- Dec 8, 2012
- 411
- 32
- 101
well i dont know if it was the vitamin b complex, the TLC (TENDER LOVING CARE) vitamin (what my vets always called that, works for goats, dogs people, why not chickens), or dumb luck, but two days ago, i started to see some signs of improvement:
more agressive search for food and willingness to eat
supporting herself more with her wings and attempting to use her legs
more vocal (not a stress vocal but her usual tweeetweee )
less laboured breathing
after deciding that i would try one last idea, i moved her out of her drawer that was in the chick corner (a blocked off area of my salon that is home to chicks and young pullets) and she was able to scoot backwards and around to get to food, and i guess seeing the other birds eating knocked her survival drive back in to gear as she suddenly was very active in reaching for food. i still didnt see her drink so kept oferring her 'wet' foods like scrambled eggs, hard boiled egg yolk, wet crumble, chopped cucumber... i also offerred a pile of dirt/grit which she readily pecked at.
while she was improving, another older thai chick suddenly sank back down on his hocks and kept flipping sideways, but possibly because of his size, or whatevr this disease/syndrome is, he had very laboured breathing, slow responses, empty crop, and no real 'drive to survive'. i euthenized him.
goldie, as im calling her, started actually walking the next day, a sort of wierd walk but going forward none the less.
this morning she was walking regularly so hubby decided that enoug is enough, all the older birds are going out to their respective coops: the 3 remaining thai babies to a mini cage in with the 6 month olds (caged for their own protection), and goldie to my hen coop. i also took her out for a walk on the lawn, to get bugs, eat greens and catch some rays. although hubby wants her to sleep outside, i have brought her back in cause she is still smaller, im not sure she is eating well, and i saw some massive rats ogling my coop (and not running away when they saw us either. hubby didnt have his sling shot with him either). rats eat birds and snakes eat rats and chickens, so either way goldie would be a tasty morsel. so back upstairs she is, tweeetweeeing away.
im wondering if what she has is some sort of reovirus in which case she could still die because internal organs can be affected, there could still be lasting damage (unthriftiness)...
since the virus is present everywhere and mine are unvaccinated (noone here vaccinates pet chickens, except for newcastle as required by law, we have to buy vaccines for 20000 chickens so its rediculous) i guess we will just have to wait and see.
we also had a death of one thai chick, i think he was crushed actually by my dog when she hopped over the small gate to clean up some hard boiled egg...
so at the moment i now have a house chicken that answers when she hears my voice.......cooool.
more agressive search for food and willingness to eat
supporting herself more with her wings and attempting to use her legs
more vocal (not a stress vocal but her usual tweeetweee )
less laboured breathing
after deciding that i would try one last idea, i moved her out of her drawer that was in the chick corner (a blocked off area of my salon that is home to chicks and young pullets) and she was able to scoot backwards and around to get to food, and i guess seeing the other birds eating knocked her survival drive back in to gear as she suddenly was very active in reaching for food. i still didnt see her drink so kept oferring her 'wet' foods like scrambled eggs, hard boiled egg yolk, wet crumble, chopped cucumber... i also offerred a pile of dirt/grit which she readily pecked at.
while she was improving, another older thai chick suddenly sank back down on his hocks and kept flipping sideways, but possibly because of his size, or whatevr this disease/syndrome is, he had very laboured breathing, slow responses, empty crop, and no real 'drive to survive'. i euthenized him.
goldie, as im calling her, started actually walking the next day, a sort of wierd walk but going forward none the less.
this morning she was walking regularly so hubby decided that enoug is enough, all the older birds are going out to their respective coops: the 3 remaining thai babies to a mini cage in with the 6 month olds (caged for their own protection), and goldie to my hen coop. i also took her out for a walk on the lawn, to get bugs, eat greens and catch some rays. although hubby wants her to sleep outside, i have brought her back in cause she is still smaller, im not sure she is eating well, and i saw some massive rats ogling my coop (and not running away when they saw us either. hubby didnt have his sling shot with him either). rats eat birds and snakes eat rats and chickens, so either way goldie would be a tasty morsel. so back upstairs she is, tweeetweeeing away.
im wondering if what she has is some sort of reovirus in which case she could still die because internal organs can be affected, there could still be lasting damage (unthriftiness)...
since the virus is present everywhere and mine are unvaccinated (noone here vaccinates pet chickens, except for newcastle as required by law, we have to buy vaccines for 20000 chickens so its rediculous) i guess we will just have to wait and see.
we also had a death of one thai chick, i think he was crushed actually by my dog when she hopped over the small gate to clean up some hard boiled egg...
so at the moment i now have a house chicken that answers when she hears my voice.......cooool.
