winglesschicken
Chirping
- Jul 23, 2019
- 41
- 54
- 69
(This chicken was a hen, just wanted to let you all know)
He actually died while I was writing a post about his condition. I'll describe what I can remember here.
I began noticing his abnormal behavior yesterday. He began acting quite sticky, lagging behind his flock and not foraging like they were. He would try to stay with them, but he would always just puff out his feathers, keep his neck tucked in his feathers, and his eyes would be closed. He also didn't follow me around when I brought my chicks some snacks, which is unusual because he was usually very curious about what I had. So I brought him inside and put him on a heating pad. He laid down and seemed to be enjoying the warmth of it. After a couple of hours, he perked back up so I put him back outside, although looking back I probably shouldn't have.
This morning when I woke up he was acting the same, except wobbly and unstable this time. So I once again brought him inside and put him on a heating pad. His neck seemed really raw and flaky so I put some coconut oil on it. His neck always seemed much rawer than my other turkens. The others needed some moisturization as little chicks, but they eventually didn't need it anymore. He, however, has always needed extra help. He also had these two reddish stripes running down his neck. About 30 minutes later, I noticed him beginning to open his mouth whenever he'd breathe in. So I came over to my desk and I started writing up his symptoms. About 15 minutes later, he was full-on gasping for breath, now standing up because I'd moved him because he pooped, and he just never sat down after that. Then, he began walking towards me. So I went over and put him back on his towel. He did it again, after I'd sat back down. So I just brought him over to my desk with me, sitting him on my lap.
He then began convulsing (while in my lap). Tossing his neck around rapidly, flapping his wings and pushing against me, hopping around like he was trying to get away from something. I was freaking out, too. I set him down on his towel and he just began flopping around. He would fly up in the air only to fall on his side or back and continue squirming around. After I realized he wasn't just trying to get away from me and he was convulsing of some sort, I picked him up so he wouldn't hurt himself further. After that, he became limp. So I laid him down and he gasped a few times, with his tongue very visible and on the roof of his mouth, and then he passed. I don't know how long his convulsion lasted until he passed, but I'd say under 5 minutes.
He'd been eating and drinking that morning and the morning before. His poop was yellow-tinted and would come out in various states. Sometimes a regular looking one, sometimes diarrhea, and sometimes just little wet dots. His crop seemed to be regular. Although it was mushier than usual so I'd massage it a little bit. It just felt a little off, but nothing too abnormal I feel.
I'd also like to add that he would sit back on his legs. Like everything, down from his patella would be before him and his weight would be on his knees/patella. I watched him sit up like that and clean his feathers. Whenever the heating pad wasn't warmed up completely he'd sit like that with his head nestled in his feathers. Really weird to see. None of my chickens have ever done that before. I don't have any pictures of him sitting like this.
Does anyone know what happened to him? Did he have gapeworm? A heart attack? Heart failure?
He actually died while I was writing a post about his condition. I'll describe what I can remember here.
I began noticing his abnormal behavior yesterday. He began acting quite sticky, lagging behind his flock and not foraging like they were. He would try to stay with them, but he would always just puff out his feathers, keep his neck tucked in his feathers, and his eyes would be closed. He also didn't follow me around when I brought my chicks some snacks, which is unusual because he was usually very curious about what I had. So I brought him inside and put him on a heating pad. He laid down and seemed to be enjoying the warmth of it. After a couple of hours, he perked back up so I put him back outside, although looking back I probably shouldn't have.
This morning when I woke up he was acting the same, except wobbly and unstable this time. So I once again brought him inside and put him on a heating pad. His neck seemed really raw and flaky so I put some coconut oil on it. His neck always seemed much rawer than my other turkens. The others needed some moisturization as little chicks, but they eventually didn't need it anymore. He, however, has always needed extra help. He also had these two reddish stripes running down his neck. About 30 minutes later, I noticed him beginning to open his mouth whenever he'd breathe in. So I came over to my desk and I started writing up his symptoms. About 15 minutes later, he was full-on gasping for breath, now standing up because I'd moved him because he pooped, and he just never sat down after that. Then, he began walking towards me. So I went over and put him back on his towel. He did it again, after I'd sat back down. So I just brought him over to my desk with me, sitting him on my lap.
He then began convulsing (while in my lap). Tossing his neck around rapidly, flapping his wings and pushing against me, hopping around like he was trying to get away from something. I was freaking out, too. I set him down on his towel and he just began flopping around. He would fly up in the air only to fall on his side or back and continue squirming around. After I realized he wasn't just trying to get away from me and he was convulsing of some sort, I picked him up so he wouldn't hurt himself further. After that, he became limp. So I laid him down and he gasped a few times, with his tongue very visible and on the roof of his mouth, and then he passed. I don't know how long his convulsion lasted until he passed, but I'd say under 5 minutes.
He'd been eating and drinking that morning and the morning before. His poop was yellow-tinted and would come out in various states. Sometimes a regular looking one, sometimes diarrhea, and sometimes just little wet dots. His crop seemed to be regular. Although it was mushier than usual so I'd massage it a little bit. It just felt a little off, but nothing too abnormal I feel.
I'd also like to add that he would sit back on his legs. Like everything, down from his patella would be before him and his weight would be on his knees/patella. I watched him sit up like that and clean his feathers. Whenever the heating pad wasn't warmed up completely he'd sit like that with his head nestled in his feathers. Really weird to see. None of my chickens have ever done that before. I don't have any pictures of him sitting like this.
Does anyone know what happened to him? Did he have gapeworm? A heart attack? Heart failure?
