The EMERGENCY Thread!!!

[DwayneNLiz]

Hello Everyone.

So sorry my first post ever is in this section--but have been a very long time lurker.

I am very new to chickens. In fact so new that I have no idea what sex my chicken is that is ill/injured.

He/She was hatched August 4, 2016. Lightweight approx. 3 lbs, Polish.

We noticed 3 days ago he was just laying on ground in the barn. When he attempts to move, he falls down. I have checked for injuries, no external injuries noted, no KNOWN injuries at all around his legs or feet.

He does not eat or drink on his own accord. I have been feeding/watering him for three days. He is receptive to the food/water. Today was first day he sought it out-meaning I didn't have to utilize a soupy mixture and slowing drop it in his mouth. Today he accepted a more 'sand' like mixture from a spoon.

Today is also first time he has kept is mouth open, which was not an issue before.

His poop is white, not smelly. He has had one runny poop first day of his confinement. It was not smelly (if that matters).

He is currently on my lap. Head bowed into his chest. His confinement area is a heavy duty tote box, with straw.

When he is in the box he does not move much if at all. When he is let go, he attempts to run/fly but is unsuccessful and tumbles to his side.

I am unclear on which side is actually injured. Is it the side he falls on (left side) or the leg he seems to favor to hold himself with my assistance (his right).

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

How long has it been like this?
what are the temperatures like where you are?
are its feathers ruffled or fluffed up
can you get a picture of the bird and poop
what is its normal living conditions like,
how many other birds are housed with it,
any others showing symptoms

 

[wisconsheepgirl]

It has been 3 days.

The temps have been very mild, around 35F this past week. Abnormally warm for our area but not complaining!
His feathers do not appear to be fluffed up as when in the coop and cold.
I can get a picture if I can get my son to help me load it.
His legs are out as if his feet are like a person on a motorcycle (to give a visual until photos).
They live in a barn, unheated. With 47 other chickens
No other chickens showing any signs or symptoms all happy and clucking along.


Great questions!

 

[microchick]

Well, my girl is back to not eating and not wanting to stand today. She looks perfectly normal to look at her except she will not stand today and keeps sinking down to the the bedding. Yesterday she ate and acted fine. I was really thinking the worse was over with her and today, it's two steps forward and 3 back.

An interesting observation, though. While trying to coax her to stand I noticed that she is unsteady on her feet. She staggers to the left and right, then sinks down and rests as though she just cant stand steady. I put her up on her roost in her wire cage. She set there for about 10 minutes and jumped down. I found her asleep in the bedding. I am suspecting that she may have suffered either a nerve injury or a spine injury or disc injury during mating being that she is small. I'm going to give her a bit of an baby aspirin and just let her rest. The best I can do for her is offer her supportive care and see what happens. She did pick up a few bites of hard boiled egg for me this morning. If she doesn't respond I will have to make that hard decision we all have to make eventually and euthanize.

Has anyone ever heard of a small hen suffering a spinal injury from mating?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Photos will be helpful if you have them - if you can get them - pics of how legs look, poop, overall pictures, etc.
What type of food/treats do you feed?
Is the poop all white?
Is he still fluffed up at all, even when he is inside with what I assume is a warm house?

Keep him hydrated and fed like you are doing. Is he able to eat anything a bit more solid like hard boiled egg or does it all need to be liquid?
You mention that his legs are out like he's riding a motorcycle - are they bowed out? It could be that he has a genetic disorder like Varus Valgus.
Offer him some poultry vitamins that contain B2(Riboflavin) or you can crush a human B-Complex (no iron) vitamin and add it to his feed.

The fluffing up is concerning if he is in a warm house. Can you take a fecal sample to your vet for a fecal float test - check for cocci, worms and bacterial infection.

Keep us posted.

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul.../noninfectious-skeletal-disorders-in-broilers

Well, my girl is back to not eating and not wanting to stand today. She looks perfectly normal to look at her except she will not stand today and keeps sinking down to the the bedding. Yesterday she ate and acted fine. I was really thinking the worse was over with her and today, it's two steps forward and 3 back.

An interesting observation, though. While trying to coax her to stand I noticed that she is unsteady on her feet. She staggers to the left and right, then sinks down and rests as though she just cant stand steady. I put her up on her roost in her wire cage. She set there for about 10 minutes and jumped down. I found her asleep in the bedding. I am suspecting that she may have suffered either a nerve injury or a spine injury or disc injury during mating being that she is small. I'm going to give her a bit of an baby aspirin and just let her rest. The best I can do for her is offer her supportive care and see what happens. She did pick up a few bites of hard boiled egg for me this morning. If she doesn't respond I will have to make that hard decision we all have to make eventually and euthanize.

Has anyone ever heard of a small hen suffering a spinal injury from mating?

I'm sorry she is declining.

You may want to start the Corid just in case it is Cocci. The staggering and going off feed could be it. But, it's so hard to know what's going on. There are other things it could be, injury (spinal) is always possible, she is also about he right age for symptoms of Marek's or Avian Leukosis to start to show up.

