Silkie can't stand or walk, having seizures! Please help!

[Ashley McDaniel]

I have an 18 month old Silkie hen, FeFe, who's health is plummeting! It started with change in behavior, not interested in leaving the coop, not running to me when I came out with the feed bag, etc. Then came the seizures. A few of them per week, I also noticed her running into things, as if her vision is impaired, and I keep her crest and face trimmed so it's not that, all of this starting one month ago. I started looking more into it. I found bird lice, treated her, no more lice, she's still sick. Now she can't even stand or walk, this started 3 days ago. I brought her inside in the air and have her in a small crate, fresh bedding, food and water, although she's not eating or drinking much. Her crop is empty. I can't continue to watch her suffer, or starve to death. She is defenseless to the rest of the flock so I cannot put her back with them. I also want to add that her brother, Emmit, died last month, he was fine, the day before he passed he stopped walking as well, found him dead the following morning. He appeared healthy just as FeFe did. Now this. Could this be Marek's? I'm worried, I don't want to lose my entire flock... any advice or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[azygous]

It does sound like Marek's. Sadly, if it is, there's not much you can do.

If this chicken dies, you can get a necropsy performed on her remains and that will confirm what disease is at work in your flock.

 

[Ashley McDaniel]

I've done a lot of research, I agree with you, their symptoms are pretty spot on with this disease. This sucks. I have 30 chickens, she is my favorite of them all. Thank you for the info.

 

[lilmillefleur]

So sorry and best wishes

 

[ronott1]

You need to move her into a hospital cage and may need to make her eat and drink. Tube feeding is often needed and there are articles in the learning center for it.

Mareks is usually something they recover from but some do die. Silkies are prone to brain injuries because of the vaulted skull and niacin deficiency can cause some of the symptoms you see.

Treatment is the same though--rest, vitamins and good food and water.

Best wishes!

 

[Ashley McDaniel]

I've tried hand feeding, she won't take it. She did drink a little water. I will look into the tube feeding. She's in a pet carrier, it's good size for her. I've got her up on the kitchen counter right next to me lol poor girl, it's worse when they're your pets. Thanks everyone .

 

[ronott1]

I've tried hand feeding, she won't take it. She did drink a little water. I will look into the tube feeding. She's in a pet carrier, it's good size for her. I've got her up on the kitchen counter right next to me lol poor girl, it's worse when they're your pets. Thanks everyone .

If you get her eating, she should start recovering in several days.

Don't worry too much about the rest of the flock. All chickens get mareks but most do not show symptoms. It does happen though that a flock will be less resistant to mareks.

The best thing to do is go for flock health- You said there were mites so invest in some elector and use it on all of the chickens. Make sure to follow up too and I would flat out treat them all for worms. After that, send in a poo sample for a fecal float test a couple of times a year. Any vet can do that--They might balk at chicken poo so you might not tell them that it is from chickens

 

[Ashley McDaniel]

Sadly my FeeFee passed away this morning. I am relieved in a way because I no longer have to watch her suffer. I've treated the entire flock for parasites, lice, mites, worms, etc. After losing all 3 of my silkies, my husband found me 6 baby chicks , black, splash and blue Silkies that we are picking up next Friday. We are building a new coop just for them, and have made a lot of adjustments to our current coop for our production hens. I've learned a lot, and feel more prepared now. Thanks so much to all who commented. I'll post pics of the new babies when they arrive!