Help! Sick 5 week old chick!

[Crimsonchicken]

I have a silkie mix chick who is 5 weeks old. He has been fine. He's in a cage with 7 tiny serama babies that are the same age. Today I noticed him lying on his side. I got him out and he can't walk. One of his legs is not working right. He is eating and drinking fine. Also, he was vaccinated for mareks at 2 days old. Any ideas? I gave him some poly vi sol today and added electrolytes to the water just in case.

 

[Crimsonchicken]

Anyone?

 

[leesbunny]

I don't have any real advice for you other than to continue what you are doing and see what happens. It's hard when we have problems, and no one offers advice.

 

[MamaJoJo]

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/220/slipped-tendon-perosis

I don't know if this is even close to the symptoms of your chick but it is a good site to explore to help

 

[MamaJoJo]

Another helpful site. Breaks down the vitamin deficiencies and lists symptoms.

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html

 

[madwomn]

First, don't panic. I've had two chickens that should have died, but because I gave them intensive palliative care, they both eventually recovered. Segregate him from the rest of the chicks ASAP. I used my laundry basket with a towel over the top.

Second, figure out what you have to do to keep the chick comfortable and give it the best possible chance of recovery. If it looks cold, put a heat lamp on it. If it looks hot, make sure it gets good air circulation. I'm a BIG fan of antibiotics. Tylan can be given in an eye dropper or dripped off the end of a syringe pretty easily, and it's the gatling gun of antibiotics. If what you want is a gentler, kinder antibiotic to start with, try tetracycline. Both of my chickens recovered because I put applesauce and watermelon juice and yoghurt in chick crumbles, added hot water, and spoon fed them until their crops were full every 2 or 3 hours all day long. I also dropper fed them water with electrolytes. IF this is Marek's disease (you're right in the sweet spot for it, and 10-20% of the babies are vaccinated and will still get it) or any other kind of nerve-related sickness, the BEST thing to treat him with is hypericum perforatum, an herbal supplement you can get from your local Whole Foods or other herbal remedies resource. It's a preparation of St. John's Wort that's in a small enough dosage to give chickens. Get some NOW and give it to your little guy twice a day. The one I found was in little pills about the size of a BB. I crushed it up and mixed it with the electrolyte water.

Keep him clean, hydrated, and the right temperature. Keep him in half-light so he's quiet.

And be patient. Palliative care will work for most animals unless they have something so wrong with them that you wouldn't want them to survive anyway.

One last word: You're going to find lots and lots of stuff on the internet and elsewhere about Marek's. It's scary stuff, but your panic is the worst part of it. I'm pretty sure my Belgian rooster had it, and he survived. Now, I know that every last baby he sires (I have two in the chick coop right now with their mama) will be resistant. That is GOOD news, not bad, and none of my other chickens got sick. It was HORRIBLE watching him be so ill, but the worst part was that I terrified myself by reading too much.

Stick to the palliative care. Practice some germ security with him, just in case. The other babies he's with are already exposed, but the rest of your chickens aren't.

Be strong and don't get discouraged! It ain't over til it's over.

 

[Crimsonchicken]

Thanks for that awesome reply. I'll go look for the hypericum next time I get the chance. I'm afraid it is Mareks. I've seen it before.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

With Silkies who show neurological symptoms sometimes vitamins help (keep in mind that there are diseases that cause lameness as you well know, you stated).

If it were my silkie I'd try some vitamins to see if it made a difference.