Silkie chick is dying!! UPDATE: It's gone :( question about poo?

shelleyd2008

the bird is the word
11 Years
Sep 14, 2008
23,381
203
351
Adair Co., KY
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Silkie, about 5-6 weeks old

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Chick is posturing, throwing head back, laying on side;

3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No, nothing.

4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Nothing, they were all fine yesterday.

5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Eating Purina Flock Raiser it's whole life, clean water with a bit of vitamin/electrolyte solution once every 1-2 weeks.

6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Unsure, but I haven't seen any odd looking poop in the brooder.

7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Nothing, I have no idea what to do.

8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Treat myself

9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Sorry, no.

10) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
In a brooder with other chicks and guinea keets. Brooder is inside, and has a 52 watt light for heat. All chicks/keets in the brooder are at least 3 weeks old. There are 10 keets and I think 7 or 8 chicks. They are on pine shaving bedding, which is what they've always been on.
I just cleaned the brooder and changed bedding yesterday. It is a new bag of bedding. All the others look fine.
 
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Is she vaulted? If so, she could have been pecked on the head and sustained neurological damage.
 
No, it doesn't look vaulted. It is kind of stretching its legs out stiffly as well.
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It looks like it might be a brain injury, when it does open its eyes, they are kind of erratic? Like the eyes are moving all over? If that makes any sense
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Anything I can do for it?
 
It sounds like she's having seizues to me. Could be neurological or toxin. The treatment for neurological is worth a shot. If it was a toxin, she won't last long.
 
do you have her on vitamins of any sort? a couple drops on the beak, they have a tendancy for vitamin deficiency- might try that- poly vi sol infant vitamins without iron- keep us posted, ok?
 
I would get your banties out of the same brooder as KEETS! Guinea keets are fast and strong, and will knock a silkie chick over just trying to run away from you. They hatch out at about the same size, but the keets will rapidly be stronger and flightier than the silkies. Likely the chick got bonked on the head/ran into the wall/got trampled ect (head trauma)- many silkies have abnormal and easily damaged skulls.
 
That's what I figure too. The silkies are about twice as old as the keets, but the keets are at least as big as the silkies are.

This poor baby is just not doing well at all
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Just sleeping, if I can get it to wake up its eyes are 'swimmy'. I'll probably cull it, to end its suffering. It gets really shaky when I do wake it up.
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