Narcolepsy and other odd "new chick" behavior - normal?!

[farrier!]

So sorry about the duck.......hopefully the chicks will do better.

 

[vfem]

Don't beat yourself up... these things can happen.

I always made our ducks a 'green soup' where I put lettuce, spinach or other greens (sometimes tomatoes) into some water in a the blender, and then serve the soup in the tub right before bath time. Everything was easily cleaned up and the ducks got their fill.

Don't worry... whats done it done... and you need to concentrate on taking care of the little chicks so they'll be ok.

 

[riqui1]

That "green soup" idea is a great one!! Thank you for that!

I am "getting over it." I am just getting a bit stressed out with all of this happening at once!

I have given the second chick a bit more of the vitamins. I am not getting 1/4 of a dropper into him at one time, but he is getting as much as I can get him to take. Hopefully I will be able to post better news tomorrow.

Is taking them outside to run for a little while okay while they are this young? It is about 70 / 75 here, so I would think that they should be able to handle half an hour, but I wasn't sure, being that their temperature requirements seem to be quite strict.

 

[vfem]

Go ahead and take them out for 20-30 minutes in the sun... its like babies... they need some sun, natural vitamins and all! 75 degrees should be fine at this point for short periods. I think what they can get from being outside, pecking at the ground and fresh air is good for them... best for them even.

Get what vitamins in him you can... the little he gets is better then nothing. He may start taking more and feeling a bit better tomorrow with the little he's getting now.

You shouldn't feel bad for doing the best you can do... Chicks get sick and die sometimes, and sometimes we just don't know why!

I already had to cull my 18 week old duck due to bad damage caused by a turtle attack... it was much harder then I thought it would be, but I got it done. I just couldn't watch him suffer anyone and I couldn't fix the foot.

Someday you may have to be able to cull one of your animals because its best for them, just remember that. It NEVER gets easier!

Wow... I'm such a downer today. I'm sorry... I really want all your guys to get better

 

[riqui1]

A turtle attack!?! Now I have to worry about turtles too?! The only duck that we have left is, somehow, one that is not able to walk well. His legs aren't "just right." I have no idea what is wrong with him, but I really didn't expect him to be the last man standing!! Now, when I finally put him out to the pond, I have to worry about turtle attacks!?!

Oh my...this bird stuff is crazy! I love the fuzzy little things, but holy cow!!

I brought sick chick #2 up into the kitchen with me and got some more vitamins into him. He did better with those. Then I put a pile of food on the floor and he ate pretty well. I had to encourage him to drink, but he did. Those are good signs, to me.

What I thought was odd was that he did his little "tuck and roll" before he started eating and after he was done, but the whole time he was pecking at his food, he never had a problem. He didn't lift his head very high, but it was as if as long as he had something to "focus on" (the food), he was okay.

 

[riqui1]

Oh! I forgot to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised by the response I got from the woman that sold them to me. I emailed her, just to see if she had any idea as to what was going on at that point. She told me that she had no clue exactly what it was but that she had one of the other brown silkies die earlier. She didn't say it was the same thing, but I think that she was feeling guilty, thinking she let them leave too early, etc. I told her what it was and that it wasn't her fault. Now she is concerned that it is a defective gene and is trying to replace the chick(s) for me, especially if I lose two. I tried to tell her that she didn't need to do that, since she bore no guilt, but... Aside from that, it is a 2+ hour road trip!

I know this is a bit irrelevant, but I was very pleased by her offer. It seems that, anymore, once you own something, the seller isn't available to help at all. This was a nice surprise. There are still "honest strangers" out there! And helpful ones found on forums! lol

 

[riqui1]

Hello! I thought that I would let everyone know that chick #2 seems to be about 90% better! While he isn't holding his head as high as the other chicks, I haven't seen him do a "tuck and roll" all day long!

Again, thank you very much for your help!! I will continue putting vitamins in their water and hopefully that will be the last time I have to deal with wry neck!!

 

[catwalk]

Yay! Kisses to all your little chickies!

 

[NancyBrew]

On the narcolepsy....

Given I am a registered sleep tech and work with PEOPLE who have narcolepsy, I would say those chickies are just tuckered out and falling asleep quickly just like a normal baby, or pup or kitten. They may seem narcoleptic, but narcolepsy is really a classic set of specific symptoms.

True Narcolepsy is really a tetrad of conditions, most commonly a sleep attack called cataplexy, and is often brought on by some severe emotion. It is very dramatic in some cases. It is found with partial or total sleep paralysis, which can be as discrete as dropping a pencil, to as severe as falling down or waking paralysed and something called hypnogogic/hypnopompic hallucinations which are like wild and vivid dreams while falling to or waking up from sleep. Narcolepsy is caused by a lack of certain factors called hypocretins in the brain and it is a genetic disorder. The conditions it demonstrates are the intrusion of REM or dream sleep into wakefulness.

The classic video of Dr. Dement shows a bunch of narcoleptic dobermans that are all excited when their owner calls them for food and they run toward the owner and fall down all instantly fall asleep. It is common in Dobermans, and some other dogs, but I could not find anything on the disease in chickens...

Here are some fun videos:

http://med.stanford.edu/school/Psychiatry/narcolepsy/moviedog.html

http://www.livecricket.com.bd/video...crushediamonds/rusty-the-narcoleptic-dog.html

Now if you chickens fall down dead asleep when you call them for goodies, or when spooked by a dog, THEN I would think narcolepsy!

Hope this helps...

Nancy

 

[vfem]

Oh I am so happy to hear he is doing better!!!!! I honestly thought it was just a lack of something or another... I don't think he's got a 'defect'. Plants and animals need certain nutrients to survive and others just to look and act healthy.

Ok doing the happy dance for you, I just knew he'd pull through!

Oh and as for ducky... don't panic too much... in NC we have these GIANT snapping turtles. We have one in our pond that is easily twice as big as my dog. Not so happy about that, but what can one do?! I was watch my ducks.... and treat them the best I can. Other then that, my last 2 pekins are doing really well.

As for your akward walker... my female had something similar with her walk.... she waddles very slow compared to my mail pekin, but she still gets around and is pretty quick now. So I just don't worry.