Worried about Serafina

[NeseO]

I have spent most of my morning keeping up with my little one's homeschool activities, contractions and trying to locate a vet that will give a chicken the time of day. I finally found a vet that normally would if she wasn't on vacation, so here I am.
My Salmon Faverolle, Serafina looked like something was stuck in her throat last night and she just kept on shaking her head until it as bed time, which she got on her perch and seemed ok. This morning I opened her coop and her sister came out, but she didn't. I went to the back door expecting the worst, only to have her fly out, apparently startled and in panic mode. Serafina is very friendly and fearless, so this was out of characture. When she landed she couldn't stand right. She tried to get out of my way by limping along and using her wings to help. I seperated her from her sister, and brought her inside. She is alert, still doing goofy things when she sees something new, but it seems her balance is off. I checked left foot that she seems to be favoring and haven't seen any cuts or anything out of the ordinary. Shes been resting on and off and carefully trying to sneak around when I'm not looking. Im afraid this is the sign of something that might get worse. Her comb looks good, and she will eat and drink. Her limp is bugging her and keeping her from going far, tail is down and she is still easily startled. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Angiebubs]

How old is she?
Any signs of breething issues or wheezing?
If young/pullet, was she started on medicated feed?
What does her poop look like? Watery? bright green? foamy? orange/reddish? any signs of blood?

My first thought would be if she is under 6 months, would be Cocci. What you are describing, sounds like a pullet I lost to Cocci-At first I thought she was poisoned as she stumbled around like she was drunk. Usually Cocci will show signs of blood in the poop but not all strains-mine didn't. Cocci is also one of the most common health issues with chicks under 5 months old.

Unfortunately there are not many vets anywhere that will see chickens, and the ones that will often are clueless when it comes to diagnosing. One recommendation for now and future use is, call around to Universities (Is UC Davis near you?) and ask if they do Fecal Flotation Testing. Its usually around 10-15 to send in a sample of poop to have tested for parasites, and some other common diseases. You collect samples from several different chickens and mix them together in a baggie-double or triple bag it and mail it in. They are pretty fast at getting results back to you also.

Good luck!

 

[NeseO]

Thank you for the reply. She is about 28 weeks, give or take. Poop looks normal, with green here and there. No wheezing, just the coughing and panting yesterday evening. She did start with the medicated food and has been on organic pullet food since her 20 th week.
I will look into that poop test you recommended. My husband joked it might be the grapes we gave them yesterday, but she is the only one showing drunkenness if that is so.

 

[Angiebubs]

Hmmm good news that there is no wheezing/sneezing and normal poops. You mentioned panting, have temperatures been high there lately? Could she be semi dehydrated?

 

[NeseO]

Well yesterday afternoon she did the one thing I didn't expect yet and laid her first egg . While I was relieved I still wasn't sure if that was the end of that, because she was sprawled out in a dirt bath hole, looking pretty exhausted and down, but from a currently 39 week pregnant perspective, limping and feeling out of sorts, could absolutely understand the possibility that the egg was the culprit. This morning she is looking her normal perky, pesty, curious self, without the drama, so maybe that was it

 

[Angiebubs]

Awwwwww! How cute! So she was just trying to figure out what was happening to her body LOL

 

[NeseO]

I guess Each of my chickens have had their own way of expressing their feelings toward this new experience, one looked really down, another spent days rearranging all of the chicken boxes, another acted like it was all business, and another treated it like a bad bowl movement. It was only natural that my finicky funny Fina ( Serafina) would make it so dramatic. She certainly got alot of extra treats and snuggles out of it)