Silkie Chicken Unable to Stand

[sp123]

I own 12 chickens, including 3 silkies. One of my silkies started consistently falling over about 8 months ago. She is currently 10 months old. At first this was a minor problem because she could still stand up and eat, but now she can’t stand up at all without falling over on her back. She wants to eat and drink, but simply cannot get there. It’s really terrible to watch. Please help!!! I’m afraid she’s going to die, and I don’t know what to do.

 

[RodNTN]

I am extremely sorry about this, the exact thing happened to my Silkie last year. After showing these symptoms she only lived for about a day

I am no expert, so I'll tag a few:
@casportpony @theoldchick @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC!
Maybe @Fancychooklady has some suggestions.

 

[RodNTN]

Could it be Mareks?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Awww...poor sweet girl!

I would suspect that she has Marek's or some type of neurological condition.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
Unfortunately, there is no cure for Marek's, but if you want to see if she will improve, then you can try giving her a boost by providing extra protein (eggs, tuna, meat) in addition to her normal feed or provide an 18-20% feed like chick starter or Flock Raiser.

Additional vitamins that contain E and B1 may prove to be helpful as well. Poultry Cell or Nutri-Drench have VitaminE. You can also use human E vitamins along with B-Complex (no iron) just add it to her feed.

Since she wants to eat and is struggling, you may need to hand feed her or you can try placing her in a sling-this may keep her upright enough for her to eat on her own (monitor her while she is in the sling). I added a few images below, but if you google chicken sling you will find a lot of pictures to get the creative juices flowing.

I'm sorry that she is not doing well. We are glad that you joined, even though it's under such distressing circumstances.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Oh poor baby. The sling above may help with her eating and drinking. Have you seen any other in the flock with these symptoms? Mareks typically effects younger birds . There could be a vitamin deficiency at play here, wryneck usually presents with ataxia in the legs . I would start her on poultry multi vitamin that contains thiamine, vitamin E and selenium. Silkies are also prone to cerebral hernia that can be caused by a head injury or swelling on the brain brought on by extreme heat ( which I think we can rule out if you are in the USA ) or even upper respiratory disease.
This is also something that typically effects younger birds, but I wouldn't rule it out.
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/CerebralHernia/CerebralHernia.html

 

[sp123]

I am extremely sorry about this, the exact thing happened to my Silkie last year. After showing these symptoms she only lived for about a day

I am no expert, so I'll tag a few:
@casportpony @theoldchick @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

That's absolutely terrible, I'm sorry for your loss. I've started to feed her a crushed multivitamin in water and this seems to be helping a little, but other than that I don't know what's wrong with her. I don't suspect Marek's because my other chickens would have gotten it too. She is the only one experiencing these symptoms and I don't know how much longer she can go on like this.

 

[sp123]

Oh poor baby. The sling above may help with her eating and drinking. Have you seen any other in the flock with these symptoms? Mareks typically effects younger birds . There could be a vitamin deficiency at play here, wryneck usually presents with ataxia in the legs . I would start her on poultry multi vitamin that contains thiamine, vitamin E and selenium. Silkies are also prone to cerebral hernia that can be caused by a head injury or swelling on the brain brought on by extreme heat ( which I think we can rule out if you are in the USA ) or even upper respiratory disease.
This is also something that typically effects younger birds, but I wouldn't rule it out.
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/CerebralHernia/CerebralHernia.html

Oh poor baby. The sling above may help with her eating and drinking. Have you seen any other in the flock with these symptoms? Mareks typically effects younger birds . There could be a vitamin deficiency at play here, wryneck usually presents with ataxia in the legs . I would start her on poultry multi vitamin that contains thiamine, vitamin E and selenium. Silkies are also prone to cerebral hernia that can be caused by a head injury or swelling on the brain brought on by extreme heat ( which I think we can rule out if you are in the USA ) or even upper respiratory disease.
This is also something that typically effects younger birds, but I wouldn't rule it out.
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/CerebralHernia/CerebralHernia.html

I started her on a multivitamin today in her water and she had no problem drinking it, which gave me a little hope. Her neck recently has been curling inward when she's on her side, which could be a sign of wry neck. None of the other chickens in my flock have shown these symptoms, she is the only one, so I don't believe she has Marek's. She is very skinny, and I have been handfeeding her and holding her up so she can drink. Without help, she is pretty much immobile. This scares me because I am going out of town in a couple of weeks, and though I will have someone checking in on the flock, I'm afraid that Pip (my silkie) won't survive while we're gone.

 

[sp123]

Awww...poor sweet girl!

I would suspect that she has Marek's or some type of neurological condition.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
Unfortunately, there is no cure for Marek's, but if you want to see if she will improve, then you can try giving her a boost by providing extra protein (eggs, tuna, meat) in addition to her normal feed or provide an 18-20% feed like chick starter or Flock Raiser.

Additional vitamins that contain E and B1 may prove to be helpful as well. Poultry Cell or Nutri-Drench have VitaminE. You can also use human E vitamins along with B-Complex (no iron) just add it to her feed.

Since she wants to eat and is struggling, you may need to hand feed her or you can try placing her in a sling-this may keep her upright enough for her to eat on her own (monitor her while she is in the sling). I added a few images below, but if you google chicken sling you will find a lot of pictures to get the creative juices flowing.

I'm sorry that she is not doing well. We are glad that you joined, even though it's under such distressing circumstances.

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View attachment 1291986

Thanks for replying. I do agree that she could have a neurological issue. I will try the extra protein idea and I have already started adding vitamins to her water. The chicken sling idea is great, I would never have thought of that. If she does not improve soon, I will try building a sling and monitor how she acts while in it.

 

[theoldchick]

Heartbreaking to see them like that. Here's some information for you:

https://zukureview.com/article/top-10-poultry-conditions-part-1

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/mareks-disease