Please Help! Sick Bird, I don't know what's wrong

[EffietheSilkie]

Hi, my favorite bird who is more of my freind than a my chicken is sick and I don't know what's wrong. She won't eat, even when I offer her her favorite treat. When I offered her the treat she put her beak to it as if she wanted it then just layed her head in my hand. I did see her drink a little drink water about two days ago, but I have been giving water with a dropper as I haven't seen her drink on her own for a long time. She also seems very weak she trips a lot, sometimes lays on her side, her head droops down sometimes all the way to the ground, and her wings droop down. She also seems to be kind of disoriented normally she's pretty responsive but even when I saw her try to get water she missed the container pecking next to it a few times before being able to get water. I noticed all this about two days ago. She has been a little slow for about two weeks I just didn't think much of it at first, when I first noticed it a little we were at a show so it's possible she got something from there. I did give her wormer two days ago in case it's worms but I'm not sure if that is what it is or not. So if there is anything I can do for her please let me know! I don't want to lose her! Thanks in advance for any help!
I included some pictures of what she's been doing in case it's helpful

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

I'm no expert and I don't want to alarm you but I had a polish do this for 2 or maybe 3 weeks then she passed she was our favorite bird. I have another polish who started doing the same thing and I was/am determined to save her. I read a couple things that maybe you can look into as I don't remember the exact information. First silkies and polish have vaulted craniums and can get "water on the brain" i don't remember all the causes or the exact remedies. In my case I had two birds, a dominant polish rooster and a hen with chicks pecking Figet (current survivor) on the head. It's normal for this behavior with pecking order and all but my bird couldn't take it so I separated and she perked up after about 2 days. I've read that mites, especially in the headdress of these two breeds can cause lots of problems both with themselves scratching and causing injury and pecking of other birds. I've also read a tick can cause these symptoms. I combed over Giget (deceased) hoping it would just be a tick but no luck. Lastly somewhere between staying up late looking for an answer I read tylan can be administered to help the sick bird. Went Giget was getting bad I did tylan 50 (available at most feed stores) and it helped her some. After I gave her the appropriate does for X amount of days I did a round of corid with all my birds. Giget died sadly and I really think the wormer was too much for her, whatever was wrong. Honestly I don't know if it was the wormer but I felt like that was the case. Two weeks is a long time for a bird to be sick. Here are some questions for you in regards to your beloved bird. Has she not really been eating or drinking much for that long? Is she really thin? Are there other birds that could be harming her? Have you combed over every inch inspecting for bruising, mites and ticks. Blowing lightly can get mites to move I've read, with her feather color they will luckily be hard to see. I feel for you!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

You describe her pecking at the water container and missing, which suggests a problem with the eyesight..... if she cannot see properly, she may not have been eating and drinking properly for several days even before you really noticed the problem. Once they get weak through lack of food or dehydrated their system starts to shut down and they no longer want to eat or drink. Your bird has a very fluffy crest which may be interfering with her sight. I would start by cutting it back so that you can clearly see her eyes. Make sure they are not gummed shut as can happen with silkies if their crest is irritating their eyes. I had a silkie like this....I called her Dippy because she seemed a bit simple and always pecked at the feeder really hard or missed the food. It took me a while to realise one of her eyes was permanently shut and took quite a lot of bathing in a weak saline solution to get it open.

You might want to research "tube feeding". If she is not eating and drinking on her own, that is the best way to get her hydrated and then nourished without the risk of her aspirating (getting water or food in her wind pipe). You also want to get a good quality poultry supplement into her, either in the water or on her food, to help support her immune system. Vitamin deficiency can cause lots of problems with coordination.

After that, things like Marek's come to mind. Silkies are particularly prone to it. How old is she? Has she started laying yet? How long ago was she at the show? It certainly is possible she picked something up there, but if you are saying you noticed something slightly amiss with her whilst you were at the show, then it is unlikely.

And as others have said, a trauma to the head can cause problems, which might include partial blindness.

Also, check her crop. That second photo where she is fallen forward can be an indication of a pendulous/impacted crop. That would explain her lack of interest in food and water and weakness as she will essentially be starving. How does her breast bone feel? Is she just skin and bone under all that fluff or is she reasonably well padded?

 

[EffietheSilkie]

I'm no expert and I don't want to alarm you but I had a polish do this for 2 or maybe 3 weeks then she passed she was our favorite bird. I have another polish who started doing the same thing and I was/am determined to save her. I read a couple things that maybe you can look into as I don't remember the exact information. First silkies and polish have vaulted craniums and can get "water on the brain" i don't remember all the causes or the exact remedies. In my case I had two birds, a dominant polish rooster and a hen with chicks pecking Figet (current survivor) on the head. It's normal for this behavior with pecking order and all but my bird couldn't take it so I separated and she perked up after about 2 days. I've read that mites, especially in the headdress of these two breeds can cause lots of problems both with themselves scratching and causing injury and pecking of other birds. I've also read a tick can cause these symptoms. I combed over Giget (deceased) hoping it would just be a tick but no luck. Lastly somewhere between staying up late looking for an answer I read tylan can be administered to help the sick bird. Went Giget was getting bad I did tylan 50 (available at most feed stores) and it helped her some. After I gave her the appropriate does for X amount of days I did a round of corid with all my birds. Giget died sadly and I really think the wormer was too much for her, whatever was wrong. Honestly I don't know if it was the wormer but I felt like that was the case. Two weeks is a long time for a bird to be sick. Here are some questions for you in regards to your beloved bird. Has she not really been eating or drinking much for that long? Is she really thin? Are there other birds that could be harming her? Have you combed over every inch inspecting for bruising, mites and ticks. Blowing lightly can get mites to move I've read, with her feather color they will luckily be hard to see. I feel for you!

