My silkie is dying! Whats wrong with her? Please reply!!!

[Soot the silkie]

I have a little black silkie named soot. Her head is too small for her body. Every day she gets clumsier. She can't walk. She can't sleep on a roost. Does she have a genetic defect? Does she have Marek's disease (if the name is wrong, sorry. You know the disease that makes chickens paralyzed)? Most important, when do you think she'll die? I don't want her to die, but that's the direction her condition is heading.

 

[ProviderEx]

I'm sorry to hear about what you are going through.

From what i know, which isn't much, not all silkies roost. some will just sleep in a pile on the ground.
They are clumsy birds from the ones I have seen. and they do have tiny little heads.

as for marek's eyes will tell the story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek's_disease

I am no expert

 

[rebrascora]

Hi, Sorry to hear your hen is ill. I'm no expert but I'm sure more information will help the people who are.

How old is your hen and has she started laying yet?
How long has she been ill?
Is she eating and drinking?
Have you physically examined her and if so, is there anything unusual... lumps and bumps where they shouldn't be etc.... could she be egg bound?
When you say her head is too small for her body, how small.... a photo would really help.
Have you had her from hatching? Has she been vaccinated? Has she always been out of proportion?
There are a number of ailments that can make a chicken unsteady on their feet, some as simple as an injury to the foot so don't despair just yet.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Soot the silkie]

She's about 16 weeks. She hasn't started laying. When she was a chick her head was the right size, but she still has a chick head. Here's a picture:

Soot eats and drinks, but has a hard time getting to the water and food, she's so clumsy. The first time I really noticed she was having trouble was a few days ago when she lay on her side and couldn't get up because of her clumsiness. I don't know if she's been vaccinated, and I've had her since she was a day old.

 

[ProviderEx]

I called a friend.
Yup, they are clumsy, have small heads (they stay small) and do not have hard shafted feathers and apparently they have funny feet.
they like sleeping on the ground. you can't drop them to ground. they will flap and land hard.
I'm told that is why their feathers are so soft. because they have no hard shaft. she did say something about needing more than one for body head but she had to go. I bug her a lot.


I'm sorry i can't help more, I'm sure the experts can chime in and give far better input

 

[Soot the silkie]

Yep, your right about them landing hard. Soot sometimes struggles and manages to get free of me. She kind of tumbles along on the ground. Maybe this is why she's clumsy. (Don't judge me for dropping her. The only reason she manages to get free is that her wings are super fragile so I keep a gentle grip on her, and then she makes a break for it). I still think her head is too small. If she has a leg injury, is there any way to cure it? I feel her legs, thinking that she'd peep (yes, she still peeps) if it hurt, but she doesn't. She doesn't seem in pain either.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

She doesn't look particularly unusual for a silkie and as the other poster says, they don't usually roost but just sit on the floor on a night.

Yes I know what you mean about them struggling and dropping them. Don't feel bad, I'm sure it has happened to us all at some time or another. What amazes me is just how strong chickens are for their size!

Anyway, thinking back, I had a problem with my silkie which was probably similar. I actually called her Dippy because she seemed a bit "slow" (ie not a full deck of cards or a sandwich short of a picnic as we say here), but it turned out that her eyes were bad and eventually she just couldn't see.... I thought I would have to put her to sleep because she became completely blind but a friend suggested I gently bath her eyes with warm slightly salted water and a cotton bud (Q tip) as he had had a silkie with the same problem. Sure enough, when I got hold of her and managed to see underneath her pom pom of fluff, both her eyes were matted shut. I had to bath them daily for a week to get them right, but she was absolutely fine once I got them sorted. I hope this is the problem with your Soot. I think silkies may be prone to eye problems with all that fluff hanging around their head.

Good luck.

Barbara

 

[ProviderEx]

For pain you can try a few things like crushed baby Tylenol in the water or just in your hand. but i definitely wouldn't jump to that, because you can't tell right now, with certainty.
Does she have full range of motion in her legs?
If you press the bottom of her foot with just your index finger, will she bend her toes to grip your fingers?

you can test a bunch of things.

again, I am no expert

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

How is Soot today. Hope she is looking and feeling better and you have been able to find what is wrong and help her.
Thinking of you both and sending healing wishes

Barbara

 

[Soot the silkie]

Hi

She doesn't look particularly unusual for a silkie and as the other poster says, they don't usually roost but just sit on the floor on a night.

Yes I know what you mean about them struggling and dropping them. Don't feel bad, I'm sure it has happened to us all at some time or another. What amazes me is just how strong chickens are for their size!

Anyway, thinking back, I had a problem with my silkie which was probably similar. I actually called her Dippy because she seemed a bit "slow" (ie not a full deck of cards or a sandwich short of a picnic as we say here), but it turned out that her eyes were bad and eventually she just couldn't see.... I thought I would have to put her to sleep because she became completely blind but a friend suggested I gently bath her eyes with warm slightly salted water and a cotton bud (Q tip) as he had had a silkie with the same problem. Sure enough, when I got hold of her and managed to see underneath her pom pom of fluff, both her eyes were matted shut. I had to bath them daily for a week to get them right, but she was absolutely fine once I got them sorted. I hope this is the problem with your Soot. I think silkies may be prone to eye problems with all that fluff hanging around their head.

Good luck.

Barbara

She is "slow" (that's exactly what I call her) but it isn't her eyes. She's nonbearded so I can see her eyes and they look fine. I even gave her an eye feather trimming to make sure she could see. Another problem with her is she can't stretch her neck out at all so it's hard for her to eat and drink. Most of the day she sits in one spot and stares at the ground.