UPDATE- didn't make it. Lice/dehydration/anemia/neurological

[rhaj]

We found a silkie chicken today laying in the run... she is breathing but not doing well. She opens her eyes sometimes but generally leaves them closed. She is not walking.

I saw some little tiny white bugs on her face (the rest of her is pretty furry). Is this just an aside? Or could it cause what is wrong with her??

I gave her some water with a dropper. I don't feel good about her chances

Not sure if it's related, but here has been runny poop out there, so I wonder if something is going around? Most of mine (not this one) were supposedly vacc for cocci, I got most of them at a farm store (Agway), but like I said, not this one.

I figure I atleast need to buy a spray for lice/mites, whatever they are (what should I get) to spray the rest of my chickens.. but what else should I treat tehm with? THe others seem ok, but so did this one before...

Help?!

 

[rhaj]

My hubby was looking up lice/mite stuff and said to use "Sevin" spray. I have some of that, but worry about the safety of actually putting that directly on the birds...?

I have her laying in a bin inside right now.


Please help, I need to try to save the rest of my birds!! I really need to try something... will it hurt them to try Amprollium???

 

[rhaj]

ok I am wondering if she is dehydrated from teh mites... going ot put some DE on her and am trying to force water into her. ANy advice???

THen I will put DE on teh rest.

 

[boogiedog]

I am so sorry to hear about your silkie. You may want to try some electrolytes in the water to give her a boost - and get her rehydrated. See if you can get in her some high-protein food - some cooked egg yolk mixed with a bit of yogurt - and get her to take some (it may be simply a drop at a time). I have even put a bit of electrolyte solution in the yogurt/egg mixture to boost that up as well. You probably won't get her to eat a lot at one time (feel her crop for fullness), but if you can get her to eat a bit every hour or so you may get her to come around. (I have a silkie chick that nearly died as well - I did the above and she is eating, chirping and getting around fine now! It took a few days of a lot of work). Best of luck to you.

 

[rhaj]

Quote:
Thank you boogiedog. I am waiting for the egg to hardboil, but in the meantime, I gave her some yogurt (Go-Gurt, strawberry I think) on a spoon and she did actually eat some of it. Hubby just walked in the door with poultry dust for the mites so I will go treat them all now, starting with her.

 

[rhaj]

electrolytes= will gatorade work???? I have some of that.

 

[silkiechicken]

Lift up the feathers under her wings, on her back, under her tail, if they have lice/mites, they will scurry away. If you saw them on the face, they have a heavy infestation. Treat asap and keep monitoring the birds as it is hard to rid of. Gatorade will work.

 

[MotherJean]

Use the Sevin dust. It's very effective and I've used it for years without bad effect on both my vegetable garden and on my birds. DE is a darn good preventative and I use it myself to discourage external parasites on my birds. But, DE is not very effective when you're dealing with a full-blown infestation of lice or mites. You really need the big guns, like Sevin dust or permethrin powder. And, just in case you're wondering - lice and mites cause anemia, secondary bacterial infections, and even death. Here's a link (with photos) to info on lice/mites and what to do about them:

http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8162.pdf

 

[rhaj]

I am going to completely empty out the coop aand replace all teh shavings... what about teh run? anyone know if they are only in the coop? Or do they also live in teh sand?? Our run is sand/dirt.

 

[rhaj]

SHe has done a complete turn, she is standing, eyes open and eating the yogurt/gatorade, yolk mixture!!!!!!!

Update: Wow. I thought for sure she was going to be dead at any minute... but she looks so much better now. I think she was dehydrated. Hopefully it was just from the heavy infestation of lice...? I sprinkled poultry dust (permethrin) on her (and the others) and completely emptied out the shavings in the coop and replaced, just to be safe. Did not notice anything on the others, but I did read that most will spend their life cycle on *one bird*, so I suppose it could just be on her.

<------ just realized-- she is the one is my profile pic.