Vaulted Silkie Chick walking backwards

[Jikaaa]

I returned to one of my vaulted chicks flipped upside down in the pen earlier, our caretaker believes that she was attacked by our rooster. She's still very much alive and flailing but keeps crouching backwards with her whole body pointing up when she does so which in turn makes her flip upside down. I temporarily gave her a blanket that can hold her down to her normal sleeping position and now she's spending her alone time with her eyes closed a lot only temporarily responding when I check on her. I'm very worried that our roo did a number on her vaulted head, is there any way I can help her? Can she still recover from this?

 

[Stephine]

It doesn’t sound good. All you can dobis give supportive care and wait. Put her in a safe environment, so she can’t hurt herself and help her drink and eat. Give extra poultry vitamins if you have them - always good in times of stress. Crossing my fingers for her.

 

[BobStuart]

Are there cuts or evidence of an attack otherwise all I could find on the internet that I hope is just it but I highly doubt it is but vitamin deficiency could be it

 

[MysteryChicken]

I returned to one of my vaulted chicks flipped upside down in the pen earlier, our caretaker believes that she was attacked by our rooster. She's still very much alive and flailing but keeps crouching backwards with her whole body pointing up when she does so which in turn makes her flip upside down. I temporarily gave her a blanket that can hold her down to her normal sleeping position and now she's spending her alone time with her eyes closed a lot only temporarily responding when I check on her. I'm very worried that our roo did a number on her vaulted head, is there any way I can help her? Can she still recover from this?

Vaulted skulls are abit of a disadvantage, especially for the bird's own head protection. I avoid Vaulted skulled Silkies, & other vaulted skulled birds like Polish due to the risk of head injury, or death. I own only one, & she's been lucky.

I'd recommend just give her some vitamin therapy, a good amount of Vitamin E, & just keep her comfy to see if she recovers, or not.

 

[coach723]

If vet care is an option they can prescribe an anti-inflammatory that can help in the event there is swelling in the vault, which can happen with injuries of this type.
Otherwise I would do the vitamin E, and give a b-complex tablet or super B-complex, once a day. Make sure she's drinking and eating. You can mix her feed in some water to make a mash, might be easier, and you may have to help her, depending on how she's doing. Fluids especially, you don't want her to get dehydrated.

 

[Jikaaa]

Vaulted skulls are abit of a disadvantage, especially for the bird's own head protection. I avoid Vaulted skulled Silkies, & other vaulted skulled birds like Polish due to the risk of head injury, or death. I own only one, & she's been lucky.

I'd recommend just give her some vitamin therapy, a good amount of Vitamin E, & just keep her comfy to see if she recovers, or not.

Sadly she died at 12pm last night, had multiple seizures and eventually let go. I'm seeking to see how I can prevent more of this from happening because she's got about 4 more siblings with the same unlucky genes. Oddly enough, none of their parents are vaulted, only one bearded and one mixed with a frizzle. The rest are normal Chinese Silkies, I was surprised when their children came out to be vaulted, thought they had some kind of disease lol. The only solution I can think of is to cut off their very pretty head feathers, any suggestions for prevention?

 

[coach723]

I'm very sorry. If the feathers are impacting vision then cutting them back may help. The crest sometimes attracts unwanted attention from other birds. But it's not an uncommon thing with vaulted skull birds, sadly. Head injury is just more of a problem with them. If you have another bird or birds that won't leave them alone, then separating them may be the solution. I never put my chicks in a pen with my roosters until I know they are old enough to get out of the way, and to know they need to.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Sadly she died at 12pm last night, had multiple seizures and eventually let go. I'm seeking to see how I can prevent more of this from happening because she's got about 4 more siblings with the same unlucky genes. Oddly enough, none of their parents are vaulted, only one bearded and one mixed with a frizzle. The rest are normal Chinese Silkies, I was surprised when their children came out to be vaulted, thought they had some kind of disease lol. The only solution I can think of is to cut off their very pretty head feathers, any suggestions for prevention?

The parents may actually be partially Vaulted, so have small Vaulted skulls rather then full which would be noticeable.
All head feathers, or just the one's in front of the eyes?

I think the best prevention is not having this Vaulted skull variety of silkie.

 

[Stephine]

I would separate them. Don’t think cutting of feathers would help. How old are they? It is unusual for a rooster to go after a chick. Generally they are protective of the little ones. Even mine, though assholes to me and some grown hens have always been very sweet with new immature pullets.

 

[coach723]

Every rooster is different, some view new chicks as interlopers, even some hens will do that.
Even a broody hen can't always protect them. It's always better safe than sorry, particularly with babies.