WTH? Sudden Sick Silkie

[idahodebra]

What could have caused this? My Silkie pullet was fine two days ago, haven't seen her and assumed she was brooding, cuz she's a silkie

. I also have two identical pullets so it makes it tricky to know who is who. I found her this morning, brought her out to eat, and noticed she had been sitting in poo, which was green and maybe a little runny, but nothing noticibly odd. The weird thing was my silkie had a head tremor and would kind of shake her head to the side. When I picked her up, she hyperextended her head/neck, but there was no sings of resp. distress such as labored breathing, open beak, nasal discharge, etc. Her comb/wattles were normal colored, and her eyes would open and didn't appear hazy or have a discharge. Her crop felt ok, no abdominal swelling was noted. Her vent looked ok. She could move her legs and wings.

There has been no change in feed. My chickens free range in the backyard, and always have access to fresh water. There food is stored in the house and they fresh daily, so I don't think it would be contaminated. None of the other chickens or ducks have acted strange. I cup fed this poor chicken a little water, and she took a little, but with her wanting to hyperextend, I was afraid to push it for fear of causing her to aspirate.

I held her, and she continued the head tremor, hyperextending, and would through herself around on my lap until it became hard to tell which way was up. I finally put her down in a box, where she thrashed a couple of times, then died.

She was part of quad of cuckoo silkies, and I am so sad this happened, and very fearful for my other chickens. Any ideas on what caused this?

 

[TXmom]

Oh, I'm so sorry...that sounds awful.

I'm far from an expert, but I've read that Silkies can easily suffer from head trauma/brain damage because of their vaulted skulls. Maybe she hit her head on the roost or nest box or something else?

Also, if her poop was greenish, then it's possible she wasn't eating and got malnourished. Don't know why she would quit eating though, if she was previously healthy...could go back to the possible head trauma... I hope you find out what happened, and it's nothing that can spread to your other chickens.

 

[idahodebra]

So green poop can be a sing of malnourishment? I wonder if this was the pullet I pulled off a nest recently. With two that looked so much alike, it is really hard to know. It may explain it if she was already nutritionally compromised. As far as head trauma, that is interesting. I didn't realize they were so susceptible. I have a little goat that hates the cuckoo silkies for some reason. She doesn't bother the others, just the cuckoos

. I hope she didn't hurt her, or just the goats playing in general.