Update - Chicky is dead due to my FIL's stupidity.

[hunterjumper999]

1) Mixed game chicken- posted in 'what am i section'
2) Found this afternoon ( temps 85-87 degrees, but was under the shade netting of the run. She was stuck on her back with a wing trapped under a fallen roost- the roost(landscape timber) had fallen yesterday and I put it back up against the wall so it did not fall and crush her. . . she just got stuck like a turtle.
3) No, but she is unable to walk normally, and walks sideways like a crab.
4) she appears to have been flipped over at least today, possibly overnight- i had class from 7- now and I just found her . . . the other birds pooped all over her under wing area and she had a pasty butt. Her breast bone is EXTREMELY sticking out for her normal ( as i hold her constantly...shes very personable... I realized she was missing as soon as I pulled in) and her skin appears loose and wrinkly.
5) She ate some oats from my hand immediatly upon finding her- she's now being offered medicated crumbles and sugar water...but she has not eaten any.
6) Normal Poop.
7) I uprighted her, placed her on the garage floor where it was cool and assessed her movement. Upon realizing she was pasty, dirty and her vent was irritatated I bathed her in an attempt to rehydrate and make her more sanitary. Immediatly into a warmed towel and then into a temp. brooder out of a plastic tub and two lights. She has chick starter and sugar water in there but appears to just want to huddle under the lights and sleep. She has however stood up vs. the slump she was doing before, still wabbly when walking and using her wings as training wheels. Appears shivering. . . but I have a lot of heat on her.
8 ) Treat completely at home, I want to make sure if i need to cull I do it before she suffers .

10) Rubbermaid tub with 2 bulbs on one end and no bulb on the other ( bulbs are 75 and 60 watt red reptile bulbs- its all we had!) One SHAMWOW! as bedding and papertowel on the other end. Small dish for food and a plate for water.


nice birthday I'm having. My poor CHICKY!

 

[starting.from.scratch]

Sounds like you've got her well set up until someone more w/more knowledge comes along....

Happy Birthday!

 

[hunterjumper999]

Top feathers are dry, breast feathers are still damp.

She's sleeping. i keep poking her to make sure thats all shes doing.

 

[hunterjumper999]

nobody? she won't eat or drink now...just sleep.

 

[Barnyard]

I think the best thing to do for her now is let her rest. She is more than likely stressed from being stuck up under that timber. Stress alone can kill a chicken. I would make sure she is comfortable, has food and water at reach and leave her. Put her in a quiet place. Make sure she is not to hot or that she can get away from the heat if she wants to. If you have vitamins and electrolytes then I would give her that instead of sugar water.


Oh and you may want to move that light some when she dry's off.

 

[threehorses]

It sounds like the conditions that lead to her getting stuck have happened before today; just her getting stuck in the condition in which she was found has made her unable to bounce back quickly.

First things first - she needs to gain weight. She can't lose the weight that she has lost that has made her breastbone prominant in one day. That takes time. So you need to evaluate her feed, the flock dynamics at feeding time, etc to correct that. What feed does she normally get? At her age, she should be getting a starter or grower feed or starter/grower at 95% of her diet. Grains and everything else should be less than 5%. If she's getting grains and is free range, make sure she and the others have Chick-sized grit available free choice in a separate container than their food, but next to their food. If you haven't given it yet, give a little the first day - then slowly introduce more daily so they don't hog it down.

No matter what the ground conditions are, they should have granite-type grit available if they're able to get to anything other than crumbles.

You can boost the amount of nutrition she absorbs by mixing 1/2 teaspoon of yogurt in as much water and using that to wet some crumbles. Wetting her crumbles til just damp (and letting them soak a few minutes) will be more tempting for her to eat. For the water, mix some of that mixture into the water til it's just thicker than water - like soup - and dribble a little of that into the side of her beak. You can add the sugar, too, but it's important that she gets useful nutrients as well to fuel her so that she might eat.

While you have her, you should check her thoroughly for mites and lice. Mites are hard to catch on the birds as they feed off of the bird. But lice can be brought in by wild birds and will make a bird slightly emaciated. So rule them out. If you find them, let us know and we'll give you a successful way to treat both premises and bird.

The most important thing right now is to tempt her to eat. Even if that means giving her the yolk of a boiled (not scrambled) egg, I would. If you keep the baby vitamins (Enfamil polyvisol non-iron formula -great for your chicken med cabinet) you can add a couple of drops of that into the yolk that you're going to feed her. Vitamins are most useful to the bird if eaten quickly, not in the water where they more quickly degrade in the light. But in a pinch you could use water with chicken vitamins/electrolytes to wet the crumbles, too.

Then let her rest. After you see her eat or give her the soup-water with crumbles dissolved into it.

Did you ever find out what she is exactly?

 

[FlockmasterT]

no, and honestly I've been holding her every day and she never felt this bad... could the loose skin hanging everywhere be a sign of dehydration and be part of the reason that she's appearing SO skinny?

I'm boiling the one egg I got from one of her buddies today and I'll give her some yolk in a bit. My DF is on the way home from school and is now stopping to buy the vitamins on the way. . . never thought we'd accumulate so many "baby" items for the horses and chickens ...

I'vehad her about two ish weeks now... I think that they have settled in enough to deworm them and dust them would you think (obviously I am holding off on her till shes better).

No lice- would they be bigger or smaller than a deer tick that is not engourged?


She's now standing w/out the wings... I think she just needs time to bounce back. The run is fixed.

 

[FlockmasterT]

Oops! This is still me .. forgot to log DF off!

 

[hinkjc]

Depending on how long she was stuck like that, she could be very dehydrated. I'm sorry if I missed any important details, but remove the sugar water and put her on electrolytes asap. Any vitamin and electrolyte mix from TSC for poultry will help. If you don't have some, I believe someone posted the home made mix on here somewhere..try to search for it.

First thing you need to do is get her drinking. Don't panic about food. Keep her quiet and let her settle down from a very stressful event. She should snap back with encouraging her to drink.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
both mites and lice are very very tiny - so you really have to check very carefully. Mites are just a speck. Lice are about the size of a small-case L typed.

It's possible she's also dehydrated. Definitely I'd say she would be.