PARALYZED LETHARGIC... any ideas????

[ksmith]

I was on vacation for 5 days and my neighbors watched my flock of 18 Hens and 2 Ducks. They all seemed to be fine but my one big Buff girl. I went to pick her up and she was paralyzed. When I would set her on the ground she would immediately fall to one side

. I took her to some fresh cold water and started dipping her beak into it. She drank, and drank, and drank. I have isolated her in a seperate cage in the shade with regular ice cold water, ice cold watered down gatorade, egg layer crumles, yogurt, watermelon, and hard boiled egg. She is MUCH better now. walking on her own, but still wobbly. She isn't eating or drinking much on her own though. Her poo is green and runny. She will stand and slowly start to close her eyes and fall asleep. Are there ANY ideas of what this could be? It has been very hot here so maybe she has heat stroke?? is that possible in chickens? Thank You all for advice, or help!

 

[ksmith]

PLEASE can anyone help me out??

 

[Tomczyk]

If she is very hot you could put cool compress on her combe. This will help cool her. She might have just got to hot and went down hill from there.Just keep pushing the fluids and keep her cool. Hope she gets better.

 

[leadwolf1]

If she is recovering, I think you may have had a case of heat stroke. Can you get her into the house in the A/C where she can further recover? I bath in tepid water might help her also...towel dry her so she doesn't get a chill. The green poop is usually from starvation or a bacterial infection.

How is her weight? I would keep her isolated and monitor her closely. Try mixing her crumbles with water and yogurt and see if she likes them better that way.

 

[ksmith]

If she is recovering, I think you may have had a case of heat stroke.  Can you get her into the house in the A/C where she can further recover?  I bath in tepid water might help her also...towel dry her so she doesn't get a chill.  The green poop is usually from starvation or a bacterial infection.

How is her weight?  I would keep her isolated and monitor her closely.  Try mixing her crumbles with water and yogurt and see if she likes them better that way. 

Could I put ice packs wrapped in towels under her to keep her cool? I have a fan on her and she is drinking the water like crazy. She has not eaten anything besides watermelon. So I'm thinking the green watery poo is from not eating much. I have an electrolyte pack in the water. Would putting antibiotics in the water help? Or should I stick with elect.? Thanks for the help

 

[ksmith]

If she is very hot you could put cool compress on her combe. This will help cool her. She might have just got to hot and went down hill from there.Just keep pushing the fluids and keep her cool. Hope she gets better. 

Thanks for the advice... I will try th compress, thanks!

 

[ksmith]

UPDATE: she is still isolated and not interested in eating at all. I put 5 or 6 ice packs under a towel and she seemed to love laying on them. She is drinking the electrolyte water lots too. She will stand up if I kind of push her along. I did set her out of the pen and she pecked around a bit, and then stopped and started to get sleepy again. I am just happy she can at least walk!

 

[ksmith]

She is doing MUCH better! shes out roaming with the rest of the flock! I would say shes still not 100% becuase at times she will stop and take a rest, but shes acting more like a chicken now... eating, running around, fluffing her feathers

. I am so thankful that she made it through this!

 

[leadwolf1]

Wonderful!!! The thing to remember is once they are affected by the heat, they are more susceptible to having more problems in the future..keep a close eye on her when the weather is hot.