Silkie lost balance

[Cara194]

Sunday I came home around 5pm to find my 13 week old Silkie walking slowly, but dazed. I removed her from my flock and gave her a once over. Two clues popped out, 1) she was 'hunkered down' with her neck in an 's' shape, 2) she had evidence of a small amount of white poo stuck to the fluff below her tush. He neck wasn't drooped as if she lost control of it (so I'm not thinking wry neck), it was like someone pushed down on a swan head and it's neck's 's' shaped compacted. In fact she had control of it because she kept (and continues to) shaking it side to side (think Stevie Wonder, not an ear-mite sort of shake). The 2-3 times she tried pecking at her food she undershot it, her depth perception was off. I trimmed her puff to see if her vision was obstructed, but that didn't help. Over the course of the night I gave her as much Sav-a-Chick in water with a dropper as I could in case she was dehydrated while I tried to figure out what was going on with her. I was away for a couple days, but whatever happened had to have been recent because she made it down the ramp out of the coop that morning.

Monday morning she was extremely letharic. Couldn't stand on her own, eyes closed most of the time, body collapsed when I put her down. I brought her to the only vet in the area that *takes* chickens, however, she admitted she doesn't know much and was working from a book. Thankfully she was great, and very open to brainstorming with me. She was thinking Marek's, but I'm not sure on that one because her legs haven't actually been paralyzed. They've been splayed when she sits, but never dragging or sticking out. She gave her a shot of steroids, and a script for antibiotics (Sulfa). I continued to give her Sav-a-Chick. Later Monday night I switched to Lifelytes to get her the additional vitamins, just in case wry-neck was the issue, in addition to electrolytes, plus her dosage of antibiotics and force fed her some wet food (they've been on grower/finisher since 10 weeks old)

Yesterday she was doing much better. She was standing on her own, her head wiggling was still there, but not as often, she was extending her head up and down rather than just keeping it in an 's', her depth perception was better and she was able to eat on her own. She was able to walk around outside and even munch a bit of clover. She pooped a couple of times, sometimes kinda phlem-y white with a little green, sometimes normal brown. More often white.

This morning she took a turn again. She can still stand if I get her feet under her, but is very unsteady and often catches her wings under her feet. I called the vet again to see if it could be from the steroid running its course. She said that it only runs about 24 hours so would have worn off today. I'm headed to pick up more after work. A small part of me is wondering if it's botulism or mycotoxin then maybe the antibiotics have kicked in today and are killing good bacteria and counteracting her progress?

My thoughts -
1) botulism or mycotoxins? hard to tell if a silkie's feathers are puffed, but I noticed the bread I was feeding them had a spot of mold. I didn't feed them the mold, and stopped feeding them the bread once I noticed it. But the green in the white phlegm is concerning me. Also, there was a cucumber in their pen I had neglected to remove in a timely fashion (forgot it was there).
2) head injury? I have 2 silkies and 13 mixed full-sized chickens. She could have easily been rolled by one of the other chickens, or even have taken a tumble coming down the ramp that morning. The way she wiggles her head and isn't balanced is REALLY leaning me toward some sort of brain swelling/water on the brain being the culprit. Especially with her being a silkie.
3) Marek's? again though, it doesn't look like she's struggling with paralysis. Plus it seems to have started with her head because her legs were strong at that point.
4) We had a fire at a plant that recycles toxic material (PCBs, fuel oil, etc) about a mile away Thursday. DEC and DOH have ensured us that there were no toxins in the fire...and I don't think that is the reason for this since she's the only sick one, but I'm throwing it out there just in case.

None of the other 14 chickens are showing signs of being sick.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!!! I'll get more steroids in her as soon as I get home and report back, but want to get this post out in case anyone has dealt with her exact symptoms...

 

[leadwolf1]

I'm just going to tackle the Marek's issue.

Marek's does not just effect the legs. It can start with neck, wing or leg paralysis. Sometimes, none of these are seen. The paralysis is not what we think of as in humans. The legs will move and kick but, control is lost. Eventually, yes, there will be total paralysis but, only some chickens get this far. Marek's can go into remission. It can come and go randomly until, it eventually kills.

 

[silkymom1986]

I am interested to see the answers you get, I lost a silkie in the exact same way, DH and I figured it was botulism, because it seemed to only effect her neck and her balance was off. We don't have a vet that takes chickens so I went to the co op and did pretty much what your doing, she got better for a day or 2, then she died. This has been like 3 months ago and I haven't had any others get sick, and hopefully they dont.

 

[Cara194]

Thanks for your response leadwolf1! Any movement she makes isn't like an uncontrolled kick or flap - does that make a difference? I have 7 hens that were vaccinated, 4 hens that weren't (this is one of them), and 4 roo's that weren't. I was looking for another home for two roo's but if there's a chance they could have Marek's then I won't rehome them. Between her being a silkie and prone to brain injury, and her not having any other visible symptoms of Marek's (eyes are fine, no lesions, anything else to look for?), plus I'm sure a good dosage of just plain hope, I'd still like to lean toward a brain injury.

If I never find out, is there a certain incubation period after which I could breath easy that the other's don't have it? I was reading it could live up to a year in the soil, and it can take about 2 months to show symptoms? If that's true than it'll be a while I guess.

