Very sick silkie please help

[bertiesmum]

Hi,

My silky hen all of a sudden started sitting down weds. She was very lethargic so my dad took her to the vets Friday. They reeled off a million things it could be. One was that she had worms where she hadn't got enough worming treatment last time they were wormed. She is very lethargic, diarrheal and is very wobbly on her feet. She has been given worming treatment and anti biotics. She got these Friday and still no improvement. So upset as don't know what to do or what it could be or if she will make it. Any ideas anyone as the vet was very vague.

 

[Sarevan]

Morning, what color are her poos? Are they very liquid and maybe frothy? How old is she? Is she able to drink eat anything or much of anything since vet visit? What are the meds, wormer etc the Vet give her?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/829083/corid-dosage. Worms & cocci can be same symptoms practically. Read that on the corid dosage for cocci.

 

[chooks4life]

What's her body weight like?

What are her poops like?

Is she eating normally?

Is her crop emptying normally (overnight) or staying partially or completely full? (Doubt the vet would have missed an impacted crop though).

There's a sticky or something like that about the best questions to answer to get a diagnosis, too many people miss it, so these questions get asked anyway. Sorry if it's inconvenient but it's the best way to figure out what she does or doesn't have.

One thought that sprang to mind is poisoning. Could be caused by something she ate or some inability to eliminate wastes (like a blockage) or by inner infection. Could also be a disease.

If you think she's blocked up, or ate something poisonous, then I would personally give her a drench using those needle-less plastic syringes, of about two or three tablespoons of cold pressed olive oil. It can save blocked up animals, and helps with worms and other issues including many diseases as it flushes their system out while giving them a high dose of vitamin E and the other healing compounds in olive oil which are also helpful to general health. A high dose of vitamin C would also perhaps help as it can detoxify so many things it's amazing, from spider and snake bites to sickness to toxicity from eating dangerous things. It's also almost impossible to overdose them on.

She may also have an injury. A structural injury can make her weak, wobbly etc. I've had two banty hens smashed by larger animals, a feral dog being the cause of one breaking, a huge rooster the other, and while the wings and legs and neck and head were fine, the rest of the skeleton was shattered in too many places to count. Every rib was broken top and bottom.

Keeping the animal still and not too warm but not too cold can help. A little cooler than they normally prefer can be helpful if it's internal hemorrhaging, as I've noticed severely damaged animals with internal bleeding often seek chilly places to stay and those that are unable to put themselves on a cold floor have higher death rates than those that were able to cool themselves right after the incident. Suddenly choosing to stay immobile is a good indication of a serious injury and moving her could kill her, if that's the correct diagnosis. My hens lived, but are delicate and easily rebroken, and their whole skeleton of the body area just moves like jelly when broken and I don't doubt it hurts like all heck. The animals that choose to be warm should be allowed to do so and don't let them freeze but only let them cool themselves if they choose. An animal near death often chooses to cool themselves rather than be warm, too, I believe it helps numb internal pain and hasten the death for those that cannot make it, and conversely helps clot hemorrhaging blood etc in those that can make it.

But if you can answer those first questions, should help eliminate non-likely possibilities. Best wishes.

 

[bertiesmum]

They are just like water. Although my dad says they are starting to thicken up. We think she is about 2-3yrs. She is eating and drinking but when she stands up she is uneasy on her feet. I am not sure exactly what she has been given from the vets as she is at my parents. I know she has been given a wormer and some anti biotics.

 

[chooks4life]

Well, once she's been given medicine and antibiotics I'm hesitant to offer any other suggestions. Better to not interfere with any one discipline of medicine because sometimes they are not complimentary. I hope what is being done works.

Best wishes.

 

[bertiesmum]

I have just been to see her and she has been given denagard. She can stand up but is very wobbly on her feet and occasionally she puts her wings out to steady herself. Has anyone any ideas what this can be? She has lost a lot of weight in a few days where she has had such diarreah. Could it be that she is just weak? I'm petrified it could be mareks. The vet didn't mention this at all though.

 

[bertiesmum]

And it has come on very suddenly. She has been fine then just was sitting down all day weds and that's when it started.

 

[enola]

Can you post a picture of her. We would like to see what she looks like since she became ill.

 

[bertiesmum]

Not a great picture but this is the only one I have

 

[bertiesmum]

Her eyes are still very bright and her face looks as it normally does.