marek's, wry neck, or mites? PLEASE HELP

[NewToFarming]

Quote:
No, she didn't start laying yet. She is a silkie so it might be awhile. I kept her inside with all the chicks I had up until the past 3 weeks. I put her in the coop with the last group of chicks and she is doing really good. I keep her in the coop though and only have her outside if I am there with her. I do leave the coop door open a bit for the other chickens to go in and out but she has not ventured out on her own yet. I did make sure she is eating OK. She does find food and water but I have her own little feeding area set up and I put her there as much as I can throughout the day. I just have to keep a closer eye her than all of the others to make sure she gets enough to eat and drink. I do find her in different areas of the coop so she seems to get around in there. I also still give her vitamins to be sure she is getting enough of that too.

I am sure if she did lose her vision suddenly it could cause her to stop laying? Is her abdomen swollen or anything? Do you think she could be laying internally?

Yes, Let me know how she is tomorrow and Miss Lydia brought up a good point if she could have received some sort of head trauma, that could cause blindness as well as other neurological damage. I hope you can figure it out soon and get her fixed up!

 

[NewToFarming]

Just wondering how your girl is doing. I hope she is on the mend and doing well!

 

[birdbrain5]

hello sorry i hadnt updated you. i picked her up and checked her out again, shes a dark red so i think bugs would be easily seen and i still see none. if she is blind its got to be in just one eye because she gets under the roost and looks like shes trying to figure out how to get up there. after i was poking around with her she went into the nest box, so now im guessing its some kind of head trauma. i just dont know what else to do for her. i would think if she was laying internally she would be dead by now. if you re read my first post explaining her decline in the two day time period, do you think its most likely a trauma of some kind? she has seemed better but shes kind of hit a wall now and is just staying the same. any ideas on what i could do? im not sure whats going to go on with her, if she will end up back to normal or at least start laying again.

just real strange.

 

[NewToFarming]

I might be wrong on this so you might want to search on here for mites, but I believe mites come out and are more active at night. So, you might want to check her over at night to see if you can see any critters on her.
One good thing is that she is not becoming worse, so that is a good sign. But, it is frustrating when you don’t know what is happening with her! I know you had said you gave her some oil for her crop. When you feel her crop, does it feel fairly normal? Sour crop they will feel large and pretty much like a balloon filled with water. Impacted crop would be larger and very firm & hard.
Yes, an injury could be very likely too. It could happen from another one pecking her or she might have fell off something?? I know some of my girls think they are circus chickens and I find them up on some pretty high areas doing their tightrope act! ;-)
Maybe, if we can’t eliminate some things and move onto the next and so one, you could figure something out???
From what I gather, you don’t think she is fully blind, but maybe partially? This could definitely come from trauma as well…
Crossing my fingers you can get to the bottom of this!!! Please keep us posted on what you find with her!!!
Hang in there!!!

 

[birdbrain5]

when i looked her over it was at night, because i did read about them coming out at night. i didnt see anything crawling on her. i see no pecks on her head, and her eyes look clear. her pupils might be a little big but im really not sure. i dont know much about the crop situation, i was just grasping at straws when i gave her oil. where would i feel around? i dont even really know where a crop is

if it were something like that, would she still be alive after all this time? this has been going on for 3 weeks or so

thanks a lot for your help and suggestions!

 

[NewToFarming]

Oh, please don't feel bad not knowing about the crop!!! If this helps you, I am new to chickens since June of last year and I feel I have learned a ton in this short time!!! I didn't know about the crop either until one of mine had gotten sour crop!! I just read and search on here and you can find answers and what you can't find by searching, you can usually find someone who knows by posting!!!
The crop is in the very front of their breast. It will be flat if they haven't eaten for awhile, can feel larger normally if they have just eaten, balloony if sour and very hard if impacted. I would go around and feel normal ones so then I knew what an abnormal one feels like.
I found this link to help you see the location of the crop.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=10845

Let me know if you think her crop could be the problem. It can throw them off balance and appear very ill if sour or impacted.

 

[birdbrain5]

well im really not sure, im not feeling anything really

could i treat her for it anyhow just incase im missing it? how would i treat sour crop?

 

[NewToFarming]

You can give her some Apple Cider Vinegar. It will not hurt her and I give it to mine routinely about twice a month to try to possibly avoid sour crop from starting. I have read the best to use is if you can find it is the brand Braggs....it says something about "with the mother in it" I believe it is more organic.
If you can't feel her crop enlarged, I would say her crop is OK but it will not hurt her by putting a little in the waterers. If she would have a definite sour crop. I would also with hold food for 24 hrs, then start her back up by giving some oil soaked bread, yogurt then progressing to chicken feed.
Is she eating and drinking OK?

 

[birdbrain5]

ok im going to give her the ACV today, ill prob just put it in the waterer and see what happens over the next few days. i picked her up lastnight and unlike the other she dips her head down all low and makes herself front heavy so i dropped her!!! omg i felt so bad, she squabbled back up but she landed on her face, cant help matters.. ugh. im not sure what else to do with her, i was thinking of calling the man i got her from hes real experienced so maybe he would know, or if he reccomends to put her out of her misery id ask if he could, i couldnt do it. wish i could but i cant. i dont know if i should do that tho? i have seen her over at the feeder so i believe shes eating and drinking. i dont know if i have somewhere to put her to seperate right now. i was really loving those big brown eggs too, darn.

how much ACV should i put in a 3 gallon waterer?

 

[NewToFarming]

Don't feel bad! My blind girl does the tip also and I have taught her that when I put her one foot on my hand, she will bring the other one to my hand and then I lift her up like in one hand with my other hand on her breast area so she doesn't do that topple.

Having a sour or impacted crop could make her lose balance and also my blind girl does the front topple. Can you get a picture of her?? MAybe that will help me or someone else to possibly see???

Forgot to add. I just drip some ACV in but probably no more than a tablespoon is needed for a 3 gallon.