URGENT: Problem with Pepper :o(

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Hi guys, I wonder if you can help.

I just went down to shut the chooks in and found Pepper laying on her side. At first I thought the fox had been in but no.

She's alive and there are no wounds. She seems to want to curls her head inwards to her chest and slightly to one side. This seems to disorientate her and she flops over. Her neck is still stong so I don't suspect she's broken anything. Any ideas? What can I do for her. I've put her in a crate with straw in the shed for now :o(

Help.....?
 
Poor Pepper----age?breed ? Any signs respiratory infection? Abnormal eggs ? I'd do as you have----isolate ,keep warm and comfy,TLC ,wait and see how she goes.could be any no.of things,injury,infection ,mites,worms etc etc .Check house and birds for mites. Worming? Sorry to be vague but is there ANYTHING Specific? Ros
 
Um, shes about a year. No resp infection. She's looking really good and is laying. I took her to a friend and he says shes not egg bound. No signs of injury, saw her earlier and sh was just fine, scratching about.

Wormed just before christmas. I had put her in a box in the kitchen but she kept falling over and scabbling to get up so I put her back in her house with 1 other hen and propped her up in her nezt box, thought she may be less stressed there...?

Thank you for the ideas...
xxx
 
Just some thoughts re balance probs----poss.ear infection,ear mites ,neurological problems/poss Mareks----just some things to consider. If no better tomorrow and you feel its appropriate ? Vets. Wish I could help more! Hope she's better tomorrow.Ros
 
Yea, if shes still with us in the morning she's going to the vet.
 
I sorry to hear about your hen Eveybee ..can I ask what breed she is?
 
I think she's a bluebell? grey/lilac colour with black legs/beak

x
 
It sounds like a very sudden event, either caused by external trauma a bang on the head for example, or something internally going wrong, neurological or maybe some sort of toxic shock. The symptoms do sound more neurological than through toxicity.
I think if she survives the night, she will need a vet, or if she symptoms are due to a bump she may be a little better. One thing to look at carefully are her eyes, are they reacting normally to light?

Good luck with her x
 
Looking at her eyes, one wants to close all of the time. Only way to look at it is to open it using my fingers...If she's still with us in the morning...vet. x
 
Hi there,

Took her to the vet this morning and he was cluless. He basically said he didn';t know what to do so I asked for long acting antibiotic and anti inflammatory injections. I managed to get some water into her by syringe and she was very interested in some cat food I had, although she hasn't the strength to hold her nevk/head up. The water also has some wormer and chicken spice in in.

She is about a year old, she went thorough moult (poss partial) and was laying again. Wings are held correctly.

Hope she finds the strength to lift her head :oS
x
 
I am sure you are right---antibios and anti inflammatories are the only things that might help if cause cannot be found . You are doing right giving her fluids--I hope it helps! Ros
 
Thank you all for your kind words.

Pepper is still with us, no change really.

I spotted a louse on her last night s treated her with some ivermectin. There's quite a few dead ones on her this morning so hopefully she'll feel a bit better after that. I'm just trying to get fluid into her and some of her layers mix, made into a porridge with warm water, honey and yoghurt.

Here's a pick of her about 2 weeks ago:
80524350b695c13f5fd83a217874daeeb87bb8914feda76a739e85f58e69777c30420b4d.jpg


Here's a pick of how she holds (or doesn't) hold her head:
492504581003e688a8524d1ec0348b352fb934da830f456f558ae6775b412815a70614cc.jpg


I've also read alot about Marek's disease. I know she's not the typical age but here's a pic of her eye, do you think it looks normal?
047384607b813a862a04fb67b3b24c591712773a5ec863dff926608d3fada1ba596d286c.jpg



Thanks again guys, I just want to do all I can for her....

xxxx
 
If she is a hybrid, it is most likely that she would've been vaccinated for Mareks.
Her pupils look normal btw.
 
Hi guys, still going with our magic porridge and water...she seemed to take more tonight, along with more water...or maybe I'm just getting more handy with the syringe technique?!

Her crop seemed to be more sqiushy tonight, less grainy and her belly is making noises. She also had a poop and it seems reasonably normal (compared to the 'water' be left on the vet's table...who woulda thought you could get so excited about poop?! She also seems to be moving in her box more and she flapped earlier when I wasn't holding her 'properly'!

Maybe this is all wishful thinking but.....

xxxx
 
When I went down this morning I could see that Pepper had been moving a lot during the night.

She also seemed alot stronger when I was feeding her; she was figting my hand a bit when I was opening her beak and then swallowing the food much faster. She also had her eyes open more. hopefully this is her getting better :o) she shook her head a couple of times too (to get some food off her) but still can't lift her neck up....

Cross all the fingers and toes you have..
 
All crossed .... It's making it hard to do things though. Have you ever tried to plaster a wall with your fingers, legs.toes and eyes crossed ?! It's a bit of a B*gger :-)07

Go Pepper !
 
Ok,

Well Pepper is improving!

She is bright eyed when I bring her out of her box (morning, afternoon & night).

This afternoon and tonight she even pecked at some cat food quite enthusiastically, I still have to support her head somewhat but she is using muscles in her neck to look around and trying to hold herself up....I reckon all those crossed fingers and toes are working for us!

Thanks guys, you've been amazing...no one understands why I'm doing all of this for a chicken....you do though

xxx
 
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