My Silkie is crooked

[jujubean99]

Yesterday I adopted a young silkie hen from someone who didn't want her anymore.

I brought her home and put her in with my other adult bantams. They have pretty much ignored her and a couple times they tried to show her where the food was. All she does is sit wherever I put her. I noticed she has a moderate case of scissor beak, but the rest of her body is also kind of crooked. Like her spine seems to have a slight curve in it, and she is just crooked! The lady I got her from says she was born fine and has been getting more crooked ever since! Yikes! I trimmed her beak (it was SO long) and fed her water with an eye dropper and mashed up some yogurt and chick starter and put kernels into her mouth for a while. She tried pecking it off my finger a few times but with little success. She seems to have issues with her fine motor skills- maybe a spinal cord issue?

I left her in her carrier with the door open earlier and low and behold she is in the exact same position she was in. She sits on my lap and perches on my hand so I know she has functioning legs.

Any advice on teaching her to walk/eat/drink again (clearly she did at her old house otherwise she wouldn't be alive)?? Has anyone else had a crooked chicken? Should I bring her inside and raise her special with the babies or let her tough it out and trust that she'll figure it out if she gets hungry/thirsty enough?

Thank you!!

 

[GitaBooks]

The problem could be genetic, nutritional, or caused by an injury. Silkies are prone to brain damage, and when this happens they tend to sit in one place, have trouble eating food, and almost act blind. I had one silkie like this, and she never did get better, but she learned how to find food and water (she stepped in it and then would find it). However, I lost her to a respiratory infection.

You could bring her in with the babies and help her learn to find food and water. However, she'll just have to learn all over again when she moves outside. There are pros and cons to both decisions. We actually had to force-feed our silkie the first little while.

Best of luck!