Stargazed hen never recooperated - is there any other treatments?

[lamelde]

I was told that giving her vitamin drops when she was young would help her - I did that daily for nearly a month (when they said it would only take 1-3 days) and she never recovered - she is now 5 1/2 months old and still completely uncoordinated.

I've had to keep her in the house away from the flock because they want to kill her (survival of the fittest)?

Anyway - she's turned out the be a very sweet house chicken

The dogs & cats have excepted her as part of the family members although they don't like her (she'll peck them on the nose if they get too close & she steals their treats).

What I would like to know (have a vote of sorts) is - am I being selfish keeping her alive?

She still falls over all the time & has numerous broken feathers, bumps her head on everything when she stumbles around, and has a great deal of difficulty eating (she has trouble grabbing the food into her beak) but she's able to eat enough to stay "healthy".

 

[bairo]

Sorry.. Can you catch me up on her?

Born like that or sudden onset?
What did you feed her before the condition?
Was she hatched from one of yours or did you get her as an egg or day old?
Did she exhibit any other symptoms at all when this came about?
Did she loose a lot of weight before this condition.

 

[lamelde]

Quote:
She is from my own stock, hatched about Aug 1st-3rd, they were fed starter feed (still are because they have not layed any eggs yet).

I left for Europe Aug 14th & there were no signs of it then - when the symptoms started, my husband didn't know about it (he just filled the feeder & waterer for me).

When I got back Aug 25th - I saw her (my first chick ever like this) I separated her from the rest & searched here for answers - then did what they told me (vitamin drops daily), and then I also tried "Save-a-Chick" water supplement - doing so for nearly a month.

I just resolved to the fact that she will always be like this now - so she lives in the house in a large guinea pig cage (she free roams as well).

 

[Me & Jack]

That's a tough call. If you think her quality of life is good and that she's not suffering, then why put her down?

On the one hand, she lives in the house, gets to steal dog and cat treats, and has more individual attention than most other chickens ever get. On the other hand, she keeps falling, hits her head, and can't eat independently in order to thrive. But, she doesn't sound miserable. I say wait before you make a decision. I know others will say to put her down sooner rather than waiting, but I'm no good at being that emotionally detached from the concept of choosing whether another being lives or dies.

 

[ReikiStar]

Bless your heart for giving her a chance. I don't know which vitamins you fed her but we hatched a stargazer chick and started her on B1, Selenium and Vit E the second day after she hatched and continued it for the first week. She stopped having "episodes" right away. She's now 5+months old and doing great.

Stargazing is usually due to a lack of Vit B in the parents' diet which affects the chick's neurological system. Our eggs did come from chickens who were off their supplements around the time the eggs were laid (as per the owner). Out of 3 chicks, one had this condition.

So maybe you just haven't given her enough of the right vitamins. I would recommend you giving these 3 a try. The Vit B1 being the most important, but Selenium works best with Vit E and usually if they are low in B's they are low in Selenium too.

Wishing you luck!

 

[lamelde]

She does eat independently & thrives very well (except for the episodes).

I did try vitamin E - forgot to write that - my bad.

I will try them all again though.

 

[Resolution]

Omega Red gel caps twice a week for two months
Cranassure gel caps once a day for one week

 

[bairo]

Me & Jack :

That's a tough call. If you think her quality of life is good and that she's not suffering, then why put her down?

On the one hand, she lives in the house, gets to steal dog and cat treats, and has more individual attention than most other chickens ever get. On the other hand, she keeps falling, hits her head, and can't eat independently in order to thrive. But, she doesn't sound miserable. I say wait before you make a decision. I know others will say to put her down sooner rather than waiting, but I'm no good at being that emotionally detached from the concept of choosing whether another being lives or dies.

x2

Im sorry that happened. It does sound like a thiamine deficiency, which is why folks talked about vitamin drops. It is called Polyneuritis. In the later stages paralysis of the anterior neck muscles occurs. If not corrected fairly quickly this is permanent, although there are stories out there of correction after a month. Polyneuritis takes about 3 weeks to show after thiamine deficiency...which means it started near the date of birth. A few things can sometimes cause this (in this situation) 1. is moldy or rancid feed. In short, the mold attacks the thiamine in the feed and inactivates it. 2. there was a mistake on the feed line and too much Amprol may have been added if you fed a medicated feed. Amprol is a common anticoccidial mediation that can bind thiamine. 3. She was born with it as stated above due to parents lack of a healthy or B1 deficient diet. None of this is your fault.... a feed can be moldy and not even be noticed sometimes, and of course you have no way of knowing if there was a mistake on the feed production line.

I know all this does not make a difference now, I just wanted to put some info out there in case you start seeing it in another chick in the future. I do have an extremely high thiamine diet put together to correct this if you ever need it. I may just post it on my BYC page soon.....
Again, im sorry you had to experience this but I do agree with the above. Good luck to you and God bless.​

 

[Resolution]

OOh I Love Bairo's comments- if you ever need a job...

 

[bairo]

That diet is on my BYC page. I think I put it in the ailments section.

Thank you; "Resolution" (what job are we speaking of, lol)