Silkie with scaly leg mites

[Alicrawf914]

My silkie has been acting tired and not standing or walking. She has now stopped eating herself, but will swallow nicely if I put it in her mouth. Do you guys think she this coyld be caused by scaly leg mites? I included a picture of her feet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Unfortunately, I don't think she is broody. She is only 20 weeks old and not laying yet. She has been lethargic and not standing for over a week now. She won't eat on her own, but if I put it in her mouth, she happily swallows it.

This is the same Silkie as in these other 2 thread?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-stumbles-backward-and-falls-over.1413641/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-cant-stand-or-walk.1413924/#post-23217659
Have you been giving her vitamin therapy (E and B-Complex) as suggested?

I'm sorry but she may be failing since it's been going on so long.
Hard to know what's going on with her. It could be Marek's or some other issue.
You can try tube feeding her for several days to see if that makes any difference.

 

[CHlCKEN]

The OP has said that she will eat if hand fed. That is preferable to tubing, much less stressful for all, plus they haven't got the equipment anyway. If she stops eating then perhaps tubing is needed, but it doesn't seem necessary right now when she will eat if guided to.

Alright sounds reasonable I assumed tubing advice was needed bc that is the path they were going to take I hope I could have helped anyway

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My silkie has been acting tired and not standing or walking. She has now stopped eating herself, but will swallow nicely if I put it in her mouth. Do you guys think she this coyld be caused by scaly leg mites? I included a picture of her feet.

How old is she?
How long has it been since she stopped eating?

Check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight.
She may benefit from nails being trimmed. The scales are slightly raised on her feet, but that may be from being feather footed. It won't hurt to apply vaseline into and under the scales of the legs/feet, this will kill any SLM if they are starting.
Look at the bottom of her feet to make sure there's no scabs/cuts, etc.

A bird that is lethargic, not standing/walking nor eating is not well. It could be a number of things.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

How old is she? I thought my silkie was getting sick but she was actually going broody, again. I hope your silkie is OK. I'm wishing you all the best with her. I love silkies

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How old is she? I thought my silkie was getting sick but she was actually going broody, again. I hope your silkie is OK. I'm wishing you all the best with her. I love silkies

That crossed my mind when Silkie was mentioned. That would be a good thing if she's just broody

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She has been getting vitamin b, vitamin e. And selenium every day. She has been staying pretty much the same, hasn't gotten any worse. It's strange because her wings and legs are definitely not paralyzed. Sometimes she "spazzes" out and pushes herself straight up tall with her legs and flaps her wings and sqwauks. But she won't stand her walk and just lays with her eyes closed all day. She is still making her little " bup bup" noises when we talk to her.

It's been a couple of weeks.
I would not give any more Selenium, just give her a bit of eggs that will be sufficient for the uptake of E.

I'm sorry, but to me it does sound like she may be suffering from Marek's.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Where did you get the supplies? I can't seem to find any at my local stores.

They were given to me by the vet, you can find small skinny syringes on amazon I’m sure here’s a link to something sailmaker to what I used https://www.amazon.com/1ml-Syringe-Only-Sterile-Syringes/dp/B01DARL378

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A bird may eat a bit if hand fed, but tube feeding ensures the bird is getting the proper daily intake they need. Once learned it's faster than hand feeding too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree you can get more volume in, but on the other hand it is also pretty invasive and distressing (and risky if not done right) so should be a last resort in my view. If she were my chicken (and I am not a vet so can only speak from my own research and experience) then I would feed and hydrate her every two hours during the day with a high calorie food mash, even if she only took a little either by herself or by oral syringe into her beak (not tube), and I would only tube her if she wouldn't or couldn't swallow by herself (and would be considering euthanasia too by that point).

Just my opinion fwiw.

I think there are two issues here: 1) to find out what is ailing her and treat it, and 2) to keep her alive while you do this.

All good points.
I agree. Quality of life needs to be considered, how long does one continue to care for a bird that can't eat/drink/walk/stand on their own.