Chicken bald back

[art12345]

Hi All

I have a silkie who is 15 weeks old and currently living with her sister in our downstaires toilet whilst we have the cold weather. She seems very quiet to me with her head under her wing a lot of the time. She has a bit of a cold with the odd sneeze and snot bubble which I have been treating with Tylan in the water from her breeder and syringing her a bit twice a day. I have made her some pellet mash with a few meal worms which she liked but she does seem right. She also has quite watery poos almost like small normal poos in a liquid solution sorry.

Is there anything else i can do to help her improve? Any advice greatfully recieved im quite worried about her.

[Daphne]

How long have you been giving her Tylan? It can take 2 courses (ie 10-14 days) sometimes to work. She's at quite a vulnerable age, so I'd keep keeping her warm, make sure she takes liquid as you're doing by syringe if necessary and liquidy food (eg sloppy pellet porridge, grapes etc). If she doesn't perk up I'd take her to the vet and perhaps ask for the type of Tylan (or Baytril which is similar but which is often given as a first general purpose antibiotic) which is given via syringe - you know she's getting the correct dose (ie enough) then.

Forgot to say - your chooks look lovely, what an attractive mixture you have!

[art12345]

Thanks for your advice she has been on tylan for a week now so mayby it just needs a bit longer. Shes currently sleeping on a hot water bottle so must need the warmth. If shes not right after tomorrow ill take her to the vet

[chelsea]

Sorry to hear she is still poorly.

 

I would advise taking her to the vet and asking for some Baytril - we have found it's a bit more potent than Tylan and seems to clear things up quicker.

 

Hope she perks up soon.

[art12345]

She seems a little better this morning has eaten some more chicken porrage and isnt sitting on the hot water bottle. Will see how she goes today and decide in the morning whether to take her to the vet.

Ive moved her and her sister onto a broody cage as i needed to clean out the bathroom properly. Its a 24inch one done you think its ok for them to stay in that for a few weeks until the weather is better. Ill let them out and out a couple of times a day. Or is it too small?

In the meantime im stressed out with 5 chickens in and out the big house outside(they are much older)with a snuggy safe just incase and labrador on lone from inlaws who are on holiday in larazote and a stressed husband who cant start his tracter.

[Egluntyne]

I would take her to the vet. Tylan might not be the appropriate antibiotic.

[art12345]

Thanks for the advice, she seemed to be getting better but this morning i noticed her sister didnt seem well again and i could hear her breathing. So i popped them both over to the Vets. It appears they have a type of myoplasm (is that right) and they have both had an injection and have more medicine for their water.

 

The vet told us to steam them twice a day to help relieve the snots So we have had them in a dog cage perched on chairs above a morphy richards veg steamer I didnt imagine that would be something i would ever do but i guess it makes sense.

 

They have watery poos and dont seem to be eating much although i have made them some pellet porrage and mixed in a few meeley worms and bits of corn they havent reallly touched it today. Any other suggestions for encouraging them to eat?

[Tutti Frutti]

Our Penny had suspected mycoplasma - sorry to hear your girls seem to have it as well.

 

We encouraged Penny to eat little and often. She loved tomatoes and spaghetti so, to kickstart her appetite, I used to give her those. Also, I thought it was better she ate SOMETHING than nothing at all, although tomatoes have no nutritional value for her. She loved mealworms too and used to eat them like crisps!!! I then moved to making a soup of pellets, tomatoes and mealworms, gradually cutting down the tomatoes.

 

I tried all sorts of other things for high calories (her weight had dropped) but she didn't like much of it - tuna, marmite on brown toast, probiotic yogurt, grapes etc.

 

I hope that helps a little and that your girls relish something on the list! Good luck, you seem to have a couple of little fighters there!

 

Oh, we put Olbas oil in cups dotted around the room to help with her breathing and it did seem to help but needed heating often. We also smeared Vicks Vapour Rub on things outside of her reach (eg outside of the pet carrier) and that worked well.

[Daphne]

Mycoplasma is quite common - its a respiratory disease so I would think if possible it would be best to keep your girls separate from one another as well as the rest of the flock to prevent reinfection, but if thats impossible don't worry.

 

Carry on keeping them comfortable, as Tutti Frutti says just keep trying anything and everything till you hit on something they like to eat. Being on antibiotics/ill does suppress the appetite however so they probably won't eat much. Getting liquid into them is also key, so I offer wet food - sloppy pellet porridge with added goodies, wet mash and I've had success with wet weetabix with goodies; handfeed if necessary and use a syringe to get water into them if necessary.

 

All you can do is keep an eye on them. The injection will get to work fast, the water-bourne ABs are acting as an ongoing 'top-up' if you like, to try to see off the infection. Myco is very treatable, but I should warn you in bad cases it can be fatal - however usually only if the bird is carrying another illness/weakness. This is why you need to monitor them carefully. It can take a while to shift.

[art12345]

Thanks for all the helpful tips i will keep trying different things for them and ignore my helpful husband who keeps telling my they will eat when they are hungrey.

 

Both are much the same today still very snotty but when i steam hthem you can see the snotts drip out so it must be doing some good. Im keeping a good eye on them every 5 secs and am dreading monday when i am back teaching and out of the house all day. Might persuade mum to llok in on them