Great Update on Chicken that Quacks Like a Duck

[Judy-n-Seth]

First a big thanks to the BYC group! Thanks for all the great guidance!

Now at 16 days after the onset she's walking on my kitchen table. Managed to jump from floor to chair to bar level table. Pretty sure she'll make it.

Previous post below:

Chick that stumbles and quacks like a duck:


12 days ago my little 10 week old Black Sex Linked chick suddenly lost the ability to make sounds and started stumbling badly. I brought her into the house and started researching what could be going on. Of the three or four things that could cause this, almost all were fatal within a few days. Botulism poisoning looked likely since I did find some moldy feed and we had a fairly wet Spring. As weak as she was, she could eat soft foods as she was sitting (couldn't stand at all within 24 hours). Knowing a little about food science and even less about food pathogens, I did know about lactoferrin from dairy being a great anti-microbial, ant-fungal, anti-virus treatment for foods and living beings. It works by stopping the pathogens from attaching to the host and they get flushed out or washed off. It has a super high content in colostrum as a defense against possible pathogens getting passed around during child birth. Yogurt, sour cream, and other cultured dairy with high lactoferrin content was fed to the chick daily and she's now about 90% recovered after about 12 days. Still can't jump higher than about 12”. And she still quacks like a duck. I'm assuming her vocal cords are still a bit paralyzed from the toxin.

Any comments are welcome.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - good to hear that your chick can make it to bar-level. It's the only level worth making an effort for IMO

.

All the best
Ct

 

[Judy-n-Seth]

Thanks for the greetings! I imagine a different set of predators in Nairobi compared to Denver Colorado. We have a few owls, hawks, and a few foxes but no troubles yet. All the best. Seth and Judy

 

[Pork Pie]

Thanks for the greetings!  I imagine a different set of predators in [COLOR=333333]Nairobi compared to Denver Colorado.  We have a few owls, hawks, and a few foxes but no troubles yet.  All the best.   Seth and Judy[/COLOR]

Hawks are the only real pain to be honest, thankfully

 

[drumstick diva]

Nice to meet you Seth and Judy. Welcome to Backyard chickens. Fingers crossed that your girl makes a full recovery. If so, I hope you will write a detailed article on what you did to bring her to that level. Also photos to show how she looked. It would generate a lot of interest here and very likely save some birds.

 

[Judy-n-Seth]

Well she's 99% now. Stays outside with the big girls all day and a couple of nights as well. Seems to be able to outrun the Reds and protect herself. She has her brood mate to look after her as well. Sorry no photos of her when she couldn't stand. I think she's playing it a bit now and pecks on the sliding glass door to stay inside.

 

[Judy-n-Seth]

Well she's 99% now. Stays outside with the big girls all day and a couple of nights as well. Seems to be able to outrun the Reds and protect herself. She has her brood mate to look after her as well. Sorry no photos of her when she couldn't stand. I think she's playing it a bit now and pecks on the sliding glass door to stay inside.