Silkie stumbles backward and falls over

[Alicrawf914]

I have a 4 month old silkie pullet. A few days ago, she was laying around more than usual and when she walked, she walked low to the ground. The next day, when she tried to walk, she stumbled backwards and fell on her face. She can't stand up or even hold herself upright while laying down. She is still eating if we hold her upright and looks around and "talks". I read some threads and thought maybe it was vitamin defficiency. I gave her Nutridrench and vitamin b yesterday and the day before, but she has not made any improvement.

 

[sourland]

sorry for the circumstances. If it is a vitamin deficiency, it will take time for the effects of treatment to appear. Good luck with her. Any possibility that she received a blow to her head ?

 

[Docdetective]

This sounds similer to what my chick has!! He is part silkie. He suddenly wasn’t able to walk and was falling on his head too. I isolated him and kept him in a cage near the house. At first I hand fed him every hour, but he is eating food and water when it is set next to him. He is slowly regaining muscle strength and coordination. I have no idea what happened to him, but he is thriving and can scoot around when laying down, and walks when held upright. I’d love to hear updates on yours!!
Also!! If she is laying down all of the time, make sure her cage is kept perfectly clean and wash or trim the feathers around her vent consistently to keep her poop off. My chick got Flystrike from not being kept clean.

 

[sourland]

Silkies with vaulted skulls can be particularly susceptible to head injuries.

 

[Alicrawf914]

She squac

By spazzing, do you mean kicking her legs and vibrating her wings? Mine did this too, but I associated it with not wanting to be put down. He did learn how to kick and scoot himself along without falling on his head eventually.

She sqwaucks and stetches up really tall and kicks her legs around. But she does it sometimes when I am not holding her also

 

[Docdetective]

She squac

She sqwaucks and stetches up really tall and kicks her legs around. But she does it sometimes when I am not holding her also

That sounds exactly like what my chick does, although he tries to use his wings too. Does she have any wing movement?

 

[Docdetective]

I'm not sure, it sounds very similar to yours. Mine is now starting to stretch her neck out more and is panting

I wonder if there is some kind of new silkie disorder? Poor girl. If she’s by herself she might be lonely. I have mine inside the house sometimes in a low sided box, or he is now in a small fenced in area by himself that he likes. (It’s covered on the top too)

Another strange symptom I have seen is that his left leg sometimes turns in when he’s trying to walk and he lifts it up sometimes when he is supporting his own weight ( he doesn’t do this always). I still have to balance him though. I have excluded injury becuase it doesn’t hurt him (he lets me know if I’m doing something he doesn’t like) and I have felt both legs and nothing seems to be broken/dislocated.

His daily routine goes something like this if your wondering;
I help him eat at 8:30, he gets about an hour outside while I help him stand and walk.
I help him eat again at 12:30, gets another hour of helping him explore.
3:30, another meal and walk.
6:30, last meal and put in cage for the night after another hour of play time. I cover his cage and cover him with a washcloth so he stays warm, he was getting cold because he can tuck his legs under him. He is also in shavings.

*he does eat between meal times, he has food in his outdoor area.

I know this schedule takes a ton of time and you may not be able to do it, it is just what I have found to help him and keep him happy. I am a homeschooled teen so I can easily take care of him.

He also has physical therapy! I move a leg up and down for about 10 times, then switch to the other. Then I do circular motions. I have upped to 20 on each leg now that he has gotten stronger.

Hope this helps!!

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not sure that anyone can help at this point. Sorry that you are dealing with her illness. She is at the right age for Mareks disease. It is best diagnosed wither with a blood serum test through a lab such as Vetdna.com or with a necropsy and testing performed by your state poultry lab. Where are you located? If you lose her, keep her body cold in a cooler on ice, but don’t refrigerate. Send her body or better, take it in to your state vet M-F. Here is a list of state poultry vets who can perform testing and necropsy:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Here is a link for dna testing for Mareks:
http://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf

 

[Alicrawf914]

I'm sorry she's not improving.
I think you are doing what you can for her.
The only thing I see you mention is that her crop always has some stuff in it - is her crop empty in the morning before she eats/drinks?

Her crop was empty this morning. I will check again tomorrow morning to make sure.

 

[Docdetective]

It isn’t if she hasn’t been eating something red like strawberries and tomatoes. I think coccidiosis can cause bloody looking poop but I’m not positive.