Sick chicken. Possibly injury related? Anybody located in Plant city?

[Bwaffle]

Help me if you can, please. I have a sick chicken, 6-8 weeks at the most.

Her brother, same colouring, got picked up by a hawk or flying pred. Afterwards, the wife and I noticed she was kind of dragging her wing. Checked it, nothing broke, and no pain sounds from her, so figured it was a hurt muscle. Possibly pred picked off her brother, and then tried for her?

Yesterday she was acting a little, dim, I guess. Slow to react, (Named her screech because shes the siren for everyone), not really trying to run away. Still eating and drinking though.

Today I come home and shes laying kind of standing up, but leaned over on the front part of her breast. Breathing kind of heavy, and sort of seems like shes in and out of consciousness. She closes her eyes, and a min or two later open them, and kind of acts surprised.

I was able to feed her most of an egg from her mother and some soggy starter feed, and she drank water. Her gizzard felt empty, now its full.

Her eyes aren't swollen. Her skin, tongue, and pink part of her face is still bright, not pale. She is puffed up a bit though. She has dark legs and toes, so cant really see if their pale.

She feels normal temperature.

None of the other babies are sick, and are running around just fine.

Also, seems like the shanks of her feathers are shedding, but this may be normal being shes a baby.

Help, please?

 

[BantamLover21]

Help me if you can, please. I have a sick chicken, 6-8 weeks at the most.

Her brother, same colouring, got picked up by a hawk or flying pred. Afterwards, the wife and I noticed she was kind of dragging her wing. Checked it, nothing broke, and no pain sounds from her, so figured it was a hurt muscle. Possibly pred picked off her brother, and then tried for her?

Yesterday she was acting a little, dim, I guess. Slow to react, (Named her screech because shes the siren for everyone), not really trying to run away. Still eating and drinking though.

Today I come home and shes laying kind of standing up, but leaned over on the front part of her breast. Breathing kind of heavy, and sort of seems like shes in and out of consciousness. She closes her eyes, and a min or two later open them, and kind of acts surprised.

I was able to feed her most of an egg from her mother and some soggy starter feed, and she drank water. Her gizzard felt empty, now its full.

Her eyes aren't swollen. Her skin, tongue, and pink part of her face is still bright, not pale. She is puffed up a bit though. She has dark legs and toes, so cant really see if their pale.

She feels normal temperature.

None of the other babies are sick, and are running around just fine.

Also, seems like the shanks of her feathers are shedding, but this may be normal being shes a baby.

Help, please?

Are you feeding them medicated chick feed? In chicks this age, lethargy/listlessness is often a sign of Coccidiosis, which is a disease caused by protazoa in the intestines. If left untreated, Coccidiosis can kill chicks in a matter of days. The best treatment is Corid (amprol or amprolium) powder or liquid, which can usually be purchased from a livestock supply store.

The Corid 9.6% liquid dosage is 1/2 teaspoon liquid per quart of drinking water. The Corid 20% powder dosage is 3/4 teaspoon powder per gallon of drinking water. Replace the water daily, and treat for 5-7 days. Don't put any vitamins in the water during treatment, as they will interfere with the Corid's effect. Improvement should be seen within 3 days.

If not Coccidiosis, then I'm not sure what could be wrong with your chick. The only other thing I could possibly think of would be botulism poisoning, which would explain the droopy wing, lethargy, and difficulty breathing. Could your chick have some into contact with or eaten a dead animal, rotten fruit, or some dead earthworms? Could she have drinken from a puddle of stagnant water? Also, what do you mean by "the shanks for her feathers are shedding"? Are the sheaths of the feathers falling off, or are the feathers themselves being lost? Do the feathers on her body appear lose/easy to pull out? A photo might help.

I'm sorry I can't offer any more assistance. Please answer my questions to the best of your ability, and then I'll see if I can make a better diagnosis. Good luck!

 

[Bwaffle]

Don't see any contact with dead animals possible, or rotten fruit. Dead earthworms possible if she was outside and found one while scratching/dustbathing.

Stagnant water is possible, but unlikely. Ground here gets saturated, but no standing water. Plus no rain for a week, until tonight.

