MathildaSquidrovski
In the Brooder
- Jun 28, 2020
- 9
- 2
- 11
This post is a post-mortem of my experience with a week-old polish bantam female chick that could not hold it’s head up and could not drink water.
After 3 days of trying several tactics to keep the bird hydrated and fed, I paid $200 to a veterinarian to try to diagnose the problem, ultimately leading in our decision to put the bird down. I found the information on this site to be helpful, so I wanted to post my experience as a “thank you” to the community— and most importantly, maybe this information will help another baby bird from suffering so much.
What happened:
Day 2: I bought two polish bantams from a local store (where I have bought tens of chickens before) that get chicks shipped to them from a farm a few hours away. Chicks were two days old.
Day 3: Noticed one of the birds had slightly odd way of pecking her food— seemed less precise with her movements. I assumed this was just because the polish bantams have different shaped heads and longer necks, so did not worry.
Day 7: Found the bird on its back, with its head twisted sideways. I was concerned since I never saw a chick lay like that. I assumed she died, but when I gently poked her wing, she popped right up and walked over to the other bird. When she leaned down to drink water, her neck would twist and she couldn’t drink water properly.
I read that it was important to help birds stay hydrated, especially if you think the problem might be a nutritional deficiency (which I thought it was at the time). But, when I fed her water through a water-dropper she would writhe and her neck would twist, so I tried various ways to help her reach water. I learned from some people online + the vet on the phone that forcing water is bad since it can cause asphyxiation— so I was careful not to force it.
Day 9: I brought the bird to a vet with avian experience (not a lot of “chicken customers” before, unsurprisingly). The bird was clearly in pain. She could not eat or drink — neck would twist, and she couldn’t peck food. She could barely sleep because she couldn’t prop her head up properly. There was the risk that the other bird in her box would start picking on her, but she would chirp loudly (usually a stress call) when removed from the box/ the other bird.
What the vet said:
Please note that this is not my professional advice. It is just my limited experience/ recollection of what a bird vet said after checking my week-old chicken (she wasn’t a chicken specialist, but was an avian specialist).
After noticing that the chicken was dehydrated and definitely in pain, she gave me two options: option 1 was to manually use a dropper w vitamins to try to keep the bird alive— hoping that the issue was a mineral deficiency, which some birds get while in the egg. I didn’t go with his option since the bird hadn’t improved in days. Option 2 was to euthanize/ “put the bird to sleep”.
She mentioned that breeds like Polish bantams and silkies (like Chihuahuas?) don’t have complete skulls/ sometimes their skulls don’t form properly and their brains can impact on the skull. It can be genetic. She said that potential brain issues can impact the “aqueduct in the brain that flushes fluid back to spinal cord” or something... Since the bird couldn’t open its eye on day 8, it was possible that there was fluid build up next to eye nerve— not positive, but possible. Especially if there is early trauma to the growing brain, they can be susceptible to brain damage that impacts their quality of life down the road.
Since only one of the two birds I got was having these symptoms, the vet ruled out some kind of poisoning (from eating something toxic) or major damage from shipping (most breeders ship day-old chicks to the store where they’re sold, unfortunately, hurting some of the chicks on the way).
I decided to euthanize the bird. For me, having the vet do it was the best option. I am inexperienced with chicken culling, and especially after reading how-to posts on culling, I couldn’t do it. I thought the most humane thing to do— meaning, the least pain for the already suffering bird— was to have her put down by the professional. $30, 10 minutes.
After the bird was put down, the vet noticed that part of its head was very squishy (I didn’t notice this before, despite gently checking while the bird was alive) and she used a syringe and found water on the brain. Obviously, using a syringe could only be done by a pro after the bird was dead (way too painful if not). So, she concluded option 2 was the right choice for this bird.
Overall takeaways/ questions I would ask next time:
- Did the chick have any head trauma (falling, major pecks, etc.)?
- Did I get the chick from someone I trust? Are other chicks in the batch normal or do they have issues?
- Did the chick receive nutrient-rich feed?
- Did the chick eat anything bad? Is its poo normal?
- Is the chick eating/ drinking? Helping the bird eat/drink (bowl placement, gentle dropper) is ok, but force feeding/ drinking is bad.
- Is the bird in pain? Is it moving? Chickens are tough— so if they aren’t moving, they might just be in pain.
- Be attentive to baby chicks. They’re vulnerable and highly dependent on good pet-parenting.
Thanks for the help + info, Backyard Chickens. Hope this helps someone/ some bird.
