Silkie with Problems. Help

[KinderKorner]

Alright so you might have seen my posts before. I have a silkie roo who came down sick. I thought he was going to die. And I thought at first it was Cocci. Then some people suggested it was Wry neck. Okay. He is doing much better. But the little booger won't eat. I've been force feeding him for over two weeks now. He acts lively, but not quite normal. I've been giving him Vitamin E and B-complex. Mixed with egg, yogurt, chick food, oats, molasses, water, and whole grain cream of wheat.

He is not putting on any weight and is all skin and bones. He absolutely has no interest in food at all. What can I do? I'm having heart surgery on monday, and I'm having trouble finding a person who will force feed him everyday while I'm gone for a week or two.

He is my favorite silkie, expensive, and my only good rooster. Please help me save him.

Also his symtons. He kind of just stands most of the time. He looks down when he walks and does it very slowly. If put in with the other chickens he just lays down. His neck don't look twisted to the side, but it's kind of bent in an S and stuck. Although he has been stretching it out a bit lately. He used to pace in circles in his cage now he just stands around. I think my mean little bantam rooster grabbed a hold of his crest and gave him neurlogical damage maybe. Because I seen the rooster grab another silkie yesterday. Stupid little rooster.

Is there anything I can do to put his weight back on, and get him to start eating on his own again?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i'm not sure if i can help. But let me ask you, do you mix all those things together for him to eat? Because it sounds like an overwhelming mix. And i thought molasses can cause diarrhea in chickens, so you may consider stopping that.

Were it me, i would keep him isolated, away from any other chickens, especially that mean rooster. Get something like Avia Charge 2000 for his water. It has lots of vitamins and minerals and meant for chickens. i would give him the yogurt by itself, a couple teaspoons, and then chopped up hard boiled egg.

You might also want to try some mealworms. When my Buffy came down with scaly leg mites and i had her in the house, she wouldn't touch her food. She would peck at a bowl of yogurt though, and then got very excited with the mealworms.

So, you don't have a friend or family member who can take care of your roo while you are in for surgery? Are there pet sitters in your area that might do it?

(PS - i wish you the best on your heart surgery.)

Colleen

 

[dlhunicorn]

please order Avia Charge 2000 from McMurry immediately... This can take some time (crookneck often takes several weeks before full recovery is attained)and in the meantime he has not been eating sufficiently so deficiencies and nutritional imbalance are going to be complications without this general complete supplement. (It is formulated to be given daily)
Go to the petstore and get some baby parrot/bird formula (this is a powder you mix with water > mix that up to a prridge consistency> mix the avia charge in with it and then mix that in with his feed > should be moist but clumpy) > this will concentrate the nutrition he is getting and take care of the nutritional imbalance/deficiencies that is to my mind causing the lethargy and hanging down of head.
Put electrolytes in his water for four days.
Make sure when you "force" feed him that you only feed JUST enough at a time so that he is able to swallow on own as there are two holes (one to the airways) and it is very easy for the food to go down the wrong hole which can cause aspiration pnuemonia.

 

[KinderKorner]

Yes it is all mixed together. There is only like 3 drops of molasses in a cup full of food because it helps keep his bowel moving with all the grains and dry stuff.

Oh I forgot to add, I do have electrolytes that I add to his water and syringe feed him every few days.

He is isolated, he stays in the house. He will not peck at yogurt. When I say not interested in food, I mean he doesn't even bat an eye at it. I had some meal worms but my goat ate them all. I will try and see if I can get a hold of some and see if he might likes those, but I highly doubt it.

Why would I not want to mix all these ingredients together? It seems the more vitamins and stuff he will take the better. I was only feeding him eggs and yogurt. But it was very messy, and didn't seem to be helping. This new food is more clumpy and dry and I can roll it into little balls and force them in instead of syringe feeding him liquids.

 

[dlhunicorn]

use cooked human oatmeal as a binder > offer the yogurt free choice>My experience with yogurt is that they will slurp up what they need but often avoid eating when it is mixed in with the feed. (and it is a good source of hydration when they are "off" their water)
I would not be giving him grains... they take more energy to process ... give him a grower or non-medicated starter feed would be my advice.
Try offering sprouts ... easy to do yourself and a wonderful source of additional nutrition.

 

[onthespot]

does a bird with crookneck have any increased chance of producing it in the offspring? I had one, my best hen and I didn't know this stuff and had her put down. It came on over two days and was pretty pronounced and I didn't know about treating it. She looked miserable and couldn't eat so I put her down.

 

[dlhunicorn]

does a bird with crookneck have any increased chance of producing it in the offspring?

No... (the genetic problem that causes this will not result in a live bird)
In silkies it is most often caused by the huge crest not being closed and the least little peck will cause brain inflamation... also caused by (borderline) deficiencies (often from the breeder stock)​

 

[KinderKorner]

Alright. I will begin feeding him just the grower food mixed with some egg in little balls. And I will syringe feed him his vitamins with a little yogurt mixed it.

I also syringe feed him water to keep him hydrated.

Hopefully he will start feeling better soon. It came on so quick. He was fine then just hours later he was like this.

Anything else I can do besides just feeding him?

Onthespot he is my best silkie as well. And I hate to think of having to put him down. Of course I won't though. I'm the type of person who would rather hand feed the little booger daily then have to cull. I just hope he gets better.

 

[threehorses]

Did you mention on the other post that you were feeding a non-fortified grain feed?

 

[andrea98]

sorry but is his feathers in his eyes ..when i feed mine grass he acts like he cat see where it is after he comes to me ..so in i go / wet fingers & give him a lil comb over & he can see like i just put glasses on him lol maybe he dont eat much during the day cuz he cant find it ....