Silkie chick ate molded chick treat

[Swbertrand1]

PATIENT: 10 week old pampered and super-sweet Silkie chick that was otherwise completely healthy at dusk last night when we make sure everyone is in the coop and ready for sleep at 9pm EST.

8AM THIS MORNING: the chick was on the floor of the coop (coop is cleaned each week and new pine shavings put on all floor surfaces), unable to move normally with its head and neck craned downward and trying to move around, but flailing badly and flopping around. We removed the chick, which lives in this side of the coop with one other 10 week old Silkie (her sister), and brought her inside to better assess the situation. She was hungry and thirsty, but was able to eat a significant number of live mealworms (maybe 40), and was able to get water down with a dropper.

WHAT WE BELIEVE IS THE CULPRIT: a Manna Pro "Chick Stick" treat (NOT Manna Pro's fault to be clear on that point) that was left over from the hatch we had months ago, but was stored exposed to the air in the garage for several months. We hung it in the coop the night before last without thinking about its condition or the possibility of mold on it. We've had significant rain in our area for the last 2 months, and think the stick got contaminated and molded in the garage. Closer inspection of the stick this morning revealed that it did have some mold/fungus on it. Some of the stick was consumed by this chick for sure since we saw her eating some of it. So, we think we're dealing with some sort of mold or fungus reaction that has her in such poor shape today.

TREATMENTS so far: with experience with wry neck and star-gazing, we gave her about a pea-sized dose of Vitamin E with more live mealworms, and mixed up a batch of Sav-A-Chic Probiotic and Electrolytes, and she eagerly takes all we'll give her of the worms and the water.

12:00PM (noon): While holding her in one hand, she continues to eat live mealworms out of our hands, even able to hold her head up and eat on her own briefly, but requires us to give her water via a dropper. We have her inside in a pet bed with her head propped up so she can rest and sleep because we're not sure when she left the roost bar and dropped to the floor last night. She seems very tired today!

It's worth noting that she's been sleeping on and off for about four hours now, and she's lively and responsive when we approach her, but still struggling with getting her head upright.

So, what do you fine folks think we can do more to help this sweet little chick out? What can we do to improve her condition? What do you think her prognosis might be? We've read about Nutri-Drench, but have never treated with it. We've read about molasses flush, but are not sure that's the right course of action. What do you think? Thank you!!!

 

[azygous]

Activated charcoal, molasses flush, Epsom salt flush. Any of these will work.

 

[azygous]

Ten weeks is nearly full grown. Not gonna be a problem.

 

[azygous]

You might want to continue the charcoal for another day or two until you're sure all of the poison has been neutralized. I had some young chicks peck at a poisonous caterpillar and I didn't know to continue the charcoal beyond the first dose, and I may have seen a better outcome if I had.

 

[Swbertrand1]

You might want to continue the charcoal for another day or two until you're sure all of the poison has been neutralized. I had some young chicks peck at a poisonous caterpillar and I didn't know to continue the charcoal beyond the first dose, and I may have seen a better outcome if I had.

Thank you! She just had her first dose about 5:30pm this afternoon. From the site I referenced above, it suggests only two doses per day for the first 24-48 hours and to space other therapeutics 3 hours away from the charcoal doses.

It's really sad to see her so out of sorts. She talks, chirps, does that rolling "chirr" sound every time we approach her and put our hands on her. She's such a sweet little girl that this just breaks my heart.............. :-(

 

[Swbertrand1]

Update 6:00PM:
At about 9am this morning she got her second Activated Charcoal dose, but still about half what is suggested - just seems like SO much for this little girl! After, she got a little Probiotic and Electrolyte water, I went to get some Rooster Booster (crumbles and liquid). She's responded better than we expected and nearly as much as we had hoped for!

So, we reunited her with her half-sister in the back yard (they were hatch-mates and hatched the same day in April). Though her head is still very much cocked to the right and down, she was able to forage a bit, pick some grass, and eat some live mealworms out of a can.

Treatment regimen started out as an approach to a mold poisoning, but we rotated toward a vitamin deficiency mostly today. We'll give her another Activated Charcoal treatment tonight, but it seems as if the heavy vitamin content of Rooster Booster is getting results.

See photos of her progression from Monday night eating worms with her sister given by their "daddy" (she has the more caramel colors in her), to yesterday (Tuesday) morning looking pitiful, to this afternoon where she's preening in her temporary bed, to this evening (Wednesday) where she's back in the yard with her sister for a bit.

She's back in her indoor bed resting at this time (with her sister joining her for moral support), and we'll continue the vitamin treatment for the next several days and hope for steady improvement. We still believe this started with the mold on the treat, but there is some doubt in the mix now. I'll post more updates in the coming days.

Thank you to everyone for offering your well-wishes, advice, and suggestions for this sweet little girl! Thank you, thank you, thank you!


Monday evening - everything was completely normal

Tuesday mid-day - not doing well at all!

Wednesday afternoon - preening in her temporary bed

Wednesday early evening - not 100% but 100% better and eating worms with her sister

She can seem to get the worms just fine even with her head cocked to the side

Comfort of family is the best! - with her half-sister and hatch-mate...

Looking at us taking photos; I think she knows who really takes care of her

 

[MysteryChicken]

Activated charcoal, molasses flush, Epsom salt flush. Any of these will work.

Personally I would feed her some activated charcoal.

I wish I knew about this when two of my meat bird cockerels ate spoiled feed from the feeder, & became sick with Mycotoxicosis.

 

[azygous]

Here's hoping the treatment continues to produce improvement.

 

[azygous]

There's no doubt your quick response with treatment has saved her life. It's so good to hear she's showing every sign of recovering.

 

[Swbertrand1]

There's no doubt your quick response with treatment has saved her life. It's so good to hear she's showing every sign of recovering.

She definitely would not have made it if left on her own. I took her outside a few minutes ago after about 1.5 hours in her bed, and placed her back in the run with her sister. Her activity level jumps substantially when she's with her hatch-mate. She's safe in a separated run (her usual run that she shares with her sister adjacent to our main run until they mature), so I think I'm going to leave her there until her next dose of vitamins around noon. Do you think that is a good idea??

EDIT: I just walked out and took a quick peek to see how it was going, and she had her head nearly vertical and was messing around near the spot where they usually spend most of their days in the run. This looks SO positive to me, but we're both still VERY cautious about her long-term prognosis...