Injured Silkie. Barely able to walk. Standing & eating ok. *UPDATE*

[JLS]

Last night I noticed that my beloved silkie, Miss Perdy, was having some difficulty walking. She fell off the perch while attempting to roost. She regained her composure and made it to the nest box to roost. This AM I was about to leave for work when I noticed that she was lying on her side on the pallet that is in the yard. Her leg was caught. While she was stuck the other birds in the flock preceeded to pick at her head - removing most of her glorious head-dress thus causing her to bleed

I put her in a secluded area of the coop w/ food and water. She was unable to stand at that point. I had to leave her because I had to go to work. At 1pm I returned home to find her standing and eating some food. She tried to walk toward me which looked as if it was causing her pain.

I LOVE this little hen w/ all of my heart. Please advise me as to what I can do to help her regain her strength and mobility. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[stoopid]

Silkies are prone to brain injuries, especially if she has the domed head.
Did you notice this before she fell off the perch, or maybe after that?
It didn't help she got pecked after she got trapped in the pallet. Keep her separated for now, til we find out a bit more.

 

[JLS]

Quote:
I noticed that she fell off the perch before she was trapped in the pallet this AM.

 

[stoopid]

was she fine before she fell, or so you think she was hurt before, and fell because of that problem?
How do her pupils look? are they the same left to right?

 

[Alfred's Mama]

I think the first place to look is the affected area, then if nothing is there thinking about other parts of her body/situations, are there any obvious injuries to her feet or legs? Also check her hocks for swelling, carefully exmine from her hips down, if there is no injury but swelling it could either be an infection or possibly a vitamin D deficiency - if she's not already on any supplements I recommend getting her some vitamin D and E, if you can find a good strength multi vitamin maybe that could help? I noticed my 4 month old male silkie Alfred looking a little wobbly around a fortnight ago, previously he was very healthy, now he can barely stand, it turned out he has a condition that prevents him absorbing nutrients properly which left him with huge deficiencies, causing his toes to curl, rickets and wry neck - although symptoms may sound similar I wouldn't say that must be the problem with your girl, the biggest mistake I made was leaving a visit to a vet as a last resort, every day is vital and unfortunately every day counts with a deficiency, if it's really not possible to get her to a vet try the vitamins. Any concerns about infection try some Baytril, especially if she has any trouble with her head healing. I'm sure if you keep the wound clean and apply a good antiseptic ointment the skin can grow back and she'll get a new head of feathers, keeping my fingers crossed for you both.

 

[JLS]

Quote:
I think she must have been injured before she fell. I checked her eyes. Her puplils are even. She raises her legs VERY high and slow when she attempts to walk. I just put some vitamins in her water along with a baby asprin (81 mg of asprin per quart of water). I will try to palpate her legs after she gets some asprin in her system. Hopefully it will make the pain subside.

 

[JLS]

Thank you for your help. My little Miss Perdy was unable to lift her head this morning. She was laying on her side shaking. I made the difficult call to take her to my vet to have her put to sleep. She went very peacefully. I miss her so much. It is amazing how much that little hen stole my heart! My heart has shattered into a million pieces.