Chicken falling head-first. Can't stand.

[littlechick2000]

Woodie, my Spangled Orlaff, could not stand when we went outside earlier to clear their water off since the water has been frozen. She was sitting under the ramp to the coop and when we went to get her she fell over head-first.

None of the other chickens are acting this way, and I have a total of 24 chickens, six of which shared a pen with her (4 Cochins and 1 Orlaff). I have a total of 4 Orlaff, two of which have heath issues (a bad leg, and a feather condition on the face), but Woodie was the healthiest seeming one out of all of them. I do not keep them locked in the coop all the time, so she could have gotten into something but they hadn't been out in a few days.

Recently we brought three new cats home, all of which were very friendly, but they did have worms. We treated the cat's worms right away, but I haven't treated the chickens since.

Woodie is being active still, in fact she tried to run from me when I tried to give her a snack. She ignored the grape (small and cut up) though.

So far we've given her less than one milliliter of Nutri-drench, and a few drops of water, but I'm unsure of what to do next.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What type of food/treats do you feed?

Check her over for lice/mites, check the crop to make sure it's emptying properly. See if she will drink for you - get her hydrated first, then offer a little food.
Poultry Nutri-Drench is good, you can direct dose her with 1cc per 3lbs of weight for a few days.

With chickens, sometimes it's a process of elimination and looking at symptoms. If you have a vet that can see her or perform a fecal float that is always best.

 

[littlechick2000]

We don't have a vet that sees chickens out where we live. I give them all mixed-flock crumbles and scratch (even though they don't need the scratch since they go out). I've never heard of a fecal float though

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We don't have a vet that sees chickens out where we live. I give them all mixed-flock crumbles and scratch (even though they don't need the scratch since they go out). I've never heard of a fecal float though

A fecal float would be used to test for worms and coccidiosis overload.

Falling forward/balance issues can be also be neurological - Marek's disease comes to mind, but without testing or more symptoms it would be hard to know.

Getting extra vitamins into her, seeing that she is drinking well and eating, check for lice/mites, check crop function, etc. is sometimes the basics. I would monitor her for several days to see if there is a pattern in symptoms or behavior.

 

[littlechick2000]

She's eating normally and we've been forcing water into her when we can. No one is home for most of the day so I'm not sure if she's been drinking on her own. The only fresh droppings I've seen from her have been a bit runny

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do the best you can to keep her drinking. It's good that she is eating, you may be able to entice her with some wet feed to get more fluids into her.

Is her crop emptying overnight?

 

[littlechick2000]

Yes she is eating, drinking, pooping, and her crop is emptying fine

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is she still having balance issues?

Balance problems can be from a number of things - injury, vitamin/nutritional deficiency, reproductive disorders, parasites, infection and disease like Marek's. If you can take a fecal sample to your vet to rule out parasites, that would be good.

If it's due to disease and reproductive disorders, there's not a lot that can be done but give supportive care. Keep her warm, hydrated, see that she is eating/drinking. Sometimes extra protein along with Vitamin E and B vitamins will be beneficial as well.

 

[littlechick2000]

Thank you. I've had chickens get sick similar to how she is now except they've all gotten better quicker than this and they had obvious problems

 

[littlechick2000]

Woodie can stand up today and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to put her back with her flock. Since it's Saturday, I would be able to watch over her