Sick Silkies- 1+ to 3+ year old silkies having trouble walking all of a sudden

[SilkieChickensLove]

Selections change from region to region and store to store. You want a nonlayer, all flock type feed, of at least 17% protein.
Even chick feed will be fine. I'd greatly reduce all the extras.

Thank you!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Were they unable to walk and weak like ours are? What did you do? Supplement with b vitamins?

I added more too my post.

I added 1-2, 240mg B2 capsules to wet mash, & fed that to the worst one, & popped a pill in her beak as many times in a day as I could. Which was about 3-4 times a day, along with Riboflavin enriched wet mash. Usually not at the same time.

They had paralyzed feet. Worst had both feet paralyzed, second had only one foot effected.

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Thank you for your help! So great to hear you were able to help them! We will try that & keep you posted!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi there,
We have a flock of 21 silkies - 14 roos who run in a bachelor flock and hens who are in a separate run. They are mostly older silkies- around 3 years old and then some that hatched last year and are now 16 months old. Last week we noticed that one of the roosters who is 16 months old started to not be able to walk well. We figured maybe he tussled with another roo and had an injury. His feet are fine, legs move but he has a hard time walking or standing. He is eating and drinking and has weight on him- he just can't get around well.

We thought it was an isolated case but have since now had 3 more birds that are having trouble walking and standing- one of the 3 year old roosters and another of the 16 month old roosters and 1 hen that is 16 months old. Though the hen has since after a couple of days seemed to be walking around fine.

One of the roos who was getting around fine yesterday is standing ok this morning -but with his head tucked back into his feathers- he doesn't want to eat or anything. We have the two who are not doing well inside the house cozy by the fire this morning to warm up. (we are in California so it is not freezing cold but chilly)

We aren't sure if it is a disease, a vitamin deficiency, or what could be happening but it is getting scary that more keep being affected.

The only other back stories that might help:
Recently had a mite infestation which we treated- some birds were more affected than others but have since been fine. And some of the affected roos did not have noticeable mites when we treated even so.
We also treated for coccidiosis because we weren't sure what was going on and had 3 hens pass away in the past 2 months not knowing what it was from. One was an older hen & the other 2 were younger. This is after not having any losses or issues in over a year.

I know Mareks is a concern- are they too old to be affected by that? I don't know if the first generation silkies were vaccinated before we got them as 3 week old chicks- we did not vaccinate the ones that we hatched.

We have not added any new chickens and really nothing else has changed that we can think of.

Is there anything virus or anything else we should consider that could be affecting so many of them?
We have a lot of rats that are always in trying to get into the coop- and have had mite issues several times. We just cleaned out and replaced all bedding, etc. and added more diatomaceous earth again and sprayed the coop and birds again recently. Could some of them just be weak from that?

We also did have the bubbly eye respiratory issue come into the flock when we adopted older hens- but that was at least 2 1/2 years ago now and everyone has been fine- but I know that can crop up whenever they are stressed. There has maybe some stress with large cedar trees being cut down near the coop recently- could that have caused an issue?

We are stumped on what it could be and what to do- if anyone has any ideas or tips- would greatly appreciate them. Our birds are very much loved pets - I know folks here can relate. Thank you in advance for your help.

Thank you for the tag @Certified Chicken Lover
I am no expert but do know about my silkies.

By now you know, this is most likely a vitamin deficiency. We give ours Poultry Cell in their water about once every week or two, or whenever one starts looking awry, but with the issues as bad as yours, I'd have followed their directions and used a syringe to give it direct, then in water after that.

Having rats around your coop is going to make mites a never-ending problem and mites can take a chicken down too.

So, here's what I do:

These are on Kalmbach's crumbles with a dish of oyster shell on the side.

We use DE in the coop as because, like you, we have mite/chipmunk issues, but the difference is I'm guessing is that we religiously use it bi-monthly and we've never had mites albeit scaly leg mites three times now. I would never treat your mite outbreak with DE though, same as I didn't treat scaly legs mites with it. Try permethrin dust (this comes in a spray too that you could spray the coop with if you rather), garden dust, or elector psp, or if in the UK, Exzolt. We also added a barn cat who ended the chipmunk issue.

Cutting down the cedar trees could be causing some issues too as some of what could be considered toxic becomes airborne. If that fresh cut cedar is in close proximately of the coop, I'd move it.

