Wasting Silkies

At this point I think he's probably starving to death, and that you can confirm by weighing him in a couple of days. If I had to guess, I would say that his ideal weight should be closer to 1800 grams, but maybe he's just small... Doesn't really matter, just weigh him in a couple of days.
 
however, why is he starving to death? ya know? ugh. the other did as well. why are they? there must be something going on inside that I can't see. I"ll check his mouth this morning. I may start a natrual antibiotic/antifungal that I have. I used it safely on my parrot when she had crop yeast.
 
however, why is he starving to death? ya know? ugh. the other did as well. why are they? there must be something going on inside that I can't see. I"ll check his mouth this morning. I may start a natrual antibiotic/antifungal that I have. I used it safely on my parrot when she had crop yeast.
If you were able to tube feed him, he would have food in his system and start pooping, then we could analyze his poop and possibly rule out some things or maybe start him on some type of medication(s).

I don't mean to sound cold, harsh or rude, but if you can't tube or take him to the vet, he's going to die from dehydration/starvation to to a disease and then your best bet to save the rest of your flock is to send him for a necropsy.

It's been almost two weeks since you started this thread and I'm guess that he's thinner now than he was then. Weigh him again today, in grams, you'll see.

As thin as he is his only hope for survival is to be in a warm place and to get emergency supportive care. That rooster that I found yesterday with canker got over 100cc's of fluid after I treated him and by dusk he had a crop full of high protein (27%) crumble.

Today I will:

  • Check crop
  • Check mouth
  • Medicate
  • Weigh
  • Tube fluids

Sick birds require lots of work, many people just don't have the time and/or energy and that I understand.
 
Last edited:
Where did you get your silkies? There are 2 people on the Natural Chicken Keeping thread who both got some of their older silkies from the same source, and both have had problems with failure to thrive and wasting disease. One of the people suspected lead poisoning after a necropsy. There posts are on here to read--Mumsy and TurtlePowerTrav. There have been suggestions for chelation therapy to treat survivors. This is all a guess because they haven't been able to get a positive lead test, but something to think about.
 
Last edited:
I got mine as chicks from a feed store that gets their chicks from Ideal, that was about five years ago. Never wormed either until just now (the other one fell into the horse water bucket and almost died two days ago) and both have been very healthy up until now.
 
You can spend hours searching the web trying to figure out what's killing your birds, but the best way is to have a necropsy done. FYI, a necropsy can include testing lead, mine do.
 
the problem is, I don't know how to tube feed. I heard it is risky if you don't know what you're doing.

I'll go ahead and weigh him now.


As far as where I got them, I got them from a lady on craigslist who breeds silkies. she said they were part top hat, and part 2 other things. I can't remember the names of them. I got them for my son for his birthday because he wanted to maybe do some show birds at the fair. not happening now.
 
ok, his weight went up! it is now 2 pounds 6.4 oz. it was 2 pounds 5 oz :)
 
ok, his weight went up! it is now 2 pounds 6.4 oz. it was 2 pounds 5 oz :)
Look casportpony is correct in saying that the best way to get them back up to fighting weight is by doing the tube feeding. Now that said....I am a coward when it comes to that. I am so afraid I will put things in the wrong place I just can't do it! What I have done is take Sav-a-Chick and mix it 1 envelope to 1 qt. and 'feed' it to my birds a drop at a time. 3-4 times a day. Either by dripping it on top of their beak or getting them to open up and doing it that way. I am always very careful not to overload them as I don't want them to aspirated. Most times, this is enough to get them the vitamins they need to get their own bodies working somewhat normally, so they will eat themselves. It is labor intensive and you have to commit yourself to it. Once you have them eating and drinking on their own, well, since you know these birds are having an issue, I would add a showbird crumble or a game bird food with a higher fat and protien level. You could mix this right into their normal feed, or give it to them for a bit to help them get to where they should be. You also could take this same feed and mix a thin gruel out of it and do the same drop by drop. Once you have them close to normal weight, you've bought yourself time to find out what is going on. It's either this or cull. You really don't have too many options here. 1.4 onces is something, but you need to keep it going up. You've done so much, that it would be a real shame to have it all go south now. You can do this, take a breath and figure out what works for you and your birds. Then go with it.
 
well, whatever I need to commit to, I only have a few days to do it as we're leaving for 7 days saturday morning.

I can't tube feed, it is too risky for me. I'm not comfortable doing it at all.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom