"sleepy" pullet - is she sick???

[chickenater]

I have 10 12 week old pullets - the one in question is an Ameraucana. Fine this morning, at luch - just standing still with her eylids slowly closing like she is dozing off. She does not sit down - she will turn her head and burt it in her wing. Lethargic. No scratching and pecking like the others. Think she is sick? What should I do - afraid of what i will find when i get home!

 

[robinwiththechickens]

I've got a 5-week old Easter Egger chick with a similar condition. She stands around with her eyes closed or stands with her head in a corner, but doesn't lay down. She eats and drinks plenty, but doens't scratch or run around as much as the other girls. Also her balance seems to be a little off. When she pecks at something she often misses. I've researched a lot of chicken diseases and nothing seems to fit. I hope someone on here will have a clue.

 

[LizaBlue]

bumping this post because I'm not getting any helpful responses to my question about my mopey chick and came here hoping someone had answered you

my pullet is about 18 days old and pulling that falling asleep standing thing, not playing with others, etc. I finally put her in a cat carrier so I could verify she was eating/drinking/pooping. Because of the special attention we have discovered she sneezes and sometimes wheezes, but don't know if this is new or not. She's been mopey 5 or more days now. If you can get a hold of yours, and she'll calm down enough, hold her close to your ear and listen to see if she wheezes too. Hubbie was holding her while I got her quarantine ready and she fell asleep. I guess he was afraid she died so he held her close and that's the only reason we realized she wheezed. I only caught her sneezing the next day when I was getting ready to force water her.

good luck with your chickie!

 

[robinwiththechickens]

I put antibiotics in the water about 5 days ago and yesterday my "sleepy" girl seemed better, more alert and active. She's still a little off with her balance and depth perception, but at least not falling asleep on her feet. I did notice that she sneezed a lot before the meds, but I didn't notice any wheezing. She does seem better now, hopefully the improvement continues.

I never knew I would worry so much over a tiny chicken! Best of luck to you!

 

[LizaBlue]

tell me about it!! I stay up till 2 am then get up at 6 am to check on the lil bugger and dream about the stupid thing in between! what's bad is I am planning to eventually slaughter these chicks when they grow up, but heaven forbid one should die on me! I can see it now, if this one lives I'll wind up keeping it forever and putting it in my will, lol.

 

[robinwiththechickens]

Did your sleepy girl ever perk up?

 

[LizaBlue]

Oh, Robin, I'm so sorry to say she died just this morning. I thought she was doing better the last day or two, even looked bigger. My inlaws brought us 6 day old guineas and 3 turkeys (w/o my consent) and plopped them in with my chicks (no quarantine, agh!) and they adopted Mopey as their mom. All the lil guineas tried to fit under her wings, followed her around, tried to eat food from her mouth, it was so cute! However, when the turkeys needed mom time and tried to get under her it was hilarious - they were almost bigger than her so only their head and necks fit! In any case, the turkeys turned out to be real sick, and I know it's a long shot that 11hrs with them did her in, but they are having serious breathing problems, with snotty noses, and she never did until a few hours before she died. I don't think she would have caught something that quick if she hadn't already been bad off, but....

anywho...at least I think she had a little fun being a mommy before she went, and I got to hold her when she died.

I never have found out what did her in. She never had symptoms other than lethargy and deep breathing until the last few hours when she was gasping. I think the turkeys have Aspergilliosis (sp?) and she might have had it too - symptoms not real obvious til deadly. If yours is still sleeping too much, you might invest in the PolyViSol baby vitamins - our Walmart had them for $8 in the pharmacy. Also, danger of pneumonia if she lays down all the time, my husband read. Apparently you can help that by putting them in a sling.

good luck

 

[robinwiththechickens]

I'm so sorry! It does sound like she had a good life even if it was short. Our "sleepy" girl has perked up some, but is still smaller and less developed than the others.

I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your flock!

 

[chickengrl]

You have probably a repiratory infection in your flock. They are very contagious and it is very possible the rest of your birds might get sick too. If you have another die, try to get it necropsied by your state vet so you can find out what you have going on. It's free or low cost in most states. Try looking up respiratory disease in the search box. These things are really nasty in poultry and even if they get better, they may remain carriers of the disease. Good luck.

 

[LizaBlue]

aaaiiieieee! that's my biggest fear. I'm now hearing every little sneeze my chickens make and I am so paranoid. we need to put the turkeys in with the chickens soon for their own safety - they;re jumping out of the brooder tub, and they need to get used to each other while they are relatively close in size - but I am so worried about it. right now, the turkeys seem well, but the I've got some sneezing chickens so I'm afraid they have it now and I don't think the turkeys could survive another round.

oh, what to do, what to do.....