Peafowl problem! Please help!

[jroberts]

I am a new member. But I was raised on a traditonal farm with several different fowl. They were my job as a kid to take care of since everything else was too big for me to handle. I picked up a few things. Lol.

 

[jroberts]

If any of that sounds familiar It could be gape worms. It's common in backyard chicks. If her stool is not solid she may have them. But a number if respiratory and genetic problems could be the cause. If you haven't figured it out yet. Get up with me and we will see of we can narrow it down. I also have old home remedies wrote down somewhere for chickens, turkeys and peafowl. So if you need help. Just message me.

 

[SweetPeas11]

If any of that sounds familiar It could be gape worms. It's common in backyard chicks. If her stool is not solid she may have them. But a number if respiratory and genetic problems could be the cause. If you haven't figured it out yet. Get up with me and we will see of we can narrow it down. I also have old home remedies wrote down somewhere for chickens, turkeys and peafowl. So if you need help. Just message me.

 

[SweetPeas11]

Hello jroberts! Thank you for the reply. I was raised on a farm, have a small one now, 40 chickens and 7 geese and 5 peafowl. I did my research on peafowl and they have a lot in common with other fowl. I treat various conditions with the chickens with the help of a good Vet. She was sickly when I got her at three days old. The other 4 were 7-10 days old, she was a late hatch. I wasn't going to take her (25.00), but I just couldn't leave her either. I nursed her with poultry cell and nutri drench, I also treated them all with corid, you never know. She got stronger and seemed to catch up with everyone else. We just put them outside in a 10x10 run, top is solid, two sides covered for max shade. They have two small roosts about three feet off the ground. They have a huge insulated dog house full of pine shavings. They prefer to sleep on top though. She was fine for about a week. I'm in the pen several times a day to keep an eye on them, but they are loving the space. I did raise them in the house. I noticed she was walking "carefully" is the only way to describe it. Then she stopped rocked back and forth and fell backwards on her tail. She gets right up, and goes again, and sometimes she keeps her balance just fine. Just not always. She's eating and drinking and running around with the rest of them, but at times seems to lose her balance. Especially when she's just walking around, running she has no problem. I have her on 1cc of poultry cell split twice a day. She isn't getting worse, but I do know she came from a different very young hen than the the other 4. I have spoken to my Vet but he's at a loss as well. She's perfectly normal, poop as well, except for the loss of balance. Legs are also fine, no injury. No panting, I looked for gapes but don't see anything. They have been wormed once with panacur. Vet recommended. He also says could be hereditary. Don't know, just frustrated. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[casportpony]

Some diseases can cause ataxia, but with normal looking poop that seems unlikely. Maybe switching to a vitamin like Rooster Booster Poultry Cell might be worth looking into. Read this link and see if anything fits:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html

Probably also a good idea to have your vet check the poop for coccidia, worm eggs, bacteria, yeast, etc. This will be two tests, on is a fecal float, the other is a gram stain.

You say the chick is eating and drinking, but is it making the proper daily weight gains? At 8 weeks your chick should weigh about 750 grams (1.65 pounds), plus upwards would be great, but any less than that would make me change my treatment program.

Gapeworms... gapes are hard to detect and cannot be seen by simply looking in the mouth. Treatment of gapeworms and capillary worms need several days of treatment with fenbendazole (Safeguard or Panacur), and your vet will have the dosing info in their parasite book. A one day treatment will only treat large roundworms and cecal worms.

Just a thought... have you thoroughly checked her toes, feet, and legs?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

I see in post #24 that you mention poultry cell... Is that the one made by rooster booster?

-Kathy

 

[SweetPeas11]

I see in post #24 that you mention poultry cell... Is that the one made by rooster booster?

-Kathy

 

[SweetPeas11]

Yes, it has higher B vitamin.

 

[jroberts]

Np.

 

[Trefoil]

How long have you been giving her the vits? Is she showing any improvement? Do you live in a selenium deficient area? What are you feeding them?