Thank you very much for your quick reply. To answer your questions, she hasn't ate at all for about two days and hasn't been eating much for a little over a week. She has not been drinking on her own at all since yesterday and hasn't been having much for about three days. She is very thin, so much that I can feel her breast bone very clearly when I hold her. No other birds have been pecking her. And I have inspected her for mites but I will look closer for bruising, what does that look like?
Thanks again!

 

[EffietheSilkie]

Hi

You describe her pecking at the water container and missing, which suggests a problem with the eyesight..... if she cannot see properly, she may not have been eating and drinking properly for several days even before you really noticed the problem. Once they get weak through lack of food or dehydrated their system starts to shut down and they no longer want to eat or drink. Your bird has a very fluffy crest which may be interfering with her sight. I would start by cutting it back so that you can clearly see her eyes. Make sure they are not gummed shut as can happen with silkies if their crest is irritating their eyes. I had a silkie like this....I called her Dippy because she seemed a bit simple and always pecked at the feeder really hard or missed the food. It took me a while to realise one of her eyes was permanently shut and took quite a lot of bathing in a weak saline solution to get it open.

You might want to research "tube feeding". If she is not eating and drinking on her own, that is the best way to get her hydrated and then nourished without the risk of her aspirating (getting water or food in her wind pipe). You also want to get a good quality poultry supplement into her, either in the water or on her food, to help support her immune system. Vitamin deficiency can cause lots of problems with coordination.

After that, things like Marek's come to mind. Silkies are particularly prone to it. How old is she? Has she started laying yet? How long ago was she at the show? It certainly is possible she picked something up there, but if you are saying you noticed something slightly amiss with her whilst you were at the show, then it is unlikely.

And as others have said, a trauma to the head can cause problems, which might include partial blindness.

Also, check her crop. That second photo where she is fallen forward can be an indication of a pendulous/impacted crop. That would explain her lack of interest in food and water and weakness as she will essentially be starving. How does her breast bone feel? Is she just skin and bone under all that fluff or is she reasonably well padded?

Hi,
Thanks for all your help! To answer your questions, I looked at her eyes they don't look crusted or gummy but she wouldn't open her eyes as I was looking at them (that could be because I was touching near her eye to move the feathers when I looked though), I think I will try trim her crest a little. And she is a little over 3 years old. She was laying but within the last year she slowed down then stopped laying. She was at the show 2 weeks ago. And her crop and breast bone are basically skin and bones, what you described with that sounds a lot like her. Is there anything I can do about that?
Thanks again, I will start with trimming back her crest and I will research more about everything else.
Thanks!

 

[EffietheSilkie]

Sorry about all my questions but one other thing, I have a vet appointment scheduled for her on Friday. Do you think the vet could do anything for her? Is it worth stressing her out when I take her?
Thanks for all of your help I really appreciate it!

 

[rebrascora]

I would say that if she is skin and bone, you need to start tube feeding her to build her up. It may just be a case of her eyesight has failed and she hasn't been eating properly for a long time. You cannot get enough into her by just dipping her beak in water and using a syringe is dangerous because of the risk of aspirating. The vet should have all the items needed to tube feed her and be able to show you how, but you could also order online(asap) and watch a You Tube tutorial....and get someone to help you by holding her, at least the first few times. If you watch one of the videos and think you will be unable to do it yourself (you need to be confident and assertive because she will not like it), then you need to take her to the vets because she will almost certainly die without getting fluids and food into her in sufficient quantity to start building her back up. @casportpony has a great tutorial on tube feeding. I will try to post a link.

 

[rebrascora]

If she is skin and bone she needs tube feeding to build her back up. Hopefully the vet will have the appropriate equipment and be able to show you how to do it. There are You Tube tutorial videos on how to do it and I believe @casportpony has an excellent article on it but you need to be confident and assertive enough to do it and ideally have someone to hold her, because she will not like it. I am reasonably confident that she will die if she does not get treatment soon and I don't believe you will be able to get enough fluids and nourishment into her to keep her alive by any other means. Have a look at the You Tube videos and see if you think that you could do that without the help of a vet. If so, then you need to get the relevant supplies pronto and get started. If not, get her to the vets because I have little doubt she will not last much longer and will not miraculously recover without help.

I hope that it is something as straightforward as an eyesight problem that has caused her to become starved/dehydrated but you need to get nourishment into her asap as she now has no body reserves (skin and bone) and her organs will be starting to shut down.

Keeping fingers crossed you have caught her in time.

Good luck

Barbara

 

[EffietheSilkie]

Hi,
Thanks for all your of your guys help. Sorry for taking so long to respond. Unfortunately on Thursday she looked really bad so the vet let her in on emergency there, but sadly they had to put her down. She said it was mareks. But thanks again for all of your guys help.

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

So so sorry to hear she passed ( I was hoping she pulled through poor little thing! how did they confirm it was mareks if you don't mind me asking?