Silkie Health concerns

[Pippikins]

He doesn't seem to be in pain but it's like he has seizures. As soon as I grab him he mellows though. When I am home I am there with him to mellow him. But when I am at work no one else at home will spend any significant time with him.

 

[Pippikins]

Of course my cousin gave him more water and food and didn't add the ACV or vitamins. So he went most of the day with no supplements. I had to take him out of the clinic. It was getting to busy in there and my husband was tired of stepping in chicken poo. So I set him up in an partial enclosed 3x4 cage in the yard with the infared light for the night. My neighbors probably think I'm growing pot or something. Hahaha. They contacted the City when we put up our flight cage. We had cops scoping out our house for a few days.

 

[drumstick diva]

So sorry to hear about Nugget, I replied when you first took him in and didn't expect any complications. I just noticed he is still in the news (via member introductions)

My friend(with house chickens) has a silky rooster that did the same when he was younger. Every day she thought he would die but, he didn't - he is several years old now. I don't know at what point he stopped having the seizures but, she said he also used to run a fever(?) he was so hot that it burned to touch him. She would cool him down with water and cage him(so he wouldn't get injured) until he stopped thrashing around.

He also had the wry neck and used to walk backwards with his head dropped between his legs, and do cartwheels (her description, not mine). He had the polyvisol infant drops, a few drops squeezed from vit. e capsules-can't recall what else.

I've read that some benefit from prednisone , given by vet and following his instructions but, she wouldn't take him to a vet. Sorry I don't know what the turning point was - it seemed like his bad days went on forever. But he is fine.

I don't see her often and she is pretty forgetful, so I don't think she would even remember when he came out of all this stuff. He came from a feed store as a pullet and fooled her on that too. I think the only reason she never put him down was because - only her dog goes to the vet, who ironically does have(and know) about chickens. Our friendship went downhill from this attitude & our arguments - she could afford it and her chickens were HER babies, the dog was just a dog to her. Go figure.

 

[Pippikins]

Ty for the info drumstick diva. I want to take him to the vet but my husband says we can't afford it. I have to take our little dog to the vet in a week. I think when I make the appointment I'll ask if any of the vets there know about chickens. And hopefully I can schedule the appointments for the same day. No animal is "just" anything to me. And ******, I'm ready for something good to happen this year.

 

[Pippikins]

Ok, I did some more online searching. I am finding this has happened to many small chickens. Some never find the answer. But there was mention of giving them extra protein. Some say cat food is a good source of protien. Some mentioned protien treats. Anyone know of a good protien source? Or protien treat for chickens?

 

[TwoCrows]

Ok, I did some more online searching. I am finding this has happened to many small chickens. Some never find the answer. But there was mention of giving them extra protein. Some say cat food is a good source of protien. Some mentioned protien treats. Anyone know of a good protien source? Or protien treat for chickens?

Good morning! I think Drumstick Diva has given you some great insight to other chickens with similar issues. Maybe there is hope for him just yet. I had a Lovebird many years ago that from the time she was 6 months old, til her passing at 12 years old, had seizures. She would spazz out and not know where she was, her eyes would get big and black, she would fall over and lay on her side with paralysis on her right side. I hold hold her for about 5 mins and it would disappear. Sometimes she had these every other day, and sometimes she went months between bouts. I never did figure out how to cure them. Someone had told me vinegar helped, so that is when I tried the ACV. She did improve, however could have been coincidence. But she lived on and in the end, she passed from old age and not from seizures.

As for protein and chickens, meat is excellent protein for chickens. I give my birds cooked ground turkey a couple times a week. You can also give cooked ground beef, pieces of any kind of meat will do. Some people even feed raw carcasses, but my birds are a bit more civil for that! Ha!

1/4 ounce a day is probably all Nugget needs and I am not sure I would do it every day. It is pretty acidic and greasy. 4 or 5 times a week is probably enough.

 

[Pippikins]

I may actually have a tube of ground turkey. I'll see what I can scrounge up. Thanks to all of you for all your help and support!

 

[Pippikins]

Nugget still has he episodes but the other day he went most of the day without one. He goes in the xpen during the day and in his cage with the infared light at night. I've still been giving him the ACV and vitamins in his water. I'm about to hard boil some eggs for him for the extra protein. He seems to do better with the extra protein. Apparently my son terrifies him because my son went in the pen with him and tried to give him his food and Nugget absolutely spazes and rolled over a few times.

 

[drumstick diva]

Just checking to see how Nugget is doing.

 

[Pippikins]

Well he loved his hardboiled egg. He loves to be handfed too. I'd love to just put him in a basket and walk around with him all day. He doesn't spaz while I am paying attention to him usually. But as soon as I move away a bit he freaks.