Where the fluffy part of the feather comes out of the shank, thats peeling. I think its because the feathers are still growing in.

Feathers are firmly in place.

Shes sleeping in her basket now. Breathing seems a little better, and shes laying down like normal, although shes still fluffed up.

Her gizzard still has food, so im not going to bother waking her for more food until morning. I'll take a pic than.

I'll try to buy some of that corid, just hoping I have the funds, or she lasts until friday.

 

[BantamLover21]

Don't see any contact with dead animals possible, or rotten fruit. Dead earthworms possible if she was outside and found one while scratching/dustbathing.

Stagnant water is possible, but unlikely. Ground here gets saturated, but no standing water. Plus no rain for a week, until tonight.

Where the fluffy part of the feather comes out of the shank, thats peeling. I think its because the feathers are still growing in.

Feathers are firmly in place.

Shes sleeping in her basket now. Breathing seems a little better, and shes laying down like normal, although shes still fluffed up.

Her gizzard still has food, so im not going to bother waking her for more food until morning. I'll take a pic than.

I'll try to buy some of that corid, just hoping I have the funds, or she lasts until friday.

Going by your information, I think we can rule out botulism for now. Coccidiosis is the most likely, or your chick could have some sort of internal deformity. In a pinch, you can give buttermilk or yogurt to a bird with Coccidiosis to help coat the intestines. This will help minimize the damage caused by the protazoa, and will buy you more time to get Corid. Keep in mind, though, that this milk/yogurt treatment is usually only a temporary fix, and a proper drug like Corid would work much better.

Also, just for future reference, I think that the "gizzard" you are referring to is actually the crop. The crop is a storage pouch for food located on the right side of the chest, and can be felt as a hard, slightly squishy lump. The gizzard is a muscular organ located deeper within the body. It contains grit (small stones that the bird eats) and helps grind up feed eaten by the bird.

 

[Bwaffle]

Well, its morning. Shes more alert, but breathing harder. Got her to drink some water.

 

[Eggcessive]

It may just be injury-related as you say, but just keep trying to get her nourishment. She is at the age when Marek's Diseases can show symptoms. Hopefully she had the vaccine at birth. After the round of Corid is complete (if you give it) make sure she gets probiotics or yogurt with cultures, and vitamins since Corid depletes many including A and K.

 

[Bwaffle]

No vaccines, rescued wild chicks at about 1wk old. A few got picked off by hawks...

Just medicated starter feed.

Well, a day later, same symptoms, not worse or better.

It could be internal injury if she did in fact get hurt by a pred...

 

[BantamLover21]

No vaccines, rescued wild chicks at about 1wk old. A few got picked off by hawks...

Just medicated starter feed.

Well, a day later, same symptoms, not worse or better.

It could be internal injury if she did in fact get hurt by a pred...

Yes, I agree that it could be injury related. It is possible that her lungs or other organs were damaged by a predator. If that is the case, basically the only thing you can do is make sure she eats, drinks, is as stress-free as possible, and is kept warm and comfortable, and hope that her body will heall. Or, if you don't want to try healing her, you could cull her.

But, in my opinion, Coccidiosis is still a possibility. If you want, let her be for a few more days, but if there is no improvement, I would try Corid.

 

[Bwaffle]

Yes, I agree that it could be injury related. It is possible that her lungs or other organs were damaged by a predator. If that is the case, basically the only thing you can do is make sure she eats, drinks, is as stress-free as possible, and is kept warm and comfortable, and hope that her body will heall. Or, if you don't want to try healing her, you could cull her.

But, in my opinion, Coccidiosis is still a possibility. If you want, let her be for a few more days, but if there is no improvement, I would try Corid.

I got paid today. Once the check clears, I'll pick up some corid from TSC.

 

[Bwaffle]

Well, shes all better!

Last weekend she was acting more energetic, and after a week of being hand fed and forced fluids, was ready to get up and go.

Shes been with her flock for a week now, have yet to see her crop even begin to empty, and shes gaining back a lot of weight.

She went from my biggest baby girl, to the smallest. She's well on her way to becoming big again, though!

Guess it was damage from the hawk, or some infection. Never had the money at the time to get the corid.