Really tired chicken, feather loss, etc.. Please help!

[AlliBunny]

I made a thread awhile ago about my buff Orpington Peach but it didn't really help much, but that was like a month ago and she's still really sick so I decided to make another one...
I've already taken her to the vet and they said she probably has a neurological problem but they didn't know what. When I took her to the vet she was just acting really tired, laying on her side, not standing/eating/etc but other things are happening now too, so I don't know if I should take her back to the vet or if there's no point because before they said they didn't even know what was wrong with her really so they couldn't do anything more...

Currently what she is acting like is this: She can't stand or even sit normal. All she does is lay on her side. She has slight wry neck (she had it a lot worse awhile ago, but it started after the vet, but then she seemed to get better but it came back just not as bad.) so she like shakes her head and puts in under her/in her feathers. She keeps her eyes closed most of the time, and she will only eat when I put her beak in something. Some of her feathers have also been falling out, and I just noticed that on her crop she's like bald now!

What i'm doing right now to help her is this: During the day I keep her in the bathtub with a lot of towels but at night I keep her in my room. I feed her smoothies (I can't really get her to eat whole foods) and I put her normal chicken food, eggs, kale, fruit, vegan dog food, sunflower seeds, and water in them for the most part. I also give her extra vitamin B, vitamin E, selenium, and we just got this pet bird multi-vitamin at the pet store? I was giving her antibiotics we got from the vet but we just ran out so we're not giving her any anymore.

In the time she's been sick she's also gotten better a few times for awhile (She'll stand up and even walk a little, be more alert and eat small amounts of whole foods) and I get so happy but then she always ends up getting worse again.
Please please please if any of you have any advice on what else to do for her I would be thankful for it.

 

[mammat]

Have you tried poly vi sol baby vitamins without iron? what breed of chicken is she? Does she have mites? Does she poop normally? could she be molting? Sometimes when they molt they walk like they are drunk and appear to have a neuro problem. This sounds stupid but have you tried vet rx? When I get one that is acting sick I put the vet rx on head and under wings and I swear it helps. I am a nurse and there really is not any ingredient in the vet rx that should help but it does. Try feeding her some extra protein too. Is she drinking enough water? Have you checked her vent and crop?

 

[ten chicks]

Have you considered possibly peritonitis or even ovarian cancer. Asking b/c of her laying on side/not eating/lethargic. Is her abdomen swollen at all,does she still lay eggs?

 

[AlliBunny]

Have you tried poly vi sol baby vitamins without iron?

No, I'll try to find some though if you think it could help
Quote: Buff Orpington
Quote: I don't think so, I would assume I would have noticed them if she did
Quote: Her poop is normal. When she was first sick it wasn't and the vet said it was full of bacteria but I think the antibiotics took care of what was wrong in her digestive track, but other than that she's still sick. :/
Quote: To be honest I'm not sure what a molting chicken looks like... My chickens are only about 8 months old now so I don't know if they've ever molted before? But I feel like she's pulling her feathers out, because when she acts like she has wry neck she puts her head where all her feathers are gone. She does get dirty because she always gets smoothies on herself and then it dries on her feathers, do you think she could be trying to clean them and just accidently pulling them out...? I've tried giving her baths but I'm afraid it stresses her out and I don't want to stress her out all the time. But she can't even stand up or anything so I think her main problem is a lot worse then molting
Quote: I've never even heard of vet rx really. I guess I could try it too though, do you have to order it online.?
Quote: I try to give her water but she doesn't really drink it, she just kinda shakes her head in it and looks scared. But I put a bunch of water in her smoothies so that she can be getting food/water at the same time, should I be trying to get her to drink more water do you think?
Quote: What do you mean exactly? For her crop I feel it at night and it usually feels mostly full (not as like hard/round as my other chickens though) and in the morning it's usually empty for the most part. She's pooping fine so I don't know why there'd be anything wrong with her vent? It is really dirty in the feathers around it though because she can't always stand up to poop so she poops while like laying down sideways and she rolls in it sometimes too.

 

[AlliBunny]

Have you considered possibly peritonitis or even ovarian cancer. Asking b/c of her laying on side/not eating/lethargic. Is her abdomen swollen at all,does she still lay eggs?

I haven't, is there any way to treat them if she did have them.? I don't think her abdomen is swollen at all, but she isn't laying eggs. She's only about 8 months old and when she got sick she'd never layed an egg before, my other two chickens started laying a little while after though. Should she be laying eggs while she's sick? I feel like that would be way to hard on her

 

[mammat]

Sometimes a vitamin def can look like a neuro problem. So try the vitamins. You can give her a drop or day everyday right in her beak. Try to get her to drink more. Usually I just use a little tiny medicine cup and hold it up to their beak with the tip in the water and they will usually drink some. Give her a bath in lukewarm water -just her vent and clean it off really well. You can blow dry her butt on warm setting. I had a silkie once that was sick and wouldnt walk. I decided that I was going to bath her because she was a mess back there and either figured it will kill her or make her better. After I got all the poo off she started walking and totally recovered! Mites are not very noticeable at all. It took me a while to figure out why my girls looked like crap. The eggs are around the vent and if she is a poopy mess you might not see them. You can dust her with seven dust from the garden store. It will not hurt her just dont get it in her eyes or mouth. I have discovered that with chickens you have to be agressive in the treatment. I used to be afraid I would make them worse until my vet said "they will die anyway so you cant make it worse." He was right.. chickens tend to go down hill fast so dont be afraid to try some things

Here is a good article on mites


http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

 

[mammat]

Since she never laid you might check this out

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/07/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms.html

 

[AlliBunny]

Okay.. Thanks for your help, I'll try everything just in case. I just gave her a bath and she's not perfectly clean, but she's cleaner. It was hard to clean stuff off of her butt though because I had to hold her up from he side with one hand and use the other to hold her head up or else she would stick it underwater and freak out.

For the vitamins is there any specific amount I should be giving her...? I wasn't sure because the bottles only say the dose for people so I've just been giving her around half of that