Pullet is throwing head back, doesn't get up and stretches legs out.

[sleepyt]

Hi,

I'm a brand new chicken owner. I found one of my pullets dead last week and now another one is sick. She won't get up and when I bring water to her mouth she sips it and then throws her head back which propels her whole body backwards. She won't eat the chicken starter and I tried some corn and she was able only eat half a kernel. Her beak makes a clicking sound too. She is ten weeks old and is pooping...I think the poop is normal maybe a little watery. She is smaller than the others and still has chick fuzz on her head but the others now have feathers. Their bedding is hay we have had in the barn for years...maybe that is part of the problem but my others seem healthy. She seemed weak yesterday morning and today I found her layin on her side. I have separated her from the others. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to save her.

 

[Zahboo]

Feed her start and grow soaked in water if she isn't laying, layer crumble soaked in water if she is laying.

 

[kathyinmo]

Can you answer the questions in the "sticky,"

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569

One thing I would do though, is to get that old hay out of there. It may contain mold or other toxins. Chickens have a delicate respiratory system.

 

[sleepyt]

thanks for your info so far. I forgot to mention she is a rhode island red, has no visible trauma and I would like to treat her here at home...can't afford vet services. Do you guys know what disease she has?

 

[robin416]

Try Thiamine. This is the second bird mentioned in just a few hours. A Thiamine deficiency can cause this. Of course there are a couple of other disease process but the B1 is the first step I would take.

 

[sleepyt]

Thanks for the advice. I fed her the start and grow soaked in water and she has got some of her strength back but still can't stand up. She lies on her side and moves her legs which makes her spin in a circle. I got rid of the old straw and now have clean shavings. I went to the feed store looking for thiamine but they only had it for horses...I didn't know if it would be okay for her. They did have electrolytes so I bought and I also bought some yogurt. She is so skinny...I hope the vitamins help.

She doesn't throw her head back anymore when she drinks. I guess a little progress is better than none.

 

[robin416]

This could very well go deeper than a vitamin defiency. They don't usually get like that when its just a thiamine lack.

 

[sleepyt]

Is there anyone out there that has an idea of what I can do to help this poor little chick?

 

[littlerattie]

Not sure if it is the same thing, or not, but my little ones with crookneck will throw their heads back over their back when drinking. They also could not stand up. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=215702
If this is crookneck then try feeding it Vitamin E and B complex.
For our little guys we give them about 6 drops of vit E (we bought a bottle of bulk Vit E in the human supplement isle in Walmart) and about 1/10-1/16 of a Vit B complex pill.
Our chicks showed improvement in a week, and when we stopped giving them the supplements they both had a relapse. Both are back on the mend after resuming the vitamins.
The one that was the worst is now the most able to walk, eat and drink. Neither are totally normal yet, but are improving every day.

Jayne

 

[threehorses]

I agree with littlerattie on looking at that post.
It could be a vitamin B issue if she didn't die. Vitamin B (including thiamine and riboflavin) can be found in a b-complex tablet, or in brewers yeast. I would recommend the E and the B for this bird, and the brewer's yeast sprinkled on the feed of the rest of your flock as you lost another one earlier.

Also, I'd get a new batch of food to rule out fungal issues.

Please also change the bedding. There could be more mycotoxin issues and really they need something less likely to harbor mildew spores. As a horsewoman, I know well that even fresh hay harbors a lot of mildew spores which can cause respiratory illnesses which could be part of the reason for the clicking in th ebeak you're hearing.