I also ferment Kalmbach's Henhouse Reserve and 6-grain scratch which gives them increased vitamins/minerals plus probiotics and prebiotics, and grow hard red winter wheat sprouts in the winter.

Silkies are more prone to vitamin deficiencies than most chickens so to ensure we're covering all the bases with them, we also sprinkle a small amount of Rooster Booster granules in with their crumbles.

I hope some of this helps and I hope your silkies return to full health asap!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We have a flock of 21 silkies - 14 roos who run in a bachelor flock and hens who are in a separate run. They are mostly older silkies- around 3 years old and then some that hatched last year and are now 16 months old. Last week we noticed that one of the roosters who is 16 months old started to not be able to walk well. We figured maybe he tussled with another roo and had an injury. His feet are fine, legs move but he has a hard time walking or standing. He is eating and drinking and has weight on him- he just can't get around well.

We thought it was an isolated case but have since now had 3 more birds that are having trouble walking and standing- one of the 3 year old roosters and another of the 16 month old roosters and 1 hen that is 16 months old. Though the hen has since after a couple of days seemed to be walking around fine.

his head tucked back into his feathers- he doesn't want to eat or anything

The only other back stories that might help:
Recently had a mite infestation which we treated- some birds were more affected than others but have since been fine. And some of the affected roos did not have noticeable mites when we treated even so.
We also treated for coccidiosis because we weren't sure what was going on and had 3 hens pass away in the past 2 months not knowing what it was from.

I know Mareks is a concern- are they too old to be affected by that?

We have a lot of rats that are always in trying to get into the coop- and have had mite issues several times. We just cleaned out and replaced all bedding, etc. and added more diatomaceous earth again and sprayed the coop and birds again recently. Could some of them just be weak from that?

We also did have the bubbly eye respiratory issue come into the flock when we adopted older hens- but that was at least 2 1/2 years ago

Photos? Please? Can you please post Clear Well-Lit photos of the Silkies, their eyes, feet, poop and of them?
Thank You!

Mites. How have you treated the mites? I'd re-check for mites.

Earlier this year, looks like you had Canker in your flock. Did you get rid of that? Have you checked to make sure the lesions haven't reappeared? Canker is contagious and never really goes away even with treatment.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ollen-face-on-one-side.1570401/#post-26687679

Vitamins and change of feed may be helpful, but if you are dealing with Mites, rats and perhaps other problems, all these things need to be addressed as a whole.

 

[chickengr]

as they had mites they might have anemia. even if they are chunky. I would give them some boiled eggs as they are good for anemia. I always feed my silkies 1/3 of grower feed as they need more protein. when they have eaten enough I give them treats as much as they want to. just make sure they had enough of proper feed. foraging helps a lot. vitamins are always good.

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Photos? Please? Can you please post Clear Well-Lit photos of the Silkies, their eyes, feet, poop and of them?
Thank You!

Mites. How have you treated the mites? I'd re-check for mites.

Earlier this year, looks like you had Canker in your flock. Did you get rid of that? Have you checked to make sure the lesions haven't reappeared? Canker is contagious and never really goes away even with treatment.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ollen-face-on-one-side.1570401/#post-26687679

Vitamins and change of feed may be helpful, but if you are dealing with Mites, rats and perhaps other problems, all these things need to be addressed as a whole.

Hi Wyorp Rock- Thank you for your help here again!
Yes, the canker has been gone since I posted here and followed the advice shared.
The mites have been an ongoing problem- most recently we cleared out everything in the coop and did a deep clean spraying it all down with Permethrin along with dusting everything with DE. We then sprayed each of the birds with permethrin as directed and sprayed again a week later for the eggs.
The two birds that were heavily affected in their poufs both also had baths with Dawn twice that week - once before spraying and then again before spraying the second time.
I ordered some essential oils, garlic oil, etc. to follow a recipe I saw shared to deter the rats and mite from coming near the coop-I am not sure if it will work.
We have rechecked for mites- since everyone was treated. We haven't seen any major amounts but have found a couple here and there-even right after bathing them. I am not sure how often we can spray them with the Permethrin?
If there is any other advice or anything else recommended for the mites- please let me know- we will try it.
The silkie breeder we got our flock from said that what works for mites for awhile stops working and you have to change treatments to keep them working. We have been using the de and permethrin and obviously they have mites even so- so maybe that is the case?

