*Update*4wk BR chick still sick & just expeled water from mouth

[teeville5]

1) What type of bird , age and weight: 3wk old barred rock pullet
2) What is the behavior, exactly: sleeping a lot, sneezing, heavy breathing
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? about 3 days
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. nothing i know of
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: she has eaten a little and will only drink if helped
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc: she had runny poo at first, it got greenish, then was normal yesterday, and is now kind of watery white
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? isolated, have tried water w/ apple cider vinegar, sugar water, switched to medicated feed
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? must self-treat. vet does not have chicken specialist
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: was on pine shavings(with a dust bath of DE/shavings). now on paper towels.

Our baby chick was acting normal up to 3 days ago when I noticed her breathing kind of heavy and sneezing. The next day I noticed she was also sleeping a lot, not running around, eyes staying mostly closed, and a weakish chirp. She also would not eat from my hand or perch on it as she normally would do. I removed her and tried to diagnose, but as this is our 1st time with chickens, I really didn't know the probable cause. The best I came up with was to try some water with apple cider vinegar. We also tried a bit of sugar water. She did perk up a bit and ate a bit. We kept it up and while most symptoms stayed the same, she was eating more and her poo went back to normal. I kept her isolated an extra day just in case. I checked on her today after work and she is back to where she was with all the symptoms. I am trying the water again right now, but I don't really know how much this is actually helping. Does anyone know what could be wrong with her? This chick in particular is the family favorite so we really want to get her better. Is there anything anyone can suggest to try that I haven't already? Please help. Thanks.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Is she gaping at all? It sound respiratory. There is over the counter meds for respiratory illnesses at feed stores for minimum money. It is not as effective as meds you will get from a vet but it is worth at try. Keep up with the extra treats to keep her inticed. Also keep trying to get her to drink you can try giving her a bit of pedialyte to help but be careful how you administor because it can go into her lungs and that is even worse. Try a dropper and put on the side of her beak don't force it in. Also get some vitamins for her this will help too. Is she still under a lamp? if not I would reccomend giving her some lamp time to help regulate the temp better and keep her warm.

Also sounds silly but I have spoon fed a hen before. Soaked her food in Pedialyte and spoon fed it.

Dont give up and do what you can. Sometimes it can be a slow recovery with these guys.

 

[teeville5]

I wondered if it was anything respiratory, but just couldn't figure it out for sure. It seemed like her problems started after I introduced the DE dust bath to the brooder, but it's not affecting any of the others so I'm not sure if that's what started it. She's been away from it since I isolated her (she's in her own box with a heat lamp), but keeps having highs and lows. She seemed to perk up a bit last night, but this morning she seemed to regress again. I had my daughter look after her today while I worked and she said that Duck (chick's name) looked better. I checked her when I got home and she does seem better. She was eating on her own, chirping, and appeared active so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she is getting back on track. Thank you for the advice on the pedialyte. How much do I give her of that? I'm watching her for the rest of today to monitor her progress, if any, so at what point would it be okay to re-introduce her to the brooder bunch if she keeps getting better?

 

[jaimslee4u]

I know that DE can cause issues in humans if we breath in large amounts. Not exactly sure of the reason I think it has something to do with what it is made out of. Maybe for some reason this poor chick got a good snort of it or she is sensitive to it.

You deffinatley want to make sure if she has something respiratory she is quarantined long enough that it doesn't spread especially when she is so young and so are the others.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Oh I forgot - Whatever you can get in her for Pedialyte is good, maybe a good couple spoonfuls then you can go 50/50 with her water.

 

[teeville5]

Ok, thanks. She's been doing a bit better, but still seems to want to sleep and not be bothered. She's been eating a bit and drinking on her own so hopefully this upturn continues.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Keep at it! If she is responding and still eating & drinking on her own it is a good thing. I know I had a sick hen that was having respiratory problems and she would just sit there with her eyes closed. It is scary but keep doing what you are doing and hopefully she will continue to improve.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just want to say I hope she continues to improve and

 

[teeville5]

Okay, I still need help and advice. It's been 7 days now with very minimal improvement. I haven't seen her sneeze since yesterday and her breathing isn't as heavy as it was, but she is still not really coming around. I have seen her eat and drink (unsure how much) on her own, but nothing is really changing. She's still constantly sleeping and won't move around much. She rarely chirps, basically only when I move her or when she poos. Her poo ranges from normal to greenish to watery white.

At night I have been feeding her from a dropper a mix of water/ground chick food/drop of acv. From this I have noticed that the next morning she seems a bit more alert and her poo gets more normal. However, by night, she is back to her condition and has watery white poo. I'm thinking she isn't eating/drinking enough during the day to keep her on the road to progress, but I don't know if that's it or not. We have read and researched, but are just getting nowhere with figuring out what is ailing her. My DH is thinking at this point we need to 'go nuclear' and blast this out of her by giving her antibiotics/treatments for cocci, worms, and respiratory. I am extremely hesitant to do that because I know sometimes treating for something that isn't there can harm them. Also, wouldn't it possibly be harmful to mix treatments/medicines for them as it would for us?

If there is anything anyone can think of or advice on where to take it from here, please let me know. I've gotten very attached to her in trying to care for her and to lose her at this point would be awful.

 

[Lacrystol]

the problem you are having with your chick almost sounds the same with mine only mine had red in her poop. Today is day 5 for my sick chick and she's just turned 1 week on Saturday. Yesterday her progress seemed good, today NOT so good. I have her on Sulmet because it's believed she may have cocci. When I started yesterday great today horrible, mine is in the position where she can hardly stand up, she falls down alot and once she's down can't get up. Today she threw up, didn't know chickens can do that. So I wish you the best of Luck with your chicken. My prays are with you..