Light Silkie-help

[jimred]

Went to dust one of my silkies last night and noticed she was very light and very Little in her crop(normally bulging in the evening).
This morning i notice she had the runs, i think shes had them for a while but i didn't know which one it was. she not eating much this morning but still walking round the garden.

I lost a silkie last week we found her collapsed,after a week of care and baytril the vet put her to sleep, both hens were in poor health when we collected them 18 months ago.

what could be wrong with them and will it effect my other girls?

I'm off to the vets tonight any suggestion i could pass on to the vet, still trying to find a vet who knows something about chickens!

[RichmondHens]

Are they due for worming? Diarrhoea can be a sign of worms. However, I suspect that since the other one was poorly this one is likely to go the same way. If she seems very weak I would separate her from the others and keep her warm and quiet. Encourage her to eat by offering protein treats such as mealworms or hard boiled egg. Fresh garlic in the drinking water may also help.

Good luck.

[jimred]

They were all wormed with Flubenvet in June, i don't think its that, is there some sort of disease that causes weight loss, its only the two silkies from the same batch that were/are sick.
See what the vet says tonight.
Thanks

Are they due for worming? Diarrhoea can be a sign of worms. However, I suspect that since the other one was poorly this one is likely to go the same way. If she seems very weak I would separate her from the others and keep her warm and quiet. Encourage her to eat by offering protein treats such as mealworms or hard boiled egg. Fresh garlic in the drinking water may also help.

Good luck.

[Suechooks]

Silkies are prone to Mareks disease. It has so many manifestations that it could be that. It can be contracted early in life and only show in the form of tumours later on so the weight loss and diarrhoea could be symptoms of that. If they've been poor "doers" for sometime it could be that. Sorry - hope the vet can help.

[petal]

Agree with suechooks. they are very prone to mareks, we are lucky that we have not had that yet- the parents of our stock come from a line that has been mareks free for several generations. Certain birds have a developed immunity. nonetheless we are going to vaccinate all stock against it in the spring.

[jimred]

Well be to the vet (before reading your posts) he reckons that Flubenvet isnt 100% effective with all types of worms and suggest that we use alternative which i'm going to collect tomorrow, will let you know the name of it.
I think you folks are correct after reading up on mareks and the little girls hasn't got long to go but will give the wormer a go, just in case.

I have two other Silkies and other girlie's, do you think they will OK?, they all free range in the garden all day but roost up toghther.
Thanks

[Suechooks]

Hope the vet is right - would be interested to know what worms Flubenvet isn't effective against and also what he considers to be an appropriate alternative. If its Harkemectin/Ivermectin you need to have a period of egg withdrawal - I think its a week. In fact I think most other wormers have an egg withdrawal period.
As far as your other hens go I think unfortunately its a matter of wait and see now. I lost 2 Cream Legbars with it last year and suspect I'm seeing the aftermath now having lost a relatively young hen with tumours this year plus one who has stopped laying and another who has gone very unsteady on her legs. I've kept the group as a closed flock since I lost the Legbars other than hatching chicks under unaffected birds. I have 4 Silkies in this flock who so far have been unaffected so am hoping they've developed immunity to it now.

[RichmondHens]

Interesting about the Flubenvet. Victoria Roberts reckons it's effective against all the common poultry worms including gapeworm which I like to be sure of eradicating as we live in an intensive game rearing area (pheasants and partridges every which way I turn at the moment) who are prone to gapeworm and get in my chicken enclosures all the time - grrr. Do let us know what he prescribes.

[jimred]

I think its Sulfamethazine that the vets prescribed but i cant read his writing nor could the nurse,his prescribed tablets not the solution, complete waste of time

[Suechooks]

Isn't that an antibiotic? It should be printed on the bottle label. Not sure how effective it'll be against worms but might help if she has some sort of infection. If you want to try it you could crush the tablet and give her a dose in some sort of soft food.

[Scarlet]

I think it may be a treatment for coccidiosis?

[jimred]

i cant read the writing the tablets have been repackage, looking on the Internet the tablets are for coccidiosis but i will check with the vet next week, perhaps i have read it wrong but it does start with Sulfa............ something!

Isn't that an antibiotic? It should be printed on the bottle label. Not sure how effective it'll be against worms but might help if she has some sort of infection. If you want to try it you could crush the tablet and give her a dose in some sort of soft food.

[RichmondHens]

If the vet thinks it is coccidiosis then you should be dosing all the chickens, not just the poorly Silkie. As you say, check with the vet exactly what he thinks it is and what he has prescribed. Incidentally if it is coccidiosis you can get Coxoid on the internet without a prescription. It is a liquid you add to the drinking water. Can't believe your vet gave you tablets for a chicken, unless he meant you to dissolve them in water, maybe?

[jimred]

i always kept a bottle of Coxoid on the shelf just in case since i started keeping chicken.

If the vet thinks it is coccidiosis then you should be dosing all the chickens, not just the poorly Silkie. As you say, check with the vet exactly what he thinks it is and what he has prescribed. Incidentally if it is coccidiosis you can get Coxoid on the internet without a prescription. It is a liquid you add to the drinking water. Can't believe your vet gave you tablets for a chicken, unless he meant you to dissolve them in water, maybe?

[jessmorris]

..back to the Flubenvet and 'all worms treated' question...coincidentally I just read about this in a smallholder mag today. Victoria Roberts said that Flubenvet at the rate recommended (in the 60g tub) will kill all worms except tapeworm. To kill these you need to up the rate ie give the powder to 15 hens instead of 20, or perhaps in 15kg of food rather than 20kg, but then there is an egg withdrawal period. I can look for the article if anyone's interested....
I'm sending some poo samples off for a worm count this week (the girls not mine) - thought it might be a good way of getting my girls assessed generally.