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

as they had mites they might have anemia. even if they are chunky. I would give them some boiled eggs as they are good for anemia. I always feed my silkies 1/3 of grower feed as they need more protein. when they have eaten enough I give them treats as much as they want to. just make sure they had enough of proper feed. foraging helps a lot. vitamins are always good.

Thank you. They do love eggs- we have fed raw yolk and also scrambled eggs but will try the boiled eggs as well. Adding more protein was why we got the feed we did from the feed store- they recommended it along with the surf and turf and worms for more protein. We are going to try to make the mash to see if they will eat the pellets or crumbles that way- they are so darn picky they literally pick anything and everything over the pellets.

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Thank you for the tag @Certified Chicken Lover
I am no expert but do know about my silkies.

By now you know, this is most likely a vitamin deficiency. We give ours Poultry Cell in their water about once every week or two, or whenever one starts looking awry, but with the issues as bad as yours, I'd have followed their directions and used a syringe to give it direct, then in water after that.

Having rats around your coop is going to make mites a never-ending problem and mites can take a chicken down too.

So, here's what I do:

These are on Kalmbach's crumbles with a dish of oyster shell on the side.

We use DE in the coop as because, like you, we have mite/chipmunk issues, but the difference is I'm guessing is that we religiously use it bi-monthly and we've never had mites albeit scaly leg mites three times now. I would never treat your mite outbreak with DE though, same as I didn't treat scaly legs mites with it. Try permethrin dust (this comes in a spray too that you could spray the coop with if you rather), garden dust, or elector psp, or if in the UK, Exzolt. We also added a barn cat who ended the chipmunk issue.

Cutting down the cedar trees could be causing some issues too as some of what could be considered toxic becomes airborne. If that fresh cut cedar is in close proximately of the coop, I'd move it.

I also ferment Kalmbach's Henhouse Reserve and 6-grain scratch which gives them increased vitamins/minerals plus probiotics and prebiotics, and grow hard red winter wheat sprouts in the winter.

Silkies are more prone to vitamin deficiencies than most chickens so to ensure we're covering all the bases with them, we also sprinkle a small amount of Rooster Booster granules in with their crumbles.

I hope some of this helps and I hope your silkies return to full health asap!

Thanks so much- appreciate your help! We will check out the crumbles you mentioned!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi Wyorp Rock- Thank you for your help here again!
Yes, the canker has been gone since I posted here and followed the advice shared.
The mites have been an ongoing problem- most recently we cleared out everything in the coop and did a deep clean spraying it all down with Permethrin along with dusting everything with DE. We then sprayed each of the birds with permethrin as directed and sprayed again a week later for the eggs.
The two birds that were heavily affected in their poufs both also had baths with Dawn twice that week - once before spraying and then again before spraying the second time.
I ordered some essential oils, garlic oil, etc. to follow a recipe I saw shared to deter the rats and mite from coming near the coop-I am not sure if it will work.
We have rechecked for mites- since everyone was treated. We haven't seen any major amounts but have found a couple here and there-even right after bathing them. I am not sure how often we can spray them with the Permethrin?
If there is any other advice or anything else recommended for the mites- please let me know- we will try it.
The silkie breeder we got our flock from said that what works for mites for awhile stops working and you have to change treatments to keep them working. We have been using the de and permethrin and obviously they have mites even so- so maybe that is the case?

We have rechecked for mites- since everyone was treated. We haven't seen any major amounts but have found a couple here and there-even right after bathing them. I am not sure how often we can spray them with the Permethrin?
If there is any other advice or anything else recommended for the mites- please let me know- we will try it.

You can use the Permethrin in 5-7 day intervals to treat the mites. They can be extremely hard to get rid of.

I'd re-check the birds to make sure that they have no mites on them, mites will suck the life out of them, make them sick or can sometimes kill a bird.

Ivermectin Pour On can be used to treat mites on the birds too, but the mites still have to be eliminated from housing or they will continue to infest the birds no matter what treatments you apply to the birds.

Try different methods to get rid of the rodents, those are also a challenge. You may find that you have to change tactics, trap some, poison some, etc. I use covered traps that I can put in my runs or around the outside so my dog doesn't get snapped or the chickens can't either. Regular snap traps can also be used, just place something like a milk crate over them so the birds or other animals can't get to them, but the rodents can.
Poison is a bit scary to use, but if you read up on methods and strategically place the bait stations away from the birds or other animals, most of the time you can use those too.

Do you have photos of your birds and their feet, their poop, etc.?