dct10
Songster
- Aug 24, 2020
- 117
- 181
- 131
Hello all. We've been dealing with a perplexing problem for the past two weeks. I'd be greatly appreciative if any chicken gurus might share some theories/guidance. It's a bit long, but necessary to get all the details. Please be patient. Here's the history.
12 week old Ameraucana pullet from McMurray's. All were Vax'd for Merek's and Coccidiosis at the hatchery. Everyone has been healthy and fed non GMO organic starter from day 1. The flock was about to be transferred from the large brooder box in our garage. They have had the run of our garage for past month and go out to the run during the day. There were two Partridge Cochins who didn't develop as fast so we were waiting until they had enough plummage for the cold nights. Anyway, we have an enclosed breezeway between the house and garage. The chickens often come out and play in the breezeway. On the day in question, the affected chick was very healthy and running around with her friend. I went into the house for 5 minutes then returned and noticed she was staggering a bit and a bit bent toward her right side. There was nothing she could have poisoned herself with so we ruled that out immediately. I thought she may have hurt herself by running into a wooden box or a fan. I noticed a small pile of her feathers on the floor as well. I observed her for a few minutes and checked her over. I could not find any sign of injury other than the feathers. She was walking fine and I returned her to her friends in the garage, I checked on her periodically and she was eating/drinking and walking around but still a bit bent. About 2 hours later I noticed she was on her side and barely conscious. I thought she was dead but when I picked her up she was still alive. I took her in the house and we again looked her over and found nothing. As the night went on, she became worse and she did the death flap. She was truly at deaths door. We stayed with her thinking we didn't want her to die alone. My wife actually slept next to her. In the morning, my wife woke up and was surprised to see her looking at her. She drank some water but would not eat. We continued to encourage her to eat and drink but she was not interested. We took turns sleeping with her and she gradually improved and is now pretty much normal, although she still cannot walk. She is exhibiting wry neck symptoms and her neck is turned sharply to the right. She is capable to moving her neck into normal positions and will straighten it for food, but her neck will go back after that. So we are now at 2 weeks. Next part of the mystery: My wife noticed that she had not deficated for about 36 hours so we were monitoring that as well. After about 3 days, we noticed she was clearly bound up and constipated. We then noticed there was a hard white mass at her vent and she was trying to get it out. It looked and felt exactly like and egg so we thought she was eggbound. We did all the emergency procedures, warm epsom salt bath, KY jelly...the whole nine yards. It wouldn't budge. We made a vet appt but still had to wait another day to get in. That night, we coudl see she made progress and the white mass was partially out but there was slight tearing of her vent. I gently squeezed the mass from the sides and noticed it was indeed the size and shape of an egg. But I also noticed the part I could see cracked a bit. It was not an egg, but a calcified stool and she had alot of undigested feed behind it. Once I knew it wasn't an egg, I was able to take it out piece by piece until we were able to get to the softer part. She was able to completely clear her bowel and she is now deficating normally...but still cannot walk. There is no paralysis. Her legs move independently and are strong. Her wings flap normally. She just has no balance at all. We try to assist her walking and she puts one foot in front of the other. But she wants to fall to her left side at all times. We considered she may have a middle ear infection or wry neck. BTW, we took her to the vet and they administered nsaid and told us to keep doing what we're doing. She was as perplexed as we are but she was sure it wasn't Merek's. So now we are at two weeks and she's spry and eating and drinking. She just can't walk and her neck is still crooked to the right. Any guidance or theories greatly appreciated. We have been giving her vitamins daily by dropper, flax seeds for selenium. Help please.
12 week old Ameraucana pullet from McMurray's. All were Vax'd for Merek's and Coccidiosis at the hatchery. Everyone has been healthy and fed non GMO organic starter from day 1. The flock was about to be transferred from the large brooder box in our garage. They have had the run of our garage for past month and go out to the run during the day. There were two Partridge Cochins who didn't develop as fast so we were waiting until they had enough plummage for the cold nights. Anyway, we have an enclosed breezeway between the house and garage. The chickens often come out and play in the breezeway. On the day in question, the affected chick was very healthy and running around with her friend. I went into the house for 5 minutes then returned and noticed she was staggering a bit and a bit bent toward her right side. There was nothing she could have poisoned herself with so we ruled that out immediately. I thought she may have hurt herself by running into a wooden box or a fan. I noticed a small pile of her feathers on the floor as well. I observed her for a few minutes and checked her over. I could not find any sign of injury other than the feathers. She was walking fine and I returned her to her friends in the garage, I checked on her periodically and she was eating/drinking and walking around but still a bit bent. About 2 hours later I noticed she was on her side and barely conscious. I thought she was dead but when I picked her up she was still alive. I took her in the house and we again looked her over and found nothing. As the night went on, she became worse and she did the death flap. She was truly at deaths door. We stayed with her thinking we didn't want her to die alone. My wife actually slept next to her. In the morning, my wife woke up and was surprised to see her looking at her. She drank some water but would not eat. We continued to encourage her to eat and drink but she was not interested. We took turns sleeping with her and she gradually improved and is now pretty much normal, although she still cannot walk. She is exhibiting wry neck symptoms and her neck is turned sharply to the right. She is capable to moving her neck into normal positions and will straighten it for food, but her neck will go back after that. So we are now at 2 weeks. Next part of the mystery: My wife noticed that she had not deficated for about 36 hours so we were monitoring that as well. After about 3 days, we noticed she was clearly bound up and constipated. We then noticed there was a hard white mass at her vent and she was trying to get it out. It looked and felt exactly like and egg so we thought she was eggbound. We did all the emergency procedures, warm epsom salt bath, KY jelly...the whole nine yards. It wouldn't budge. We made a vet appt but still had to wait another day to get in. That night, we coudl see she made progress and the white mass was partially out but there was slight tearing of her vent. I gently squeezed the mass from the sides and noticed it was indeed the size and shape of an egg. But I also noticed the part I could see cracked a bit. It was not an egg, but a calcified stool and she had alot of undigested feed behind it. Once I knew it wasn't an egg, I was able to take it out piece by piece until we were able to get to the softer part. She was able to completely clear her bowel and she is now deficating normally...but still cannot walk. There is no paralysis. Her legs move independently and are strong. Her wings flap normally. She just has no balance at all. We try to assist her walking and she puts one foot in front of the other. But she wants to fall to her left side at all times. We considered she may have a middle ear infection or wry neck. BTW, we took her to the vet and they administered nsaid and told us to keep doing what we're doing. She was as perplexed as we are but she was sure it wasn't Merek's. So now we are at two weeks and she's spry and eating and drinking. She just can't walk and her neck is still crooked to the right. Any guidance or theories greatly appreciated. We have been giving her vitamins daily by dropper, flax seeds for selenium. Help please.
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