VERY SICK SILKIE- PLEASE HELP??

[leishajane]

I have a beautiful little Silkie named Emily Shakespeare... if you can't tell by the name, she is my little boy's prized companion... She is about 9 months old but has always seemed a bit odd compared to the other birds we have. She's very... well... slow. She has always spent time with my son... whether in or out of the house.
She's never really been very active, and seemed to be getting picked on by the remainder of the flock. I picked her up the other day and she had bubbly fluid in her eyes, and her head was soaking wet from all of the snot she had forming around her nostrils. I brought her inside and cleaned her up a bit. She sounded funny, like she had lost her voice and all she did for about three days was eat and sleep. I picked up a bottle of Vet rx from Tractor Supply and followed the directions on the bottle.. she seemed to clear up a bit - the fluid/mucus seemed to dry up (in fact, I had to peel away the dried up fluid on her eyes so she could open them) and her eating slowed down a bit. Yesterday, I noticed something was seriously wrong. The nostrils were covered in snot again and now she is having what looks like balance issues... She keeps rubbing her head underneath her on the ground so much that she is literally tipping over. When she's not rubbing it on the ground, she is laying there with her butt in the air and her head and neck twisted on the ground towards her body. This am I tried administering the vet rx in a neubulizer vaporizer that I had in the house and she seems to lift her head up a bit more now than before- but she is still doing it and refusing to eat or drink. She keeps pushing herself backwards as she does this and I keep finding her in her water tray because she's shoved herself so far backwards. Does anyone have any idea what this is or how to fix it?? I am not ready for the devastation that losing this chicken will cause- especially right before Christmas! This chicken is my son's best friend, without a doubt... and I can't bear to lose her! Please Please help!??!

 

[Wyandottes7]

I have a beautiful little Silkie named Emily Shakespeare... if you can't tell by the name, she is my little boy's prized companion... She is about 9 months old but has always seemed a bit odd compared to the other birds we have. She's very... well... slow. She has always spent time with my son... whether in or out of the house.
She's never really been very active, and seemed to be getting picked on by the remainder of the flock. I picked her up the other day and she had bubbly fluid in her eyes, and her head was soaking wet from all of the snot she had forming around her nostrils. I brought her inside and cleaned her up a bit. She sounded funny, like she had lost her voice and all she did for about three days was eat and sleep. I picked up a bottle of Vet rx from Tractor Supply and followed the directions on the bottle.. she seemed to clear up a bit - the fluid/mucus seemed to dry up (in fact, I had to peel away the dried up fluid on her eyes so she could open them) and her eating slowed down a bit. Yesterday, I noticed something was seriously wrong. The nostrils were covered in snot again and now she is having what looks like balance issues... She keeps rubbing her head underneath her on the ground so much that she is literally tipping over. When she's not rubbing it on the ground, she is laying there with her butt in the air and her head and neck twisted on the ground towards her body. This am I tried administering the vet rx in a neubulizer vaporizer that I had in the house and she seems to lift her head up a bit more now than before- but she is still doing it and refusing to eat or drink. She keeps pushing herself backwards as she does this and I keep finding her in her water tray because she's shoved herself so far backwards. Does anyone have any idea what this is or how to fix it?? I am not ready for the devastation that losing this chicken will cause- especially right before Christmas! This chicken is my son's best friend, without a doubt... and I can't bear to lose her! Please Please help!??!

I think that several things are going on with her. The discharge from the eyes/nostrils is probably due to a respiratory disease. To treat this, you'll probably need to get some antibiotics from a feed store/livestock supply store. Tylan50 would be the best choice, but Duramycin or Terramycin would be fine too.

The twisting of the neck and walking backwards makes me think that she may also have wry neck or some neurological problems. I'd get some vitamins (either speical poultry vitamins or Poly Vi Sol infant vitamins from a supermarket) and start treating with those.

 

[shannondee12]

Having just went through an issue with the Wry neck, that's what it sounds like to me. I am in a rural community and could not find the Poly Vi Sol without iron so I grabbed liquid vitamin B complex and checked the label to make sure it had no iron. It worked for mine after about 4 days but she was a newly hatched chick. Good luck on getting her healthy, I know what its like for the kids to be super attached to a silkie.

 

[Suzie]

You could try giving her some Marmite ( if you have some ) it is packed with Vitamin B...

 

[seminolewind]

Isn't Marmite an English food?

 

[ten chicks]

I agree with Wyandottes7,she has respiratory issues and needs an antibiotic. She is rubbing her head on the ground trying to clear out mucus discharge.

 

[leishajane]

I picked up some poly vi sol and I'm out looking for antibiotics now. I do have marmite (I'm actually British, so we always have it in the house) so I'll try that too. How much of the poly should I give her? Since it's for infants, I wasn't sure of the dosage.

 

[Suzie]

I am so pleased that you do have Marmite..it is great for treating potential wry neck ( as advised by a poster on BYC in America...) also it is supposedly good for treating "star gazing".. due to the Vitamin B.

I was told that Marmite can be found in America..although having searched on the internet, it appears to be sold in specialist shops and can be expensive.

 

[leishajane]

You can find marmite in the international foods aisle at most publix stores.

As for the chicken- she is alive and semi-ok. (she was never REALLY normal to start with) I've been keeping her inside, she pretty much has free reign of the downstairs (no carpet, so I don't have to worry about messes). She seems to be doing more "normal" activities- attempted dirt baths in the kid's legos, she's able to feed and water herself. No more issues with her walking backwards or shoving her head into the ground. She seems to be in a constant state of confusion, but that was pretty normal to start with. My main concern with her is her stools. They are varying in consistency from normal to liquid and some have blood in them. She seems fine otherwise. Anyone have any clue? Could it be lack of water perhaps? She still seems to have a bit of an issue getting water although she does accomplish it after several attempts. She is also currently eating chick starter as that's what I have inside the house (we have a momma hen and her babies inside currently so that they aren't picked on by the larger hens.). Should I put her back onto layer pellets?

 

[6 littleHens]

I bought a beautiful hen last april. When we got her home she had those same symptoms without the respiratory and eye issues. She walked backwards very slow. She always backed into water and sat in it. We kept her in house in a box for few weeks and treated her with vitamins. We also trimmed around her eyes because we suspected she could not see and that's why she moved slow. Made a big difference. She quit walking backwards and nesting in the water bowl after few weeks of vitamins and moved a lot faster after trimming around her eyes. Now, when we notice one of the silkies not moving while all others are free ranging, then we trim around their eyes and notice they move faster and join the others.