MichelleG77
In the Brooder
- Jun 13, 2020
- 10
- 18
- 49
Hello! I have a 9 week old white crested polish pullet chick. She came to us in the mail from Meyer Hatchery along with 3 other polish chicks and a Buff Orpington. I also hatched chicks about 8 days later so she has lived with a total of 13 other chicks. We bought a manufactured coop and had been putting them in it during the day for the last couple weeks (there is also a small fenced-in area covered with netting that we had open for them. We had been bringing them inside at night for the first week but decided to try to have them start staying in the coop at night. We put a light in the coop so they would know where to go in at dark. We would go out at night to make sure all the chicks had gone up and would usually find a couple that needed help knowing where to go. On the 3rd night we went out about an hour after dark and I saw the polish chick on the ground in the run (which had been locked up). My daughter tried to coax her over so she could pick her up, but she wouldn't come. We assumed she was just afraid (not of my daughter...my daughter holds this particular chick a lot and she even gets rides in the car through drive-thrus). My daughter picked her up and was going to put her in the coop but noticed something wasn't right. We took her in the house and had planned to put her in with some chicks we have in the basement that are about 6 weeks old, but realized she couldn't stand. We brought her upstairs and noticed that her mouth was open and she seemed to be having trouble breathing. She could stay in a sitting position, but she was on her hocks and her legs were bent forward so that her toes were out in front of her. Soon she started gasping for air. I have had other pets do this and they died shortly after so we figured this was the end. We tried to give her water but were afraid she would aspirate it. We put her in a tub in our living room and thought for sure she would be gone by morning, but the next morning she was still alive. There was no change in her legs. She wasn't gasping for air as much but would hold her mouth open for long periods of time. Her head was also twitching. We would dip her beak in water with nutri drench, but couldn't tell if she was getting any in. We kept trying all that day, but no improvement. We would sometimes find her on her back so we would pick her up and put her in the sitting position. We also made a sling to put her in to help her stand more steadily (The nearest Avian vet is 2.5 hours from us. I had called Meyer Hatchery for advice and Medvet Avian department in Hilliard, Ohio, but no help). She made it through the 2nd night. The 2nd morning I had made her eggs and when she opened her mouth, I could lay one in and she would eat it. I dipped one in nutri-drench, but then she didn't want anymore. A few hours later she was standing better. Later that evening she would attempt to eat and drink on her own. We have been taking her outside and she can walk short distances now and preens a lot. She is eating and drinking on her own when we remind her to do so. We have no idea why she suddenly started having these symptoms. She was perfectly fine before dark. We hadn't changed her food and we didn't give her anything new to eat. We don't know if she ran into the side of the cage or if she has something severe like Marek's. We did notice when she was younger that her eyes look different. Could it be Marek's? We want to let her visit her friends so she doesn't become depressed, but if she has something like Marek's we don't Sorry for such a long post. I'm going to attach a picture of her eye.
