Vitamin E Deficiency Help!

[sunridge]

One of my pullet silkies has what I believe to be Vit.E deficiency. She exhibits all the posturing of encephalomalacia.I've been giving her Vit. E for 5 days without much improvement. She's bright eating and drinking well but cannot stand. I have built her a little sling to keep her upright and not flopped back with her legs in front of her. Now in retrospect I suspect this has been culminating for quite sometime as she has not been quite right and had a similar spell (very short lived after I separated her from the flock). She has become my favorite and I am trying my best to save her. I did not try selenium because I know it's easy to overdose in horses unsure about chickens Any thoughts?

 

[TTracy]

Check out this forum, particularly post 14. Hope this helps. I havent had any experience with this myself, wish I could help more!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...nd-crazy-chick-disease-photos-added-post-5/10

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes I think it is easy to OD selenium in chicks. Some vitamin E capsules online have the selenium added.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://browneggblueegg.com/Article.html
if you click on the crookneck article (left column) it mentions selenium

Also some give poly vi sol no iron for the other vitamins...you could try a poultry pack of vitamins to be sure she isn't missing other vitamins- or feed scrambled eggs consistently.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/218/vitamin-e-deficiency
bottom of page mentions selenium dosage

 

[realsis]

I had this problem with two of my birds and it was severe. I was able to bring both birds out of it . Selenium can be deadly if too much is used however it plays a very important role in the absorbtion of the vitamin. Here is the protocol I followed. Vitamin E capsules very small amount of selinium and vitamin B. I also gave my birds predinsone and polyvisol without iron. My birds are just fine now but at time of treatment they couldn't walk and head was twisted completely under them. They shook and did flips. It took a good month for them to return to normal. So have patience and good luck.