Recovering chick - should I worry? - update

[Aunt Mildred]

This is an update on a wild dog attack from 10 days ago. Our chicken was on the road to recovery - showing great improvements. Yesterday and today though she's starting to show some odd behaviors. A few days ago she was able to stand and hobble around - kind of like she was drunk, but walked with a purpose. Yesterday, when she stood, she would just turn in circles, or walk backwards slowly. Today she can hardly stand without falling over to one side. She's eating scrambled eggs, about 3-4 a day. I'm not seeing her drink though, she's having trouble getting her head into the waterer, and keeps knocking bowls over... I've been giving her mandarin oranges because of their high water content, but I"m afraid she might be dehydrated. Any ideas? When I put her beak into water, she just leaves it there. I don't know if there's anything different we should be doing, or if this is a normal part of recovery, or if we should be worried... we're so new at this, but it's really stressful to watch it happening and feel responsible for her as a pet. I've seen worse posts on this forum before, all saying they recover well, but I'm just a worry wort - please help!

 

[mjane]

It could be dehydration. It could be something neuro wrong(brain damage). I would say just keep her secluded, keep trying. She might not recover, but she might. I wish you the best of luck, keep us posted.

 

[ZepChick]

The best thing to do, (if all else fails) is to make sure she is comfortable. When I have sick chickens I always feed them a mixture of crumble feed, Gatorade, yogurt, water, and sometimes sugar. Or if you don't have any crumble you can always smash pellets into smaller bits by making them a little wet and then "crushing" them. Good luck!! Hope she gets better!
~Cass

 

[Imp]

I've seen posts here that said to not give chicken citrus. Don't know if it's true. I've given my chickens small amounts of citrus infrequently without problem.
Good Luck,

Imp/Russ

 

[Aunt Mildred]

It finally warmed up outside today and I took her out to the yard to see how she would react to getting out of the house. It was like a switch flipped and her chicken light came on. She walked around the yard, dug a dirt bath and flopped around and then went into her coop, ate some pellets and took a nap on her perch. I wish I could keep her outside but the nights are still getting down to 35 or so and I cant be around to monitor her with our other chicken (she has shown signs of wanting to peck at Louise's bare back) I guess she will have to settle for going out in the afternoons when we are home from work. Her behavior was encouraging this afternoon.