I gave her more steroids last night. I'm sad to say she's been on her back 4 times this morning so it doesn't look like they're helping. Not looking good...

 

[Cara194]

Hi silkymom1986! I'm sorry to hear about your loss :-( It's so frustrating not having a vet that can tell you what's going on. We have two vets here that will see chickens, but have admitted that they're new to it so they're just learning as well.

I have a different question for you...I still have my one other silky (roo) in with my other 13 full sized chickens. I'm concerned that he'll get either knocked around, or won't do well as the sole silky in the flock. The woman I got the two from told me she would only sell them in a pair because you can't just have one in a flock. Do you have your silkies mixed in with your other chickens? Have you heard of a problem with only having the one silky roo in the flock? I'm not really sure what to do with him if my girl doesn't make it...

 

[leadwolf1]

Do yourself a favor and have a necropsy done. Really. A state lab won't cost that much and the peace of mind will be worth millions. I have read that Marek's can remain present for up to 7 years. It can take up to 16 weeks, or longer for another chicken to show symptoms. My first died and it took 4 months for the second to show symptoms. No paralysis at all. Necropsy confirmed Marek's. Marek's doesn't have to have any outward signs/symptoms. It can cause death by causing tumors in the lungs, liver and spleen. Even the reproductive organs. In a year's time, I have lost 40+ birds to Marek's. It is a devastating illness.

I have seen everything that Marek's has to offer. I have seen a silkie go from what I would have thought as being perfectly healthy. Fat, lively, eating and drinking, foraging one hour to dead the next. Necropsy again confirmed Marek's. You can't go by what the books say. It just doesn't hold true.

 

[leadwolf1]

My silkie roo is head roo of my flock. He is feisty and loves his woman. He only has one silkie woman left but, he takes advantage of all the other girls at his disposal. I also have an only silkie roo in my bachelor pad...he is second in command.

Hi silkymom1986! I'm sorry to hear about your loss :-( It's so frustrating not having a vet that can tell you what's going on. We have two vets here that will see chickens, but have admitted that they're new to it so they're just learning as well.

I have a different question for you...I still have my one other silky (roo) in with my other 13 full sized chickens. I'm concerned that he'll get either knocked around, or won't do well as the sole silky in the flock. The woman I got the two from told me she would only sell them in a pair because you can't just have one in a flock. Do you have your silkies mixed in with your other chickens? Have you heard of a problem with only having the one silky roo in the flock? I'm not really sure what to do with him if my girl doesn't make it...

 

[Cara194]

I will definitely have one done - I didn't realize there were stat labs available for such a thing. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!

I apologize for not asking you the same question about the single silkie. I didn't know you had them (they weren't in your signature line and I was too busy reasearching my chicken to stalk your profile, lol) or I would have! My plan about a week ago was to cull one roo (Ameraucana with crooked beak. We've been hand feeding him but he isn't getting what he needs and is so thin I feel aweful leaving him half-starved), give away the other Ameraucana roo and the Speckled Sussex Roo, and keep my Silkie roo (he's my 9YO's pet). At this point I'm not sure what to do. The Ameraucana keeps going after the SS so I need to do something very soon. But with the chance of Marek's, like I said, I can't give them away. I think I'm going to have to use the Ameraucana as a meat bird. :-( So far the SS hasn't bothered the Silkie...so far.

Do you think things would be ok with the following mix? 1 SS roo, 1 Silkie roo, 10 mixed hens (all large breeds)

I'm sorry for talking as if she'd already gone, but I'm big on planning ahead so I can make a rational not rash decision when the kids and I are emotional....it's already emotional enough with her sick

 

[leadwolf1]

Trust me, I know emotional..my kids and I have spent half the year crying.

I think that your two roos and your ten hens will be very happy. I know that right now, due to Marek's, I have my silkie roo and a frizzled bantam cochin roo plus 5 girls in my main coop. They are living in harmony Everyone appears to be happy. I will be adding 8 girls to the coop when I can get up enough nerve to make it happen. Marek's disease loves stress and nothing like a huge move from my grow out area to a new coop for the young ones and a sudden influx of new pullets for the old ones in the coop to add a bunch of that. I am afraid that I will throw off the delicate balance that I have achieved and I will lose more birds.

You can contact your local government extension office for information on state labs or, you can go online to find the information that you need. I have not tried the online search, I just discovered this information on another post.

Just keep an eye on your silkie that the others aren't picking on him. Sometimes they like to pick on the fluffies I didn't have any problems with this but, others have.

Your chicken with the beak issue...have your tried feeding him a chicken mash? I like to mix up crumbles, water, yogurt and some babyfood fruit and veggies or some applesauce. It is easier for them to scoop up then regular pellets/crumbles.

Until you get a diagnosis, please do not rehome anyone.

Good luck.

 

[silkymom1986]

It's very frustrating not having a vet to take mine too, luckily that's the only incident I've had like that, and hopefully the last!

I didn't know there state labs that would do that either, I think I'll look into that as well just to be on the safe side. Thanks for that info.

My DH and brother in law just built me a seperate coop for my silkies because I have so many, but before I had that my silkies were mixed in with my other larger birds and got along just fine. I've heard of some people having problems, I would keep an eye on him for a while to make sure the others don't bully him too much, but I would think he would fine.