Sick silkie, don't know whats going on....

[kbell]

I have a silkie around 5-6 months old. I have her and 2 others in a small pen inside the barn for the winter. I went to feed them yesterday and this one was sitting in the water bowl with her head held down. She was cold and kept her head down after I got her out. I put her into a dog crate with a heat light to warm her up. Gave her some food and some water with the baby vitamins, and about an hour later, she acted like nothing had been wrong.
Well later on in the evening checked on her again and she was sitting with her head down up under her breast and her head was moving like she was pecking her chest. I got her out and held her and she had warmed up a lot but was still cool on her underside. Before bed I checked on her again and she was acting fine, then today, she was acting strange again. She wasn't cold at all but sitting with her head down and pecking her chest. Later I find her up and walking and pecking food. What could be going on with her? Thanks, Kim in GA

 

[BamaSilkies]

I would keep giving her the vitamins. Silkie feathers cant trap air to keep warm like regular feathers. I keep a heatlamp in my Silkie house. I keep it far enough from the ground not to start a fire about 3 ft from the ground. If they get cold they can get extra heat from the lamp if they want. I have one that sleeps under the lamp and others sometimes do. I give mine scatch every evening as a treat. Its high in calories that they need to help stay warm.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

With the head tucking to her chest sounds like wry neck or she was pecked on the head by someone else causing a neurological issue. Silkies are very prone to this for some reason, especially neurological damage from a headpeck because of their thin skulls.

Poly-vi-sol vitamins (baby vitamins) without iron - give her a few drops 2 times a day, give her some electrolytes in her water, and keep her separated from the others for a few days. See if you see any improvement.