HELP! Silkie got chilled!

[Crickett]

My black silkie rooster was outside when it came a very bad rain. He got throughly chilled to the bone, and was full of mud. DH washed the mud off of him and we are drying him with LOW heat. He is very lethargic, keeps throwing his head back over his back, and I can't get him to eat or drink, not even sugar water. What should I do?

 

[Crickett]

Please can someone help me?

 

[fldiver97]

Sorry about silkies mudbath....Do you have a box or crate that you can put him in?? I would put him in a quiet, warm, draftfree area, maybe cover box with a towel so it's a bit dim and offer a little yoghurt and water. You may try a heatlamp if he is very cold. Hopefully once he is warm and dry and relaxes a bit he'll feel better and eat/drink....Keep us posted

 

[Crickett]

Right now he's in an old clothes basket with a towel on the bottom. We have him in the downstairs bathroom. It's quiet there, and draft-free. it's also fairly warm there, but not hot. I just worry cause I don't want to lose him. My silkies are my babies, and I only have five. Silkies, I mean.

 

[fldiver97]

Is he showing any improvement yet? It may take a while to get over the shock....

 

[Crickett]

No. He died.

 

[Mesa]

I'm so sorry.

 

[Picky Chicky]

Quote:

That's terrible news.

My most heartfelt sympathies!! I just got my first silkie today and they're a force to be reckoned with - so sweet.

 

[Crickett]

I do have a question. Whenever one of my birds, be it chicken, duck, turkey, or goose, starts to throw it's head back over it's back, I've noticed that the bird usually dies. What is it when that happens? Some sort of "death throes"? It's almost like a type of seizure or something.

 

[fldiver97]

Crickett.... I just came back to check - I am so sorry that he died!!!!