I have a golden sex link pullet about 2.5 months old. I got her with 2 other pullets who seem perfectly fine. When I got them home, I noticed that this one didn't want to open one of her eyes. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the eye that I can tell, no crusting, no swelling, no obvious damage. It did look like she might have been pecked in the head because her skin kind of between her eyes had a small scratch.
I have had her for 2 weeks. Since then, she has become listless, and she is holding her neck in a funny way, kind of to the side. She doesn't seem to be able to aim properly to get food from the feeder or the waterer. She stands around a lot with her eyes closed and sometimes with her head down.
I have put her in her own corner of the coop with food on the ground and she will eat that, but doesn't seem as interested as she should. I also have given her water in a bowl but she seems unable to drink it so I have been using a dropper. I also put antibiotics in the water since no one I spoke with seems to know or agree on what this could be, including the people I got her from. They suggested the antibiotics and said it might be coccidiosis? Someone else suggested infectious coryza or paratyphoid and suggested we just euthanize her. This second person also said antibiotics were a bad idea since I wasn't certain what was wrong with her.
I'm not in a position to take her to an avian vet, which would end up costing more than all my birds (I only have 6), but I really am confused about what to do, whether to try to keep treating her, et cetera. When I can get some water into her she does perk up a bit, but she's definitely sick. Any advice is extremely welcome! Here is a pic when her eye is open. She also was scratching at her eyes a bit. The second pic is what she usually looks like, although sometimes her neck is turned funny.
I have had her for 2 weeks. Since then, she has become listless, and she is holding her neck in a funny way, kind of to the side. She doesn't seem to be able to aim properly to get food from the feeder or the waterer. She stands around a lot with her eyes closed and sometimes with her head down.
I have put her in her own corner of the coop with food on the ground and she will eat that, but doesn't seem as interested as she should. I also have given her water in a bowl but she seems unable to drink it so I have been using a dropper. I also put antibiotics in the water since no one I spoke with seems to know or agree on what this could be, including the people I got her from. They suggested the antibiotics and said it might be coccidiosis? Someone else suggested infectious coryza or paratyphoid and suggested we just euthanize her. This second person also said antibiotics were a bad idea since I wasn't certain what was wrong with her.
I'm not in a position to take her to an avian vet, which would end up costing more than all my birds (I only have 6), but I really am confused about what to do, whether to try to keep treating her, et cetera. When I can get some water into her she does perk up a bit, but she's definitely sick. Any advice is extremely welcome! Here is a pic when her eye is open. She also was scratching at her eyes a bit. The second pic is what she usually looks like, although sometimes her neck is turned funny.
