Can anyone offer advice please ? We re-homed a silkie a couple of years ago (we think she is approx. 4-6 yrs old now). She has always been blind in one eye and the other day she started walking in circles, bumping into the electric fence and not able to find water or food. Her (to date) good eye looked crusty so we cleaned it with a towel and warm water and put her on Tylan. We're hand feeding her water + Tylan and small amounts of food by hand (it is a bit hit and miss as it depends on her random pecking). The other bantams are being kind to her, however, we've put her indoors for ease and frequency of water/food - she also sounds a little raspy. Any ideas on what this is and how we should manage her (hopeful recovery) would be very much appreciated
Blind silkie
- Thread starter cornflake
- Start date
Hi Cornflake, and welcome to the Forum.
I'm sorry to hear about your little Silkie - they are lovely little birds, aren't they, and yours is obviously much- loved and has been very lucky to spend her last years with you.
However, chickens don't have a very long life span, and realistically, there's not much more you can do for her, I'm afraid. From the symptoms you describe, of loss of balance and walking in circles, its quite likely a neurological problem such as Mareks disease has developed, which would be incurable, and could possibly be infectious to any other chickens you might keep. Silkies are oarticularly at risk of this problem. This is probably viral, so dosing with Tylan, (possibly without a prescription from a vet who has seen the bird?) won't cure her, and as I expect you know, poultry keepers are being urged to cut back or avoid any antibiotic treatments for their birds, because of the way that large-scale use of antibiotics for animals is leading to humans becoming resistant to the drugs.
Mareks disease usually affects young birds,and is generally fatal, though some may survive it, whilst still carrying the virus, and it can flare up again in later life. Possibly this is what happened to your Silkie, with the original infection causing her blindness in one eye, and it is now reappearing because her immune system is becoming weakened by age or maybe some other infectious challenge.
See Poultrykeeper
http://poultrykeeper.com/nervous-system-problems/mareks-disease-in-backyard-flock
for articles and links about Mareks.
This is only a personal opinion, I may be wrong, I haven't seen the bird, others may not agree, and of course it's up to you to decide whether to go down the expensive route of getting a vets diagnosis and attempted treatment. You may decide to go on as you are, just trying to make her as comfortable as you can. Or you could have her PTS by the vet, if you think she may be suffering and you can't face culling her yourself. This is a horrible situation for you, I know, we've all been there, with various well- loved animals, - you just have to work out for yourself what is the kindest thing to do for her.
Do keep in touch, and let us know how you get on.
I'm sorry to hear about your little Silkie - they are lovely little birds, aren't they, and yours is obviously much- loved and has been very lucky to spend her last years with you.
However, chickens don't have a very long life span, and realistically, there's not much more you can do for her, I'm afraid. From the symptoms you describe, of loss of balance and walking in circles, its quite likely a neurological problem such as Mareks disease has developed, which would be incurable, and could possibly be infectious to any other chickens you might keep. Silkies are oarticularly at risk of this problem. This is probably viral, so dosing with Tylan, (possibly without a prescription from a vet who has seen the bird?) won't cure her, and as I expect you know, poultry keepers are being urged to cut back or avoid any antibiotic treatments for their birds, because of the way that large-scale use of antibiotics for animals is leading to humans becoming resistant to the drugs.
Mareks disease usually affects young birds,and is generally fatal, though some may survive it, whilst still carrying the virus, and it can flare up again in later life. Possibly this is what happened to your Silkie, with the original infection causing her blindness in one eye, and it is now reappearing because her immune system is becoming weakened by age or maybe some other infectious challenge.
See Poultrykeeper
http://poultrykeeper.com/nervous-system-problems/mareks-disease-in-backyard-flock
for articles and links about Mareks.
This is only a personal opinion, I may be wrong, I haven't seen the bird, others may not agree, and of course it's up to you to decide whether to go down the expensive route of getting a vets diagnosis and attempted treatment. You may decide to go on as you are, just trying to make her as comfortable as you can. Or you could have her PTS by the vet, if you think she may be suffering and you can't face culling her yourself. This is a horrible situation for you, I know, we've all been there, with various well- loved animals, - you just have to work out for yourself what is the kindest thing to do for her.
Do keep in touch, and let us know how you get on.
