HELP!

[pamblevins]

Can anyone help me please?
My young Peking (about 18 weeks?) is listless, not really eating and hunched up.
She has been like this, on and off for a couple of weeks - at least. I have her indoors at night, again! She was indoors for a week and on antibiotics 1x daily...this helped and she started to pick up and even get a bit (not a lot!) feisty, when giving her her meds and eating well. But now only 3 days later we are back where we started. She weighs next to nothing and pecks a bit at her food when you stroke her but she's not really eating.
I have blitzed the hen house, power washed, sprayed, dusted...although I have never had red mite, much to my neighbour fellow chicken keepers annoyance!
The hens have cider vinegar in their water every 3rd week.

I spot on Ivermectin'ed her a week ago as she was twitching her head then.
I just don't know what to try now, she looks so miserable

 

[chrismahon]

Sure it isn't crop bound or sour crop Pamblevins. Try massaging her crop anyway as that prompts them to eat. Slimy poos are sour crop and water ones will be crop bound. It's about this stage they eat their moulted feathers which can cause problems.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Pambelvine, welcome to the Forum. I'm sorry to hear about your pullet. Presumably she is being treated by a vet, since you say she's on antibiotics? What did he or she say about her? Which antibiotic is she taking? One would expect that after three days an antibiotic might be kicking in, though they do take a while to get going so keep on with the course. Are the other chickens OK?
Its unlikely to be worms, at her age, and anyway the Ivermectin would have dealt with that possibility. What dose of Ivermectin did you give her and what did she weigh then? Its powerful stuff which might have unexpected effects on a small young bird. Can you tell us more about the head twitching? This might possibly indicate a neurological disorder, but I'm only guessing. Is she walking OK, or does she sometimes drop one of her wings or seem unbalanced? Did you hatch her yourself, or have you recently bought her from somewhere else? And is your vet experienced with birds?
Sorry to fire off all these questions, just trying to get a fuller picture of what might be going on.

 

[foxy]

Echo Marigold and Chris's comments...just would add that unexplained weight loss can be due to underlying more sinister caused I am afraid. Typically latent diseases can raise their head about 18 weeks + up to point of lay.
Would be interested in the comments from the vet, and on examination what was their diagnosis?