whats wrong with my hen? *video* unbalanced...NEW VIDEO~post#385

[Pip&Squeek2]

Quote:
thanks lobzi,i really appreciate all of your advice.ive never had to work so hard to keep a chicken alive..

Do you know, I was with Baby 24 hours a day. I even took him into my bed with me. He had no ability to grip the roost so I had him in a box with a nice, soft baby blanket. It wasnt so great as he would constantly "sing" while awake. If I fell asleep and moved, he would wake up and start "singing." Neither of us got much sleep for about 3 nights. Then I discovered a way to put him in his little box up on the roost with his friends. That was so much better for both of us. Today he roosts again with the others as he is able to grip the roost just fine. It was so cute the first night he rejoined the others on the roost. I put him up on the roost in the box and he hopped out. While on the roost he flexed his little toes as if to show me "see Mama, I can hold on, see my toes work again!"

I have my little one with me always. S/he is in a storage container that is clear. S/he also sings a lot, even while laying down. I don't think this little one is ready for whole corn seeing as it's only 4 weeks old. I have however tried cream style corn. S/he is being a bit picky at the moment and sticking only to the chick starter mixed in water and vitamin B. I suppose it's better than nothing though. S/he has had to live alone it's whole life. The momma didn't like that s/he didn't come out of the egg til 3 days after the others hatched. I know it isn't the best for her/him to be without others but momma doesn't want her/him and anytime I tried taking the other youngest baby to live with this one...was super upset. So I have a tiny stuffed animal that she/he thinks is his/her friend. Not to mention all the attention s/he gets from me and the my kids. Anytime I am just sitting or watching T.V. I have him/her with me on my chest.

I truly look forward to a healthy little peeper. I am curious how the others are doing. Keep us posted.

~Sara

 

[8hipchicks]

Update on Pumpkin:

At her 5:00 pm feeding I did as Lobzi suggested and I supported standing up while she ate her dinner. Interestingly, it took only slight effort on my part. It wasn't so much a case as helping her stand up, it was more a case of having to keep her more level. She's like a see/saw. It seems when she tries to stand up straight she teeter/totters and falls over, it's not so much that her legs or feet are giving out on her. She just can't keep balanced.

Any ideas anyone? A sign of improvement perhaps? I hope....

Pam

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

Quote:
Please remember that vaccines are not effective in 10% of the birds vaccinated! Mareks is present in every yard that has a wild bird fly thru it, so it absolutely could be the problem. Sadly there is nothing that can be done for it except supportive care. I have had a bird recover from it, but it is rare. Once the paralasis reaches the neck, it is best to euthanize, cause they cant swallow anymore. If it doesnt reach the neck, the bird can survive, but you have to help them! they must have thier vents cleaned regularly with warm water, or they get really gunked up, and the food and water must be where they can reach it with out having to travel to it, if you can keep them alive for a week or two, sometimes they can beat it. But I have only had one hen pull all the way thru, now she seems normal, but I check on her every day.

Good luck with your girls.

 

[Lobzi]

Sara, I crush the whole kernels for the little ones. I think the cream variety is too mushy. I have found that my birds do not like getting gooey beaks. I look forward to LEARNING of your peeper's recovery back to health.

 

[Lobzi]

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Pam, did she eat better with your help in balancing her? That sounds a lot like Baby. He kept toppling into his food unless I steadied him. He ate a lot better than when laying down of with me holding him so it was worth it for me to help him balance.

 

[8hipchicks]

She has no problem eating either way. She's eating great both ways. Supporting her did give me more of an opportunity to observe her touch and feel in action while she was doing something. I could get a more tactile sense of what she was doing with her body- which was interesting.

It's as though she stays low when walking with her head almost to the ground and her bum really high and when she tries to walk taller and at a with a normal head/torso upright she topples over.

??????

Pam

 

[Lobzi]

Quote:
Since she is eating well, that is so great! If the balance problem is due to a vit B deficiency she should be getting plenty of B down and should be improving. I took videos of Baby as he improved. Im not sure how, but I would share them with you if you want to see him with his balance problem.
Perhaps if you private email me with your personal email I could send it that way.

 

[8hipchicks]

Quote:
Since she is eating well, that is so great! If the balance problem is due to a vit B deficiency she should be getting plenty of B down and should be improving. I took videos of Baby as he improved. Im not sure how, but I would share them with you if you want to see him with his balance problem.
Perhaps if you private email me with your personal email I could send it that way.

I'll pm you my email addy. I think you have to load video onto something like youtube and it gives you a link. I'm dying to post some video of pumpkin but my camera software is doing something funny and I can't get it to work. I'm going to see if I can get a shot or two on my camera phone of her various positions and post them.

 

[Lobzi]

I wish I knew how to use uTube then I posts it there with the ones of Baby recovered. My goal is to reach as many folks as possible before they cull in a Marek's scare. I know I can send it via email as I have sent it to others.

 

[8hipchicks]

Quote:
Got the videos. Thanks!
Pumpkin is somewhere between the two. She stands on her feet about 1/2 way up.
I've got a couple of snaps on my camera phone. I'm going to see if I can get them posted here somehow tonight.

Such a maddening situation.