I think our silkie is almost dead - advice please

[diamonk]

Son noticed her "throwing up" (I didn't witness). By the time i got home she was extremely lathargic , couldn't hold up head. tried giving her electrolytes/water with a dropper and i washed her in warm water, put her under a heat lamp. Her vent was clear - nothing unusual. I don't think she is pulling out of this - she is very close to death right now.

Since i'm new to chickens and have 5 others that were in the coop with her, i wondered if anyone could point me in right direction of what might be the root cause. She is about 5 months old and always a little slower than the rest of the chickens but i suspected it was the breed, not anything wrong with her.

I did notice a few mites on her when i bathed her. I have been using DE but i guess not frequently enough. Again, any advice on how to reduce mites appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[magsrags]

I am so sorry you lost your little one. She was youngster. :<(
Just a guess.....but if she had mites and she was a "bittie girl" to begin with then she might have had a real problem with the infestation of mites. This means your other girls are also likely having the same problem so please consider using a good parasite powder to "de-mite" them to insure the rest survive. I do not think the DE will completely irradicate those pests so look for further assistance please..... as I am no expert by any means.
Best wishes,
Maggie

 

[cobrien]

So sorry...it happens to most who have chickens, unfortunately they haven't breen bred for longevity...But, if all the others look okay, if you got them from a reputable place, chances are you can just change their bedding, watch them closely, pick them up every day to check their condition and act quickly if you see anything unusual, and you will be fine.

and in the worst case, if you lose her and want to know what happened, save her body, keep cold but not frozen, take to a local vet or send to state vet for a necropsy. Some vets do it cheap or free because they like to learn from it. State vet may be $200 or maybe free, depends on your location. State vet will do a very very thorough analysis - tests on all tissues, etc. for this price so it is worth the money if you are concerned.

someone will chime in on the mites, lots of discussion on that on BYC; I haven't had to deal with it other than using DE...

 

[KKatknap]

"Throwing up"...

Have you checked her crop? Is it swollen?

 

[jennh]

Hi! I had read somewhere that you should use food-grade DE. Maybe she ingested too much by breathing it in?

Jen

 

[heritagebirds]

So sorry...

 

[AHappychick]

hoiw thin is she? has she been vaccinated for mareks, have you seen any bloody poo??

you have to get her to eat above all else otherwise there is no hope, if you put food in her mouth does she eat?

is her neck twisting in any way?

 

[diamonk]

She didn't make it but thank you for the kind words and the info. My son is going to be heartbroken in the morning. Dreading telling him.

There was no blood in poo and i didn't notice anything else unusual. Crop did not seem swollen. She was really limp by the time I got home - couldn't even hold her head up by herself. Now i'm freaked out about the mites. I'm going to try the orange oil and lots of DE in the coop this weekend.

 

[incubatingisfun]

so sorry about your chicken

 

[kathyinmo]

Copied from old posts:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=226143
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2525157#p2525157

The definite no-questions way to treat lice and mites is use permethrin dust on the birds or ivermectin in the older birds (see below about using wazine first), and use permethin liquid (goat lice spray - read the label) on the wood, 3' up from the bedding, and in the eyes and cracks and joints of the wood near nest boxes, on roosts, etc.You can worm the next day and get it all done. Give them all yogurt that day. (Put them out of the coop when you're spraying the wood). The permethrin doesn't penetrate them.

Then in 2-4 weeks, you can use ivermectin (5% cattle pour-on, the blue liquid - I buy generic ivermectin) on your adult birds birds to kill blood-taking parasites. You will want to repeat the wazine treatment for the babies at that time. Wazine is meant to be repeated as it only kills adults. In birds not wormed over six months, I would always recommend wazine first anyway as you don't know the parasite load. Too many parasites (larva and adults) dying at once with ivermectin might be too stressful on them, particulary if they've been battling mites.

You can use ivermectin on them at 4 months old. Use the 5% cattle ivermectin pour-on, the blue liquid. On the ivermectin pour on, I use 1 drop for a small OE hen sized bantam, 2 drops for an OE male to a regular small bantam, 3 drops for an average bantam or very small commercial hen, 4 drops for an average adult chicken or small large-breed hen, 5 drops for a large large-fowl bird, and 6 drops for giant breeds, a large bird. That's the blue "ivermectin" not any other '-ectin'.

I use a 3 cc syringe with a 25g needle. I of course don't inject, but I find the needle makes a very precise size of drop and allows me to place it better. I hold the syringe horizontally in case the chicken hops up so I don't poke it. Then you just have to find a very naked spot on their skin - between their shoulders or at the back of their neck works best for me. If you get it on any fluff, it will absorb into the fluff at lightening speed and then you don't know if they get it or not. So aim for very bald skin on their main body.

I treat withdrawals just as indicated for cattle. Ivermectin is not at all labeled for chickens, so we don't really know. However since it is used to treat worm infestations in humans - I like to assume that the amounts in eggs are probably safe for humans if not pregnant. However, I don't like the thought of worms being shed into an egg - so I personally withdraw for 2 weeks "just because it's icky" - such a scientific reason.

Levamisole is also a good choice if you choose it. I simply like ivermectin because it's quick, easy, safe, gets externals.

Unfortunately, mites are too dangerous to go with organic methods which will not kill them. I would recommend you use it if it worked. The permethrin dust is a chemical version of a dust that was once made out of flower petals. It's very safe, much different than things like sevin dust. Mites will take birds down very very quickly.

And if you use permethrin, dust them thoroughly. Yes the younger birds can withstand it.

So my suggested game plan:

Day one: Treat the bedding and birds with permethrin dust. Spray the coops with the permethrin liquid, goat lice spray or with the dust made into a "paint" with water. Paint the legs of the birds again with olive oil , possibly with a little tea tree oil in it, just a tiny bit. (Say you make 1/2 cup of oil, use 3 drops of pure tea tree oil). You'll get the leg mites on the 2nd worming.

Day two: Worm with wazine in the water, all birds. Feed them some yogurt.

Seven days later: redust with permethrin to get hatching lice.

Two to four weeks from first treatment.
Worm all adults with ivermectin pour-on. That will take care of the remaining adults, the larva, and leg mites. Retreat the babies with wazine.

When babies are four months: Worm with ivermectin pour-on. Don't re-worm until your twice annual worming.

Thereafter: worm adults and birds "of age" with ivermectin - in the fall and spring is when I do it.