After 3 days of trying several tactics to keep the bird hydrated and fed, I paid $200 to a veterinarian to try to diagnose the problem, ultimately leading in our decision to put the bird down. I found the information on this site to be helpful, so I wanted to post my experience as a “thank you” to the community— and most importantly, maybe this information will help another baby bird from suffering so much.
What happened:
Day 2: I bought two polish bantams from a local store (where I have bought tens of chickens before) that get chicks shipped to them from a farm a few hours away. Chicks were two days old.
Day 3: Noticed one of the birds had slightly odd way of pecking her food— seemed less precise with her movements. I assumed this was just because the polish bantams have different shaped heads and longer necks, so did not worry.
Day 7: Found the bird on its back, with its head twisted sideways. I was concerned since I never saw a chick lay like that. I assumed she died, but when I gently poked her wing, she popped right up and walked over to the other bird. When she leaned down to drink water, her neck would twist and she couldn’t drink water properly.
I read that it was important to help birds stay hydrated, especially if you think the problem might be a nutritional deficiency (which I thought it was at the time). But, when I fed her water through a water-dropper she would writhe and her neck would twist, so I tried various ways to help her reach water. I learned from some people online + the vet on the phone that forcing water is bad since it can cause asphyxiation— so I was careful not to force it.
Day 9: I brought the bird to a vet with avian experience (not a lot of “chicken customers” before, unsurprisingly). The bird was clearly in pain. She could not eat or drink — neck would twist, and she couldn’t peck food. She could barely sleep because she couldn’t prop her head up properly. There was the risk that the other bird in her box would start picking on her, but she would chirp loudly (usually a stress call) when removed from the box/ the other bird.
What the vet said:
Please note that this is not my professional advice. It is just my limited experience/ recollection of what a bird vet said after checking my week-old chicken (she wasn’t a chicken specialist, but was an avian specialist).
After noticing that the chicken was dehydrated and definitely in pain, she gave me two options: option 1 was to manually use a dropper w vitamins to try to keep the bird alive— hoping that the issue was a mineral deficiency, which some birds get while in the egg. I didn’t go with his option since the bird hadn’t improved in days. Option 2 was to euthanize/ “put the bird to sleep”.
She mentioned that breeds like Polish bantams and silkies (like Chihuahuas?) don’t have complete skulls/ sometimes their skulls don’t form properly and their brains can impact on the skull. It can be genetic. She said that potential brain issues can impact the “aqueduct in the brain that flushes fluid back to spinal cord” or something... Since the bird couldn’t open its eye on day 8, it was possible that there was fluid build up next to eye nerve— not positive, but possible. Especially if there is early trauma to the growing brain, they can be susceptible to brain damage that impacts their quality of life down the road.
Since only one of the two birds I got was having these symptoms, the vet ruled out some kind of poisoning (from eating something toxic) or major damage from shipping (most breeders ship day-old chicks to the store where they’re sold, unfortunately, hurting some of the chicks on the way).
I decided to euthanize the bird. For me, having the vet do it was the best option. I am inexperienced with chicken culling, and especially after reading how-to posts on culling, I couldn’t do it. I thought the most humane thing to do— meaning, the least pain for the already suffering bird— was to have her put down by the professional. $30, 10 minutes.
After the bird was put down, the vet noticed that part of its head was very squishy (I didn’t notice this before, despite gently checking while the bird was alive) and she used a syringe and found water on the brain. Obviously, using a syringe could only be done by a pro after the bird was dead (way too painful if not). So, she concluded option 2 was the right choice for this bird.
Overall takeaways/ questions I would ask next time:
- Did the chick have any head trauma (falling, major pecks, etc.)?
- Did I get the chick from someone I trust? Are other chicks in the batch normal or do they have issues?
- Did the chick receive nutrient-rich feed?
- Did the chick eat anything bad? Is its poo normal?
- Is the chick eating/ drinking? Helping the bird eat/drink (bowl placement, gentle dropper) is ok, but force feeding/ drinking is bad.
- Is the bird in pain? Is it moving? Chickens are tough— so if they aren’t moving, they might just be in pain.
- Be attentive to baby chicks. They’re vulnerable and highly dependent on good pet-parenting.
Thanks for the help + info, Backyard Chickens. Hope this helps someone/ some bird.
Polish chickens do have neurological issues sometimes, due to the vaulted skull, as you said. Sometimes water on the brain can be treated and they can recover, and sometimes not (I'm not questioning the decision to euthanize). Just wanted to pass this on:
