Guinea chick unsteady ... physical or neurological?

[brettzim]

We ended up with a "special" guinea chick that was a reject from the feed store. I actually didn't even know it was a guinea until recently. Originally, she could not walk at all and was stuck laying on her side. She would flail her feet, trying to right herself but would just run in the air. If you put her upright she could hold her balance for maybe a few wobbly steps before she fell. We taped her feet open since it seemed like her toes were a bit curled and kept her isolated with the other reject chicks. We gave them vitamins in their water. In about a week she was on her feet. She has loads of energy and will jump out of the tank she is in sometimes. She is still a bit trembly and wobbles a little but has been fine for the last week, walking around, flapping her wings etc. This morning I have found her four times on her side, running in the air, unable to right herself, just like she was when we first got her. Now I am wondering if she maybe has something misfiring in her noggin since she seems to be regressing. She eats, drinks, chirps happily, is otherwise healthy. But, I am a little stumped as to what could be causing this. I thought we were over the hump when I found her walking the first time but now I am not sure... I have no knowledge of guineas and have been treating her as if she was a chicken chick basically. Anyone have any advice? Thank you.

 

[KrisH]

We ended up with a "special" guinea chick that was a reject from the feed store. I actually didn't even know it was a guinea until recently. Originally, she could not walk at all and was stuck laying on her side. She would flail her feet, trying to right herself but would just run in the air. If you put her upright she could hold her balance for maybe a few wobbly steps before she fell. We taped her feet open since it seemed like her toes were a bit curled and kept her isolated with the other reject chicks. We gave them vitamins in their water. In about a week she was on her feet. She has loads of energy and will jump out of the tank she is in sometimes. She is still a bit trembly and wobbles a little but has been fine for the last week, walking around, flapping her wings etc. This morning I have found her four times on her side, running in the air, unable to right herself, just like she was when we first got her. Now I am wondering if she maybe has something misfiring in her noggin since she seems to be regressing. She eats, drinks, chirps happily, is otherwise healthy. But, I am a little stumped as to what could be causing this. I thought we were over the hump when I found her walking the first time but now I am not sure... I have no knowledge of guineas and have been treating her as if she was a chicken chick basically. Anyone have any advice? Thank you.

have you tried PeepsCA Guinea in a cup? I think that is what she called it.

I will look for a link

RobertH

 

[PeepsCA]

I call it "Cup Therapy"... lol.

Here's the post (or one of them, I've posted the cup thing a few times)...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hing-them-updated-frequently/230#post_8507034

It's not dealing with quite the same as your keet's dealing with, and you may not need to brace the legs, but the cup part of it may help. Flipping over (I think some call it flip over syndrome, or FOS) may be neurological, may be from the incubator, may be a nutritional deficiency... but it's hard to say. Some keets (or any baby poultry) sometimes just don't figure out how to flip over when they fall down, they struggle and struggle and condition themselves to only struggling, then giving up. And then their equilibrium adjusts to them being on their side so much and is off from that point on... and the longer they struggle on their side bicycling the harder it is to correct, but keep at it. You can also snuggle her in a donut made from a wash cloth or small towel, just something to support her, keep her upright. she's going to need food and water offered to her several times a day, especially before you go to bed so she stays hydrated overnight (you can quickly dip her beak in her water a few times until you see her swallowing to make her drink). I'd keep up the vitamin support and try not to let her spend too much time on her side bicycling... and make sure she's eating high protein game bird or turkey starter feed, maybe some hard boiled or scrambled eggs, small diced pieces of fresh raw liver for extra nutritional boost.

Good luck~

 

[brettzim]

Thank you! That is very helpful. I like the idea of the chicken squats. My girlfriend is a personal trainer so I will get her started on that.

I was observing the guinea today and she did right herself one of the times when I didn't give into pity and help her myself. I am hoping that will continue. Thank you again!

 

[JLeigh]

I had a "bicycler" and used the brace method, but I ended up bracing it higher up on the thighs. I don't know if I was supposed to do that or not, but around the leg didn't work, so I just gave it a whirl. It worked. You still have to make sure the keet is eating & drinking like Peeps says.

Also, I saw a picture not long ago of someone who was using the cup therapy method, and they took bottle caps and taped them onto the rim of the cup; one for water and one for crumbles. Seemed like a good idea, but the keet has to be able to reach them (obviously). I thought that was a great idea, but I would make certain the keet can reach the food and water, clean it at least a few times a day....etc., etc.

 

[brettzim]

So we ended up putting her in a sling to try to "reboot" her equilibrium. I am not sure it is the right move but we are going to see how it goes. She got pretty bad in just a few days. She went from walking to being unable to wobble more than a couple steps in just a couple days once she started being unable to right herself again. Even when you hold her her body wants to twist into that position she usually is laying in. So, we wrapped her snugly (not too tight though) in vet wrap to keep her from being able to flap her wings and loose herself. Then we put her in an old rag with two holes cut out for her legs and basically made a little guinea burrito and suspended her from a couple sticks in the bin with her buddies. She seems happy enough (not fighting it). The guinea-in-a-cup was attempted but she is a bigger chick now so she would force herself out of it no matter what we tried. I think we are going to keep her in her little hammock for a day to see if that helps to get her reaquainted with what "up" is. And then we will go from there. I hope it works. She is full of personality. It's a little frustrating to see her backslide like this. Thank you again for all of your advice.