Sick teenage chickens

[TaylorLD]

Last week I went out to the coop to find my favourite 16 week old chicken down in the coop. She wasn’t able to lift her head, she was limp but breaking normally. The rest of the flock looked fine, and she herself was normal the day before. Tried her on vitamins, in the house for warmth. She would take syringes fluids no food. 24 hours later her breathing became labored and I decided to put her out of her misery. I wondered if something had gotten her as they free range during the day in the yard. Five days later, I found a 10 week old chick with early similar symptoms. She’s having a hard time lifting her head, not moving much. I’ve got a call into the vet, but haven’t heard back which makes me wonder if they forgot to call me back (now it’s after hours). I’m beyond worried about loosing another bird, or worse, my whole flock.

They have access to clean water, there is both 18% grower crumbles and layer pellets in the coop. They get meal worms and scratch for treats, as well as vegetable scraps that haven’t gone bad. We do have three Pekin ducks that they rarely interact with as well.

Any ideas? I’m worried sick.

 

[TaylorLD]

Not eating and this is her poop

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Could she have eaten anything moldy (moldy feed/compost), toxic (spilled oil, antifreeze, insecticide, herbicide), rotten, dead or maggots?

Hard to know what's happening with her and which direction to go.

The leaning over and limberneck appearance, I would almost say botulism, but she would have to have ingested something. I would also think that more than one bird would be showing signs of illness as well, but it's possible that she may have been the only one that consumed something(?)
The vet would be best to diagnose botulism, but if they are not repsonsive, then I'd consider giving a flush just to see if she improves.

Worms and Coccidiosis also come to mind as well. Have you treated for either? Again, your vet can perform fecal float to see if one or both are part of the problem.
Corid is used to treat Coccidiosis, it can be found at TSC in the cattle section. Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp and Powdered Corid dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Safeguard (Fenbendazole) is a good dewormer to use. Dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

Lastly, have you looked her over for injury/bruising just in case she's been injured somehow?

 

[TaylorLD]

Could she have eaten anything moldy (moldy feed/compost), toxic (spilled oil, antifreeze, insecticide, herbicide), rotten, dead or maggots?

Hard to know what's happening with her and which direction to go.

The leaning over and limberneck appearance, I would almost say botulism, but she would have to have ingested something. I would also think that more than one bird would be showing signs of illness as well, but it's possible that she may have been the only one that consumed something(?)
The vet would be best to diagnose botulism, but if they are not repsonsive, then I'd consider giving a flush just to see if she improves.

Worms and Coccidiosis also come to mind as well. Have you treated for either? Again, your vet can perform fecal float to see if one or both are part of the problem.
Corid is used to treat Coccidiosis, it can be found at TSC in the cattle section. Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp and Powdered Corid dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Safeguard (Fenbendazole) is a good dewormer to use. Dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

Lastly, have you looked her over for injury/bruising just in case she's been injured somehow?

Thank you so much for your response. The more I look at the symptoms, the more I lean towards Botulism because of the limberneck and progression. I will be inspecting every inch of the coop tomorrow and giving all feeders and waterers a thorough cleaning

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. I would also want to rule out Mareks disease, if I were you. It can cause all sorts of neurological symptoms, as well as lameness, eye changes in some strains, and tumors. Hopefully it is one of the other possible causes. The best way to get a diagnosis on what happened to your chicken is to keep the body cold, and take or ship it to your state vet lab for a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets, and I would call them ahead of time for specifics, so that you would know what to do if you lose another:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[TaylorLD]

UPDATE:

I’m now leaning towards Coccidosis. Noticed some red jelly in her poops. My vet never called me back so I did “home remedies” for vit e def and coccidosis. Gave both apple cider vinegar and vit e last night and she has totally perked back up this morning.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can’t treat coccidiosis with home remedies. Corid (amprollium) is over the counter at most feed stores. Dosage is 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Don’t put anything else in the water, and change it daily. It would be good if you could get some human vitamin E softgels 400 IU and give that orally each day. It would be hard to give that much in food. Hopefully, there is no Mareks, but it can cause a loss of immunity in chickens, and makes them more prone to getting infections.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

UPDATE:

I’m now leaning towards Coccidosis. Noticed some red jelly in her poops. My vet never called me back so I did “home remedies” for vit e def and coccidosis. Gave both apple cider vinegar and vit e last night and she has totally perked back up this morning.

I agree, if you are going to treat for Coccidiosis, you will need to use Corid, ACV is not an effective treatment. This can be found at TSC in the cattle section. Dosing is below in the quoted text.

Do you have photos of her poop?

She perked up after you gave her specialized care. Could it be that's she was kept/bullied from food/water and was weak from dehydration and not getting to eat? Sometimes this can happen with some birds that are younger or more timid. Having multiple food and water stations along with plenty of room can be helpful.

You can’t treat coccidiosis with home remedies. Corid (amprollium) is over the counter at most feed stores. Dosage is 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Don’t put anything else in the water, and change it daily. It would be good if you could get some human vitamin E softgels 400 IU and give that orally each day. It would be hard to give that much in food. Hopefully, there is no Mareks, but it can cause a loss of immunity in chickens, and makes them more prone to getting infections.