Difficulty Walking. Long post. Please help.

[sarahschickens4]

Hi everyone. Needing some advice!! I have a 13 week old chicken. She hasn't been right since she was bought was young. When she was little I noticed when she would stretch she would fall over. This eventually went away and I thought she was maybe like a "runt" she eventually for the most part caught up to the other birds. She has been having an issue with her ears. Which made me wonder if she has had something wrong with them since she was young and that caused her balance issues. I just treated for an infection with antibiotic. After about 10 days on medicine she went back into the coop. The next morning I found her laying in the ground not moving. She looked like she had a small wound on her wing. I assumed maybe the other girls picked on her. I took her back in and cleaned her up. As the day progressed she has had more and more difficulties walking. She is now just laying there. She tried to get up and falls. She's still eating and drinking. I thought this was maybe an injury, but am getting concerned about Mereks disease. Anyone have any advice on what symptoms I should be looking for? Today, I have not seen her even try to stand up. Her legs look fine. There is a small scabbed area to the tip of one wing. Or could this be from an ear infection? If so, any advice on what antibiotic to use? She was already on oxytetracycline. Sorry this post is so long! Any help would be appreciated to point me in the right direction on how to help her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Mareks can show up around this age, but many other things should be ruled out first. Giving vitamins and some probiotic plain yogurt can sometimes help if there is a deficiency or immunity problem. Make sure that she gets plenty to eat and drink by placing her in a crate with food and water for part of the day. Offer some chopped egg or tuna for treats. A low pecking order chicken can experience bullying, so rule out dehydration or weakness due to nutrition and coccidiosis. Cocci has been known to cause leg weakness. Here are some good articles to read about Mareks that include several lookalike diseases:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf

 

[sarahschickens4]

She has seemed to worsen a little today. Yesterday she was able to stand up for a second. Today, she hasn't tried at all. She isn't eating or drinking this afternoon either... Even when I give her a treat she loves.

Thank you for the links and the reply.