Injured 7 week old Buttercup

[drowningcreek]

As I was closing up the coop tonight I noticed one of our Buttercups was lying on the ground in the run unable to walk. She was fine only an hour earlier being friendly as ever. She has tendency to fly up on our shoulders and tonight was no different. She has a particular interest in trying to fly up to a bar that connects to the run wire. I found her lying not to far from there. She has been vaccinated for Marek's and shown no signs of other disease. The rest of the flock is healthy. They being fed Dumor 20% starter and/or Purina flockraiser 20% along with a small amount scratch grains and greens from the garden. The greens are organically grown with no pesticides or chemicals.

I'm figuring she tried to fly up to the bar and may have gotten hung in the wire. I carefully felt up he length of both her legs and nothing seems broken. She doesn't seem to be in pain. She can move her legs and feet and doesn't seem to be paralyzed. She can put resistance against my hand when push gently against her feet. She just can't stand up or walk

I put her in an isolation pen with fresh pine shavings, a heat lamp in the opposite end along with fresh water and food within easy reach. She settled right in and went to sleep.

Any other suggestions what could cause this type condition? I'm leaning in the direction of believing it's a muscle injury from a failed flight attempt. We are going to watch her closely for any sign of disease.

Also, any suggestions on what we can give her to help with recovery?

Thanks,

--Jeff

 

[easttxchick]

At this point, I think you are doing the best thing. Just keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't start showing any other symptoms.
Sure hope she does well for you.

 

[drowningcreek]

She ate a little this morning. I'm giving her some electrolytes and vitamins in water with a dropper and some chick gel with B on her food. She can move her legs and grip my fingers with her toes, but not able to stand. She is alert and tends to want to lay on her side. She is showing no other symptoms.

I think she may have pulled some muscles or something similar. Any suggestions on treating soft tissue damage? Never had to deal with anything like this.

 

[drowningcreek]

So she ate very little the rest of the day. I did get some vitamin water in her using a dropper, but she seems to not want to eat or drink. Suggestions as to how to get some nutrition in her?

 

[drowningcreek]

I'm pleased to announce that our Buttercup looks like she is going to make a full recovery. She is basically teaching herself to walk again. 2 steps forward, three backwards, sideways etc! We put her on a special diet, plenty of exercise and supervised yard time to flop around and get her feet back. we also brought her other 3 sisters down and put them in a small coop together. She really seemed to perk up after that. It was matter of a couple of days and she was back on her feet. I guess having her buddies around lifted her spirits and gave her the willpower to get up and walk again. Check out our blog to follow the progress . And here is the recipe that we found on the internet and modified slightly for our girl. She loved it and I credit this mix for getting her to eat when all else failed. It saved her life. In two weeks she went from no movement in her legs at all and barely eating to a full apetite and back walking again. Small miracles.

Here is a pic while she was in her sling a wekk ago and back with the girls this morning

Sick Chicken High Vitamin Food

½ cooked egg yolk… crumbled into mixture
2 soft gels of cod liver oil punctured and squeezed into mix
1 very small drizzle of honey
1 heaping tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons rolled oats
1 dab beef pate' cat food…… Not dog food
1/2 capsule of a good multi-vitamin
1/4 crushed B12
1/2 dry E capsule - every other day as this stays in the system longer
1 tablespoons of grated apple
1 thin slice banana
2 crushed blueberries
1 teaspoon hemp seed
1/2 teaspoon crushed raw sunflower seed
1/2 teaspoon ground flax seed
1/8 teaspoon chia seed

Mix to make a crumble mixture not runny, if you have to roll into pellets and force feed, and then gently massage the neck in a downward motion to get it down into the crop, then do it, the bird may be too weak to eat or have lost the desire to eat…

We mixed a fresh batch each morning. She also received lots of "Save a Chick" vitamin enriched water. We got the vitamin mix in small packs from TSC. Simple and effective.

 

[ReeseTheChick]

I am so happy she is better!!!! She is very pretty too!