*URGENT* my sick chicken

[dorenek]

my chicken is 11 wks old. she is white. i don't know her breed but she and the three others like her grew ridiculously fast! i suppose as a result they all lay down a lot. this one won't get up now. she wouldn't get up to eat and seemed to be in a bit of distress so we brought the food and water to her. the only thing that looks different from her "siblings" is that her tail feathers look a bit discolored. like charcoal--around the base. she doesn't seem to have mites or anything. her vent is clear. does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

[ivan3]

Do they look like this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=181946 ?

 

[gumpsgirl]

Are you sure she isn't a meat bird? All the symptoms fit there.

 

[dorenek]

ivan 3,
that is what she looked like as a baby, yeah. the feathering is really strange on these birds and they looked like they were on steriods or something!

 

[dorenek]

gumpsgirl:
she may be... uh, i guess i don't know enough about chickens to be able to say. my real concern is that she's not really moving.

 

[gumpsgirl]

If she looked like the chick in ivan3's link to the thread he posted, then she is a meat bird. They are bred specifically to get big fast and be culled around 8 wks. old. That's why she isn't moving. She is to big and her heart will give out if she isn't culled or processed.

I really hate to the the bearer of bad news, but you are going to have to have them culled or processed. They simply won't live to be adult birds, as they are not meant to be layers. Sorry...

 

[dorenek]

sad... the three others still seem fine... but everything else fits. glad for the information. thanks a bunch.