We have just adopted a chicken on Saturday and already on the way home I thought she was acting weird. It turns out she is very sick - we are hoping she has meningitis (the alternative is much worse and untreatable) as well as lice and a sore on her foot.
She is still very young (just 1 year old), really interested in every little thing she sees, and super sweet. I’m really hoping she will pull through.
Our other chickens have all gotten names that are respectful of the Queens of Dinosaurs they fashion themselves to be - we’ve had Athena, Dís, Clio, Bartholomeus “Bart”, Perle, and now Julia and Elizabeth.
If it matters at all, she is a tiny little bird, with black and golden feathers.
It would be perfect if the name wished her some luck with these health issues she’s having (but if not that’s also okay). We’re looking for something classic, and fierce but soft.
Looking forward to see what you come up with!! Thanks in advance and I’ll keep you updated on her well-being <3
[name_f]Heloise[/name_f] - meaning ‘healthy, wide’ - a wish for her future
[name_f]Helena[/name_f] - for its connotations of regal beauty
[name_f]Alcina[/name_f] - Greek, meaning ‘strong-willed’.
Caligula ([name_f]Callie[/name_f])
[name_f]Diana[/name_f] ([name_f]Anna[/name_f])
[name_f]Marceline[/name_f] ([name_f]Marcy[/name_f]) ‘little warrior’
Thank you all!
Our little chicken is still the same, which is neither good or particularly bad. We’ve contacted a super-specialist, as even specialists here know very little about chickens past what their produce would be worth (as investing more in them would be seen as uneconomical)
We’ll take these in the running and see which one sticks:
[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] - [name_f]Trixie[/name_f]
[name_f]Victoria[/name_f]
[name_f]Mathilde[/name_f]
[name_f]Heloise[/name_f]
[name_f]Myrcella[/name_f]
We also like [name_f]Fiona[/name_f], although it doesn’t have a particularly fitting meaning.
She could have Marek’s disease, a supervirus coming from the animal industry, with a mortality of (up to, but often) 100% and no treatment options.
The antibiotics we tried didn’t help her, so it’s either Marek’s or just random neurological issues. The symptoms she has aren’t conclusive. We’ll have to see if she degenerates.
I shouldn’t be the one to tell you to do with your pet, the decision is yours in the end. But IF she does have Marek’s, that sounds like an awful thing for a living being to endure. Have you considered putting her down? I know I wouldn’t want to live if I was that chicken.
Allow me to get one thing clear though: I don’t value human lives more than any other species. A life is a life. A chicken is equal to a bug which is equal to a dog which is equal to an elephant. It’s one life.
Yes, if she has Marek’s that’s really the only way forward unfortunately, as the chances of recovery are slim to none, and the quality of life isn’t chick-worthy, and it is also contagious for other young chickens.
Marek’s usually presents as paralysis on one side, it has a typical “Marek’s claw” foot position, chicks end up in a very typical “splits”, or it can present as difficulty breathing, depending on the strain it can discolor the eye. Our girl has none of these things, but she does have neurological symptoms (she has spasms that sometimes make her tip over) that would be very uncommon for Marek’s to the point that I’ve not seen them mentioned as symptoms once reading up, but any neurological symptoms can be Marek’s according to our vet.
We’ve treated her with antibiotics for possible meningitis, that so far haven’t done anything. It could be something “simple” like brain damage from a fall or other trauma as well.
She doesn’t seem to be in any pain from or during the spasms (she even continues to eat during them), and so far continues to exhibit normal chicken behavior including scratching, flying, sunbathing, grooming, stretching, pecking.
I’ve reached out to the nation’s leading chicken expert to see if we can’t get a CPR test for Marek’s (they seem to exist) and to see what would be the best way forward. Best case scenario is he knows exactly what she has and how to treat it. Second best case scenario is we can at least find out if she has Marek’s or no. If she has Marek’s we’ll have to let her go. If she doesn’t have Marek’s, is basically simply disabled, and continues to behave like a happy chicken that just happens to fall over sometimes, we might want to give her a shot with the rest of the flock and see how she keeps up.
