Fever, droopy wings and doesn't respond to food or water.....

[LilySif]

We have 7 various breeds of chickens. IB is a 5 month old Iowa Blue, a beautifully rare and sweet bird. My husband noticed her on the coop floor a couple days ago. She has slowly deteriorated to where she is now - on the grass in front of the coop just sitting there. I can tell she has a fever cause I picked her up and her feet and entire underside are VERY warm. She's been panting, I assume, to cool herself. At first, I thought it may have been a respiratory thing, but after I picked her up and listened to her breath, it is laboured, but I think she's just hot??? She is not responding to food and water, but her eyes look fine- no watering, no nasal drip, no limp neck, just no movement and when she does, her wings are droopy. We have not noticed any leg limping... I also just noticed she has dandruff - I thought it was wood ash at first.... We are wondering if she may have gotten botulism or something from our compost. Is compost not a good thing for them to pick through? We have a good sized pile, but it's healthy and turned often. They seem to like the bugs in it.... Any ideas on what she may have?

Thanks,
Lily in Montana

 

[Aj1911]

yea compost is a bad idea to let them be in.

first things first check for mites, do you worm them?

if mites are found and you dont worm then worm and dust them all then wait a day and see if shes any better if not do a molasses flush (2 tablespoons in a quart of water) make her drink it for 8 hours then give her a good plain yogurt and soft foods for 2-3 days

if none of the above work put her on a broad-spectrum anti-biotic.

 

[LilySif]

Thank you so much for you reply. Sadly she died about an hour ago.

I hope it wasn't the compost that killed her.

 

[Aj1911]

i know how you feel, i had a GLW die very fast from getting into something (mushrooms or a fungus i bet) sometimes it just happens and theres nothing you can do =/