So to start off with, the chicken in question in question is a 4 year old Americuana, slightly underweight, she's been separated from the rest of the flock for a while so we could treat a torn ligament that had prevented her from walking and abscess on the bottom of her foot. She got better (walking fine with a splint), then worse (not walking at all, at which point we started treating the abscess,) then better again (walking a little bit), and now she's worse— unable to stand, wings spread out, and just. Thrusting her head forward. I'll move her to a fluffy spot and come back hours later and find her in a different direction, jerking her head into the rubber ground, and her food and water buried in pine shavings.
The reason why I am unsure if she is having a seizure is because we did have a a previous chicken who died from seizures (Columbian Wyandotte, 3 years old, severely underweight and "slow,"—- her seizures started happening when she started gaining weight.) and this seems to be a completely different reaction.
While the previous chicken was flailing every which way and flipping herself over, this chicken's convulsions have a repeated pattern that's slow and consistent. Head forward and down, forward and down. Flapping her wings sometimes, but not all the time. She seems to have a hard time keeping her head up when this happens, but it doesn't seem like she's doing it 100% of the time? I can walk through the barn and not hear her, but if I walk in and say hello and stuff she seems to be worse (though I could be overreacting at this point.)
This is the 3rd or 4th day— I've avoided doing anything beyond giving food and water (which is hard for her to consume,) because bluntly, I thought she would have passed by this point. Is there something I am missing? Is she just choking and I could have stopped it already? Is there anyway I can help her, or is this just a slow terminal thing? I want to stop her suffering one way or another— having to walk into the barn and potentially see her is giving me too much anxiety and guilt.
The reason why I am unsure if she is having a seizure is because we did have a a previous chicken who died from seizures (Columbian Wyandotte, 3 years old, severely underweight and "slow,"—- her seizures started happening when she started gaining weight.) and this seems to be a completely different reaction.
While the previous chicken was flailing every which way and flipping herself over, this chicken's convulsions have a repeated pattern that's slow and consistent. Head forward and down, forward and down. Flapping her wings sometimes, but not all the time. She seems to have a hard time keeping her head up when this happens, but it doesn't seem like she's doing it 100% of the time? I can walk through the barn and not hear her, but if I walk in and say hello and stuff she seems to be worse (though I could be overreacting at this point.)
This is the 3rd or 4th day— I've avoided doing anything beyond giving food and water (which is hard for her to consume,) because bluntly, I thought she would have passed by this point. Is there something I am missing? Is she just choking and I could have stopped it already? Is there anyway I can help her, or is this just a slow terminal thing? I want to stop her suffering one way or another— having to walk into the barn and potentially see her is giving me too much anxiety and guilt.