Chibichabo
Chirping
- Dec 17, 2022
- 18
- 14
- 66
Okay, reaching out for help here.
On 7th Feb a friend (Emily) reached out to me for help with her 1 year old Australorp Bantam (Marjorie). Two days prior she stopped being able to walk but was still eating and laying. She brought her around, she was able to move her legs although her toes were curled and was unable to stand, and she had a small amount of blood in her poo. I suspected a vitamin B deficiency caused by cocci, and advised her to put her on cocci treatment. The next day (8/2) Marjorie stopped eating and drinking, but also passed a few live roundworms. I advised her to stop the cocci treatment and start on levamisole, advised her of the dose for Marjorie’s weight and loaned her my crop needle.
For the next two days, she continued to pass dead roundworms – a lot more than I have ever seen in a standard chook, let alone a bantam. On the 10th she started eating again and by the 12th she stopped passing worms.
On the 18th, Emily told me that for the past 48hours she hadn’t been feeding or drinking herself and had started to become lethargic. She brought her back around and I gave her a B complex injection, ringer’s lactate solution and a crop feed. I did a faecal float test and there were no signs of parasites. She was emaciated, absolutely no muscle coverage over the keel, and she had dropped down to 912g (from an initial 1080g).
Since then, she has been in my care. She cannot stand unsupported, but in her wheelchair she is able to put weight on her legs, and scratches them about. She appears to have stopped being able to recognise food. Other than leafy greens, she will not eat. I have tried live food, dried bugs, layer pellets, chick pellets, scrambled egg, egg cracked open in front of her, wet mash, raw dog food, and bird seed all to no avail.
Although she won’t feed herself, she still preens herself, and is responsive, some days she is more active than others. She actively fights being crop fed, so about a week ago I stopped crop feeding and have been putting nutrient dense pellets straight into her beak one by one. She is being kept in our laundry, with a youtube video of chicken sounds playing during daylight hours, on warm days she goes outside for a few hours.
She has been on B complex every other day, given orally due to lack of muscle, as well as another multivitamin (Introvit) given weekly. I am reluctant to euthanise as she is still active and fighting, however her crop empties very slowly – it takes a full 12 hours for her crop to empty, so she is only being fed twice a day, she also has diarrhoea, however I believe this is due to the B complex. She is slowly gaining weight, however with her crop emptying so slowly, it’s hard to get more feed into her.
Emily has given me permission to euthanise if I feel she won’t recover, however I really don’t know if that’s the case here. Her recovery hasn’t been linear, one day she’ll be stronger and picking at her feed, the next she won’t even drink. I usually am able to see clearly if there will be a full recovery, however Marjorie has me changing my mind every few days. Unfortunately we don’t have an avian vet nearby. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
On 7th Feb a friend (Emily) reached out to me for help with her 1 year old Australorp Bantam (Marjorie). Two days prior she stopped being able to walk but was still eating and laying. She brought her around, she was able to move her legs although her toes were curled and was unable to stand, and she had a small amount of blood in her poo. I suspected a vitamin B deficiency caused by cocci, and advised her to put her on cocci treatment. The next day (8/2) Marjorie stopped eating and drinking, but also passed a few live roundworms. I advised her to stop the cocci treatment and start on levamisole, advised her of the dose for Marjorie’s weight and loaned her my crop needle.
For the next two days, she continued to pass dead roundworms – a lot more than I have ever seen in a standard chook, let alone a bantam. On the 10th she started eating again and by the 12th she stopped passing worms.
On the 18th, Emily told me that for the past 48hours she hadn’t been feeding or drinking herself and had started to become lethargic. She brought her back around and I gave her a B complex injection, ringer’s lactate solution and a crop feed. I did a faecal float test and there were no signs of parasites. She was emaciated, absolutely no muscle coverage over the keel, and she had dropped down to 912g (from an initial 1080g).
Since then, she has been in my care. She cannot stand unsupported, but in her wheelchair she is able to put weight on her legs, and scratches them about. She appears to have stopped being able to recognise food. Other than leafy greens, she will not eat. I have tried live food, dried bugs, layer pellets, chick pellets, scrambled egg, egg cracked open in front of her, wet mash, raw dog food, and bird seed all to no avail.
Although she won’t feed herself, she still preens herself, and is responsive, some days she is more active than others. She actively fights being crop fed, so about a week ago I stopped crop feeding and have been putting nutrient dense pellets straight into her beak one by one. She is being kept in our laundry, with a youtube video of chicken sounds playing during daylight hours, on warm days she goes outside for a few hours.
She has been on B complex every other day, given orally due to lack of muscle, as well as another multivitamin (Introvit) given weekly. I am reluctant to euthanise as she is still active and fighting, however her crop empties very slowly – it takes a full 12 hours for her crop to empty, so she is only being fed twice a day, she also has diarrhoea, however I believe this is due to the B complex. She is slowly gaining weight, however with her crop emptying so slowly, it’s hard to get more feed into her.
Emily has given me permission to euthanise if I feel she won’t recover, however I really don’t know if that’s the case here. Her recovery hasn’t been linear, one day she’ll be stronger and picking at her feed, the next she won’t even drink. I usually am able to see clearly if there will be a full recovery, however Marjorie has me changing my mind every few days. Unfortunately we don’t have an avian vet nearby. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
