HELP! month old sick chick **UPDATE! She is all better!

[ktkoenig6]

I have a buff orpington chick that is about a month old. last night i noticed that she is standing weird with her head in her chest. she also is very lethargic. she opens her mouth a lot too and there is mucus in there. every once in a while she will kind of sneeze, but with her whole body, and the mucus kinda flies out. I separated her from the other chicks for a while last night and tried to feed her some scrambled egg and get her to drink, but she didnt take either. she pooped a few times and one time it looked a little bloody. i ended up putting her back with the other chicks and she ate and drank a little. she seemed to be improving.

this morning she was back to how she was at her worst last night. she still had the mucus, didnt move much, and did the shake thing every once in a while. she hasnt improved much today. we called the feed store where we got her and they said they thought it was coccidiosis. we got the medicine for it and put it in the water, and we also got medicated feed. im not sure if she's eaten or drinken anything today though, so we use an eyedropper and gave her some water that way. she did swallow, but it sounded gurgly. oh and earlier today we thought she might have an impacted crop so we gave her some olive oil in an eyedropper, but i couldnt really find her crop.

now the mucus is starting to smell like yeast, and she is still lethargic. im very worried and dont want to lose her. any help is appreciated! i just wanna get little Callie all better.


*as a side note, she has eaten a lot of my hair. they have jumped out of the box and they ran around on my floor. i have very long hair and apparently some of it was in the carpet. and when im holding her, she tries to eat it. a few times ive noticed her with hair sticking out of her mouth and i have pulled it out.*


***So with lots of tlc, prayers, and giving water through an eyedropper, she has miraculously gotten better! none of the other are sick either. I still have her separated from the others even though she got better yesterday, just as a safety. She is eating and drinking and cleaning herself like crazy (LOTS of dry skin. yuck) and chirping and snuggling up to me and being her normal self. Thanks for the support! Even though we still dont know what was wrong with her, we're just grateful shes better.

 

[gmendoza]

first of all,chickens do not belong in the house!!! if they are allowed to roam in your house its bad for them and you.Make a proper outside chicken coop.Also the chicken sounds like she has gape worms.they lodge in the throat of the bird causeing the bird to comtinuosly open its mouth and have mucus.there are treatments,but we prefer the old ways.we grab a duck feather,dip it in 50% syrup/50% turpentine,and jam it down the birdies throat,give it a few turns and pull it out.It has worked on our chickens.

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
hello.
yes you can have your chicken in the house. do you have a spare cage? Every situation is different when it comes to a sick hen. sounds like she needs to have some tlc. yes its fine to be in the house!
as far as whats going on with her. do not have advice, as i am new to chickens for the past year.
Have you noticed her drinking any water? eating? poop? is she pasty on the rear?
Hopefully someone with some more experiences will chime in.
Good luck to you.

 

[ktkoenig6]

ive been keeping them in the house since they are just chicks. as soon as they are older i am planning on putting them in the coop.

she does not have a pasty butt, it looks completely normal. i have not seen her eat or drink anything, or poop. except for the other night when we first noticed she was sick.

is there any way for me to see if its gapeworms? how can i tell?

 

[ktkoenig6]

please please help. i dont know what to do!

 

[Dora'smom]

Go to the bottom of this page where there is a link to emergencies/diseases/injuries and cures. Go to the top right of that page, and type in gapeworm. You will get all the most recent posts and information on this site on the subject of gapeworm. It is something I don't have any experience with, but I'm betting there is helpful info there. Another good source of info would be Storey's Guide to Poultry Health? Not sure if I have the title right, but there is a version that has medical type info for poultry. Good luck with your bird.

 

[Dora'smom]

I just looked back at your post, and am wondering why the store thought it was cocci? Does she have blood in her poo? That's a usual sign of cocci. It may not be gapeworm or cocci you are dealing with at all.

 

[Wild Chicken]

The chicken wouldn't have gapeworm if it hasn't been outside........good luck with your chicken!!

BTW, we keep our chicks inside until they are about a month to 6 weeks and than they go outside!!

 

[ktkoenig6]

we gave them a few worms to eat about a week ago from our worm bin (for gardening). could that be it??

she did have a little blood in her poop I THINK. and the poop in the cage had been looking weird for a couple days.

 

[teddiliza]

She very well could have parasites, if she ate any earthworms. You could try the wazine for round worms or the ivermectin pour on for just about everything else. There's a post on using either somewhere in this forum. Or it could be something that was passed to her from a parent while she was in the egg, and she's just now showing symptoms. There are a few respiratory illness that can be spread from hen to chick. You could always check with the hatchery they came from and see if any of their birds had any respiratory illnesses in the last few months. It is good to keep her separate from the other chicks in case it is something contagious. But if it's worms, then they'd probably all need to be wormed, then change out the bedding, and worm a second time, with bedding change again. Good luck.