Silkie thread!

[Winter1]

This is Sunny. Poor thing, I had to trim his head feathers because he can't see the water or food.., but I love him.

 

[Kisune]

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[Sylvester017]

My 7 month old hen is acting sick. She isn't eating or drinking and she doesn't want to move. Is she just molting or is this something else?

None of us can be good diagnosticians over the internet. We can ask you questions and still only be guessing at the diagnosis. I saw my oldest Silkie get knocked off a nestbox ledge by a klutzy LF and she landed so hard she wasn't moving. I immediately took her to my vet because I don't know if she broke something or had internal injury. The doctor said it was a pretty bad bruise from the fall and prescribed something that had her moving around again. Otherwise she wouldn't eat or drink -- she would just stay still. Chickens are difficult to diagnose and the same symptoms can manifest for several maladies. This is why I lined up a vet that would see chickens for just those emergency days I have a sick chicken.

 

[Fancychooklady]

She isn't showing signs of anything else. Could this be caused by stress?

What kind of stress are you referring to ? Usually stress will show up as panting or signs of upper respiratory distress. Not eating and drinking are serious symptoms. Have you given her a thorough examination , crop impaction , egg binding and lice would be what I would look for first.

 

[Fancychooklady]

None of us can be good diagnosticians over the internet.  We can ask you questions and still only be guessing at the diagnosis.  I saw my oldest Silkie get knocked off a nestbox ledge by a klutzy LF and she landed so hard she wasn't moving.  I immediately took her to my vet because I don't know if she broke something or had internal injury.  The doctor said it was a pretty bad bruise from the fall and prescribed something that had her moving around again.  Otherwise she wouldn't eat or drink -- she would just stay still.  Chickens are difficult to diagnose and the same symptoms can manifest for several maladies.  This is why I lined up a vet that would see chickens for just those emergency days I have a sick chicken.

For many people the expense of a vet is out of the question and the only alternative they have , apart from asking people with chicken experience , is to cull. In some cases that is the best thing for the chicken and in some cases it's simply not necessary. I have an avian vet that I listen intently to , but my regular vet knows less about chickens than I do.

 

[Sylvester017]

For many people the expense of a vet is out of the question and the only alternative they have , apart from asking people with chicken experience , is to cull. In some cases that is the best thing for the chicken and in some cases it's simply not necessary. I have an avian vet that I listen intently to , but my regular vet knows less about chickens than I do.

I agree that with experience we can develop more knowledge than a vet. I know 5 years ago I could never imagine using a syringe down the throat of a chicken to administer medicine but I learned; however I showed the vet how my Silkie will take the medicine out of the palm of my hand instead of shoving it down her throat and it amazed him. Now he leaves the choice up to me for how to administer the prescriptions as long as the bird gets its proper dosage. Whether to have a vet or not to have a vet is a personal choice and it was the one I had made before I got my first Silkies. You of many on here have been a wealth of knowledge, references, experience, and kindness to me personally. But I also lucked out having a vet that worked in the poultry industry so I have come to trust him about the deeper issues that I can't possibly handle when it comes to some illnesses with my little lovebugs. Maybe, again, as you've stated before, it's because this is easy for me having only 4 birds in my little backyard flock.

There are just too many exact symptoms for so many different maladies that it is difficult to give an accurate diagnosis over these threads. When a Silkie gets some of the more serious symptoms like not eating, being lethargic, or not moving, to me signifies the need for a quick medical diagnosis. A bird can have something as simple as needing to be wormed or lice/mites that have sucked the life out of a bird and needs de-lousing. Common maladies like worms or cocci can be tested overnight and treated easily. If the result is not worms or cocci and external parasites are ruled out, there can be a host of more serious or internal genetics that may have to be faced by the owner once the easy tests and health checks have been concluded.

Love your input and with explanations find we're basically on the same page

 

[moomoodiddy]

living on a beef cattle farm, you only call a vet in a true emergency, family tradition and personal experience and knowledge of your own animals comes in handy and saves a lot of vet billes

 

[Fancychooklady]

I agree that with experience we can develop more knowledge than a vet.  I know 5 years ago I could never imagine using a syringe down the throat of a chicken to administer medicine but I learned; however I showed the vet how my Silkie will take the medicine out of the palm of my hand instead of shoving it down her throat and it amazed him.  Now he leaves the choice up to me for how to administer the prescriptions as long as the bird gets its proper dosage.  Whether to have a vet or not to have a vet is a personal choice and it was the one I had made before I got my first Silkies.  You of many on here have been a wealth of knowledge, references, experience, and kindness to me personally.  But I also lucked out having a vet that worked in the poultry industry so I have come to trust him about the deeper issues that I can't possibly handle when it comes to some illnesses with my little lovebugs.  Maybe, again, as you've stated before, it's because this is easy for me having only 4 birds in my little backyard flock.

There are just too many exact symptoms for so many different maladies that it is difficult to give an accurate diagnosis over these threads.  When a Silkie gets some of the more serious symptoms like not eating, being lethargic, or not moving, to me signifies the need for a quick medical diagnosis.  A bird can have something as simple as needing to be wormed or lice/mites that have sucked the life out of a bird and needs de-lousing.  Common maladies like worms or cocci can be tested overnight and treated easily.  If the result is not worms or cocci and external parasites are ruled out, there can be a host of more serious or internal genetics that may have to be faced by the owner once the easy tests and health checks have been concluded. 

Love your input and with explanations find we're basically on the same page  

Agree whole heartedly with everything you have said. But as I said , for some it isn't an option from an economic point of view and searching the net is the only chance their poor little feathered friends will have. Some folks need a little prodding to get the actual symptoms and some will go via PM , but if it is something that we can help with , help we will. 4 chickens or 40 chickens, we all do our best . I know that your chickens are well cared for.

 

[Fancychooklady]

living on a beef cattle farm, you only call a vet in a true emergency, family tradition and personal experience and knowledge of your own animals comes in handy and saves a lot of vet billes 

Yeah people on the land have to rely on common sense a lot of the time. We live by the rule, ' see one , do one, teach one '. You learn fairly quickly that animals die and sometimes you can prevent it and sometimes you can't. We have a foal due today and while we are ready and versed on what to expect , if things turn bad our equine vet is on speed dial.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Does anyone else have silkies trying to brood this time of year? All of my silkie hens are trying to brood again, but I don't know if I should let them, because of it being Winter.

Just had one of my silkies hatch 3 weeks ago, one 2 weeks ago & this week the third went broody. Trying to discourage the 3rd one, but its not going real well lol