenium capsules and some molasses and see if I can get this along with more water into her.

I did get her to swallow some yogurt water but she can't swallow any solid food, it just sticks in her mouth.

Has anyone had a poisoned bird that can tell me what the mix is for the molasses flush and how many days it took to clear the toxins through?

Has anyone successfully tube fed directly into the crop?

Thanks

 

[usschicago1]

Did you find out what the toxin was?
If she is still "SNEEZING" it sounds like respitory....... I would wait overnight until you feed her anything and put anything down her throat! Make sure that darn crop emptys!

Pooor baby!
Best of luck
Mark

 

[Cluckthorne]

Thanks. I have no idea what it would have been, there are no containers of anything poisonous so it had to have been mold or a fragment of something from the previous owner. It happened last nigh and there is no more sneezing just the drooling, lethargic, and inability to eat. Her crop is totally empty at this point.

 

[usschicago1]

Yup, i think your diagnosis is right! I would give her a few days! I think she will pull threw. I think you should just leave her alone in a seperated try cage with food and water. Let her kidneys do the work

 

[Cluckthorne]

Great news! After the molasses and water flush and following up with selenium and vitamin e along with some yogurt water Daisey is 100% back to normal, talking a mile a minute and eating like a little piggy. It took another day after the flush but then she started improving very rapidly and by the next day all was good. I still have her taking extra vitamins, electrolytes and probiotics for a while, but all in all she is totally normal. I have this forum to thank for saving her

!