"UPDATE page 2" Sleepy Chicken...Is this Normal?

[Wynette]

Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss! That's just heartbreaking!!

I had what sounds like the exact same issue with one of my EE chicks. Long story short, after tons of research & talking with some extremely seasons chicken folks on BYC, I decided to treat him with Sulmet (it seemed like he must have Cocci). That seemed to perk him up a bit for a few days, then he went right back to being extremely lethargic. I then treated with Terramycin, and there was no change whatsoever. I took these pictures while he was at the height of his illness - you can see how he just stood there with his eyes closed:

Then, more research and more e-mail exchanges with experienced chicken folks, and I decided to put him through a round of Tylan. It's a very strong antibiotic. It cured him! In the pics, he's 5-6 weeks old; he is now 13 weeks, and I haven't had any further issues with him. He's turning out to be quite a handsome young fellow, too!

I'm NOT a big believer in treating with antibiotics unless absolutely necessary, but I did find that Tylan really did the trick for me.

 

[Rogue_Woman]

I had one hen acting like that a few months back. No other symptoms, just the sleepiness, and none of the other hens acted odd. A couple of weeks later, we had a raging case of cocci go through the whole flock, which weakened them enough to get something respiratory with the bubbly eye and rales. It was a nightmare! Treated with sulmet, couldn't eat thier eggs, I was convinced they had everything in the merck vet manual. If I ever get a sleepy one again, they're getting separated IMMEDIATELY, I don't want to deal with that again!! I hope everything goes well for you and your flock, don't wait like I did!

 

[Wynette]

Rogue_ - my chick had sneezing & rales as well (no watery eyes), but the sulmet didn't work for him. I thought for several days I was going to lose him; I'd separated him and put him in a nursery pen, and the day I finally decided I needed to euthanize him, I went out & he was eating - just gobbling up his food...I just couldn't do it after seeing that (I'd never done that deed before), and that's what made me decide to try the Tylan. I'm glad I did, as he's sure a sweet boy! I wasn't going to keep any of the cockerels from that hatch, but I can't part with this boy now!

 

[Rogue_Woman]

Tylan huh? I'll keep that in mind! The sulmet didn't work great here either, the illnesses really just had to run thier course, and everything is peachy now. The original sleepy chicken is still around, not sleepy anymore, but she earned the name "squinty" out of it. She used to be easy to pick out of the flock because she had an underdeveloped comb, but oddly enough, once she got over being sick it grew so fast she's got one of the biggest in the flock. Go figure.

 

[Wynette]

Interesting on the comb! I was hopeful that my boy would be okay eventually, and my plan was to just let him go through it and develop an immunity; but, he began going down hill a bit more each day, and I just couldn't watch it any longer. But, I typically do just let it run its course - I always feel like that's the best way to go so they build up a natural immunity. The Tylan is a very strong antibiotic; I wouldn't recommend unless you've got an EXTREMELY bad respiratory condition that's been hanging on for awhile. But, it sure did the trick in my case!

 

[Biddieacres]

Thank you all. Wynette-those pictures are what my chick looked like. I wonder if she would have pulled through with that antibiotic??? Her feet were cold so I felt like it was something wrong with her that I couldn't fix. Something maybe she was born with. I may get some of that antibiotic in case the others start to show signs in the future.

 

[Wynette]

Kristin, there are SO darn many things a chick/adult chicken can get, it's really hard to know. It's also hard to make a decision on when to treat, and when to euthanize.

It's funny you say that, that you thought yours was born with some abnormality or something. I thought the SAME EXACT thing about this chick. In fact, when it was born, it struggled a bit the first few hours; all the rest from that hatch were right up & moving around, and it took him several hours to get going. Then, when he did get up & started to move about, he was sort of dragging his butt for the first few hours...I don't know how else to describe it. I guess I'll never know exactly what he had, but from my best guesses I think he started off with a poor immune system right off the bat, and then just picked up something that he was unable to shake off.

Tylan's pretty expensive; I personally wouldn't get it just to have it on hand, but of course that's up to you. Just good info. to know, I guess. Again, I'm so sorry about your chick; but in a way, I'm happy that I ran across your post, because you know, sometimes you feel like The Lone Ranger, thinking no one else has ever had your problem...it's good to know others agonize over their little ones, too!

 

[Justino]

my oldest Ausie stoped laying eggs and started doing this....IDK what thw heck but sh doesnt seem sick, lol maybe just lazy

 

[Justino]

oh yeah shes 8yrs old and has been going the 4 like 2mounths

 

[lurky]

Kristin, I'm sorry for your loss

My lethargic hen is still the same. I hope she makes it