Supportive care is sometimes all we can do. Vet care is expensive and sometimes not even available. I hope she improves.

 

[microchick]

Thanks Wyorp Rock. She slept after I gave her a quarter of a baby aspirin, woke up and actually stood up on her own and drank water. Still not overjoyed to see food, tho. I threatened to drop a tube on her but she didn't look impressed by my threat. She really puts up a fight though when DH and I wrestled the dissolved ASA down her. Her wings are fine, she has good reflexes (I turned her on her back and checked her legs, stretching them out and letting them go )and her neck and jaw muscles are in perfect shape. It's just her legs are weak and not wanting to support her when she walks. The toes on her right side seem to want to curl a bit when she is on her back but she has sensation in them and will grab my finger.

I'm really not suspecting Marek's at this point in time. My flock came from an NPIP local breeder not even two years ago and there hadn't been any poultry on the property since 2009, so I would be very stunned if that were the case. I've got 35 really healthy, fat and sassy Buff Orpingtons and Welsummers. My 4 OEGBs are just 4 months old and hatched from an Amish neighbor's disgustingly healthy flock. (how do they keep their flocks so healthy anyway? They don't worm them, do nothing preventative and they thrive like mice!) She is the only one with these symptoms and I've caught the 2 Klutz brothers chasing her more than once and had to rescue her. No telling what happens with her when I am not out there.

So as the old saying goes, I'm going to have faith and wait. Neurological injuries take time to heal. I'm retired and we have a diabetic cat who gets insulin 3 times a day so one more pet in sick bay isn't going to upset thing around the old farm, LOL.

How often can you give a chicken ASA during the day? She's only about 2.6 pounds. I gave her a small quarter of an 81mg tablet.

 

[microchick]

I'm sad to report that I woke up this morning to find Baby had died during the night.

I last checked her at 11 and she was quite alive, talking to me as if saying "Turn out the danged lights, I'm trying to sleep here!" As she is completely rigored I expect she died sometime just after that or just after midnight. Like her sire she was on her back with her feet in the air, and the way the bedding is kicked around I would suspect she seized.

I've read that when they expire like that it is generally cardiac. Is that correct? Do I need to rethink the injury possibility? Her heart rate when I checked it was typical fast for a chicken, so probably within range but hard to count but now I am suspecting that the same thing that took her father at 1 year took her at 7.5 months. Possibly the injury set off a cascade and downward spiral??

It makes me glad she was the only chick just in case whatever it was was genetic and passed on.

Thanks for your help Wyorp Rock. Much appreciated!

Rest in peace, Baby. You were a good chicken and a real cutie!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sad to report that I woke up this morning to find Baby had died during the night.

I last checked her at 11 and she was quite alive, talking to me as if saying "Turn out the danged lights, I'm trying to sleep here!" As she is completely rigored I expect she died sometime just after that or just after midnight. Like her sire she was on her back with her feet in the air, and the way the bedding is kicked around I would suspect she seized.

I've read that when they expire like that it is generally cardiac. Is that correct? Do I need to rethink the injury possibility? Her heart rate when I checked it was typical fast for a chicken, so probably within range but hard to count but now I am suspecting that the same thing that took her father at 1 year took her at 7.5 months. Possibly the injury set off a cascade and downward spiral??

It makes me glad she was the only chick just in case whatever it was was genetic and passed on.

Thanks for your help Wyorp Rock. Much appreciated!

Rest in peace, Baby. You were a good chicken and a real cutie!

I'm so sorry for your loss

There's no way to know for sure what the cause of death is without necropsy. But since you suspect her her father died from heart attack (possibly "sudden death syndrome") then it could be that it was genetic.

 

[microchick]

Yes, I agree. Our nearest avian science lab is down at Mizzou in Columbia, MO. They have an extensive complex geared to avian medicine for their veterinary students. DH uses the VA center in Columbia for his medical care so we make occasional trips down there. It's on our 'to do' list to stop in there sometime, look the complex over and see what it would cost for care/necropsy/lab work, etc since there is no avian vet even close to where we live. Columbia is about an hour and 15 minutes from us so not an inconceivable distance.

 

[casportpony]

You can ship deceased birds.

 

[microchick]

Yep, that is one of the things I want to check with them about, @casportpony.

If I expected something contagious with my birds I would really be pushing for an necropsy. I could probably do one myself but unless some gross internal abnormality was glaring me straight in the eye I'd be sorta like ....... duh? what the heck am I looking at here and is it normal or abnormal? I have a microscope, slides, scalpels, but I'd just as soon let the experts do it, especially if I'm suspecting a contagion over a physiological flaw in the bird. And to date all my bird deaths have been isolated, single occurrences spaced well apart.

So far I have only lost 1 bird out of the 4 that have died over the past two years that I suspected died from an infection and whatever it was it was non contagious as he was the only bird affected. I lost one to seizures and two to what I suspect was a heart defect of some sort as the one was the sire of the pullet that I just buried under the same seizure, flip over death circumstances of death.

I guess it's time to study up on physiology/pathology of chickens and get brave.