Please Help!!! Hen off balance and swaying while molting!

[dlhunicorn]

This am I added several teaspoons epsom salts to water in an attempt to flush her system. I also fed her a large amount of plain yogurt and cooked oatmeal sprinkled with reptile multivitamins.

Stop the epsom salts...
Stop feeding dogfood (too much salt and inappropriate for chickens ratio of vit to each other
Stop giving reptile vitamins (again the proportion of vitamins to each are not what a chicken needs)
>>>>Get a good (daily formulation) complete general vitamimin formulation which has been formulated especially for chickens like AviaCharge 2000 (available to purchase online from McMurry or Strombergs) > if you cant do that then go to the pet store and get the vitamin for molting BIRDS and give that along with some sunflowerseed hearts and a bit of boiled egg (dont go overboard on this though)
Birds which go into molt directly after the summer (especially if during the summer heat stress were not given a vitamin supplement) will be borderline deficient in several vitamins > this is why the birds so easily succomb to illness directly when the temps start swinging and it becomes colder (they are weak)
>>> Your bird needs you to put electrolytes in her water for at least a week (swaying etc) to help with dehydration issues.
>>>> If you havent wormed your birds I suggest you do so (spot-on application of ivermectin/ivomecEprinex)​

 

[Rajadito]

Is it ok to give chickens black sunflower seeds with the shell still on?? Will worming her at this point compromise her immune system more?

 

[dlhunicorn]

yes you can give sunflower seed hearts but de-shelled (the shells have no nutritional value)

You can worm with an ivermectin or ivomec Eprinex (topical spot-on" application) with no problems.

 

[seminolewind]

My roo is going thru the same thing. Exactly the same thing. Should I bring him in and keep him in the crate?

 

[seminolewind]

Bump-need advice!

 

[dlhunicorn]

If the temps are cold and your bird is visible showing symptoms of not feeling well then getting him in to a temp stable and warm area will always help (see earlier post)

 

[O.C.Chick]

Rajaditto and others having the same problem....Any updates? I have a broody Araucana bantam that just got off her nest to eat, and she was extremely wobbly and off balance like she was drunk. I am hoping that this is just a symptom of weakness from not eating regularly while broody, and not a symptom of some disease. If anyone is still subscribing to this post, please share the outcome! Hope that everyone's chickens are doing better!

Alys