Taking Care of Swirls, the Wry Neck Silkie

[christwodog]

She is so adorable, I would never give her back!!!

 

[NubbyRyuu]

She is so adorable, I would never give her back!!!

Haha, hey I'd love to keep her myself, but that'd be one discussion I won't win with Ma (I sadly live with my folks). If my dogs weren't so prey driven either, it'd probably be different, but my lab/mix is more prey driven than my husky (she learned to stop going after the cat after some time and kept a good distance from my cockatiel, but once the mix came, that all went out the window). I'm gonna have to talk to Cin anyway on the fact she's gonna be more of a house chicken at some point. Which way that'll lean, I have no clue. I agreed to take her so Cin's husband wouldn't cull her (kill her in this case).

 

[NubbyRyuu]

So just had quite a scare. Swirly's been doing great, right? Tonight after work (and dinner), I had her cuddling with me. We were watching some youtube, when out of nowhere, she started spasming violently! I tried looking up emergency vets that do chickens, but there's no one in NH that does. The closest one is in Boston, and that's too far. I kept trying to look up anyone with no luck. After several minutes or so, she's finally calmed down and is sleeping. She doesn't seem to be spasming now. I'm still calling the vet I brought her to before tomorrow.

If you want to see the videos I took, you can find them on my Instagram, Ryuulisk. As of this moment they're still loading. They should be viewable soon and will be the most recent post.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

Hey, the site's working again!

I brought Swirly to the vet yesterday who took a look at her and observed how she moves around now. She said there could be something in her ear, though she's still too small to tell. I asked about bloodwork to see where she was, but you can't get blood from a chicken like you could a cat. We were given an antibiotic and a pain killer (only to use as needed). I picked up a think of Selenium from the Vitamin Shoppe (lowest dose of 50mg), and I plan on turning the tablets into powder to make things easier.

I've started picking a few grass blades here and there and breaking them up into small pieces for Swirly, so she can get the nutrition she needs from it.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not give her selenium. You are giving it already in egg, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts and her feed. Selenium can be overdosed if given too much, and she only needs a tiny bit for the vitamin E to be utilized. Actually I would cut out the coconut, the nuts and seeds, and give her the chicken feed with a small amount of chopped egg daily, wet or dry. If she eats all of the seeds, nuts, and coconut, she won’t take in enough of her chicken feed which is all she needs. You can give her an occasional treat of a few seeds, or chopped nut, but she doesn’t need all of them every day. A silkie doesn’t eat that much anyway, but she should be taking the feed as 90% of her diet.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

I would not give her selenium. You are giving it already in egg, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts and her feed. Selenium can be overdosed if given too much, and she only needs a tiny bit for the vitamin E to be utilized. Actually I would cut out the coconut, the nuts and seeds, and give her the chicken feed with a small amount of chopped egg daily, wet or dry. If she eats all of the seeds, nuts, and coconut, she won’t take in enough of her chicken feed which is all she needs. You can give her an occasional treat of a few seeds, or chopped nut, but she doesn’t need all of them every day. A silkie doesn’t eat that much anyway, but she should be taking the feed as 90% of her diet.

She doesn't get much egg, but gets plenty of everything else. The videos I posted of her having that violent spasm, someone said to give her selenium. So I got the smallest dose and make it even smaller from there. The food I give her is still mostly chick feed with the other stuff mixed in, so it's all fairly balanced. Lol, she barely weighs a pound, so I know she isn't getting fat. But everything is still a small amount, so the Selenium I'll give her just once a day, just like the Vitamin E. I know if I try to give anything to her dry (aside grit) she won't eat it, including her food, so mixing it mash is a must. I just wanna be sure she gets what she needs until she can start going outside more (weather permitting). Cin has a rabbit cage I'm gonna look at and see if I can use it in the barn at least, or put it out to the side in a shady spot.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you just feed her the wet chicken feed with the egg, she may eat more of it, without the added foods she doesn’t need.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree with @Eggcessive she is getting egg and her feed already contains Selenium as well. Too much Selenium can be toxic and actually an overdose can cause neurological symptoms as well.

I would focus on the chick starter as 95% of her daily intake, egg as the 5% treat. See if that helps.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

I agree with @Eggcessive she is getting egg and her feed already contains Selenium as well. Too much Selenium can be toxic and actually an overdose can cause neurological symptoms as well.

I would focus on the chick starter as 95% of her daily intake, egg as the 5% treat. See if that helps.

I haven't given her egg in a while. So should I just return the Selenium? What could I trade it out for that she could use?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I haven't given her egg in a while. So should I just return the Selenium? What could I trade it out for that she could use?

What are you giving her now? Any vitamins?