16 week old otherwise healthy hen, sudden limp, new chicken owner, all help appreciated!

[Jdhite]

(I apologize for the lengthy post, but upon reading the "before posting an emergency/illness" thread, realized details are important. I appreciate all of your help in advance!)

Hey everyone! Been lurking here for a while, and can honestly say I've learned more from this forum then all my other sources combined. Anyway, I have a sick bird, details below:

-16 week old olive egger
-Purchased from local gentleman who brings in 1 day old chicks, then sales them at 6-8 weeks.
-waiting for response from him on if the chicks he brings in are vaccinated against Mareks, I'm guessing not.
-purchased as one of 5 birds from him, 2 of the chicks never grew from the day we brought them home (failure to thrive?) at 6 weeks. Both passed away.
-remaining three hens have been healthy up until now
-bird in question was fine one day, then when I was checking on the ln the following day (Tuesday sept 20th), she wouldn't put any weight in her left leg. Upon inspection there are no signs of bumble foot, trauma, mites, and leg seems to move without any issue.
-toes on affected leg curl when tucked under, however it's as if she had no control over them when she's trying to walk/stand
-currently on a medicated chick feed supplemented with poultry booster.
-currently quarantined away from other birds with easy access to food and water.

Now, I'm concerned it's Mareks, and while the idea of losing all three of these birds is difficult, I have another issue. I have 8, 6 week old chicks who were about to be introduced to the three 16 week old hens. 3 of the chicks are vaccinated, and 5 are not. If it is Mareks, I don't know what I'll do, short of building another coop (I have two, one from TSC which is too small for all of our girls once they mature, and one I built, with plenty of room for all of them an room to spare.) the problem is, the sick chicken has had access to both coops, and from what I've read, Mareks is nearly impossible to eradicate in the environment. I'm really at a loss, and all my local friends haven't dealt with this before. Any and all advice is so much appreciated!!

Justin
Piedmont of NC

 

[Jdhite]

ETA: I just noticed that she had a "lime green" poop. After searching, it seems this could be caused by parasites. Could that also cause total leg paralysis? Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Jdhite]

Any advice? Thank you in advance!!

 

[Jdhite]

And here's a recent poop picture....if this aids anyone in a possible cause/treatment. I look at the often cited "poop" post, but didn't find anything that stood out to me.

 

[Sussex19]

@Eggcessive and @Wyorp Rock might be able to help.

 

[Jdhite]

Thank you for the reply Sussex! Hoping @Eggcessive and @Wyorp Rock will chime in!

Justin

 

[Eggcessive]

A weak leg with curled under toes can be an early sign of Mareks disease in a pullet that age, or it could be from a leg injury that has affected the sciatic nerve. The yellowish dropping might be a sign of coccidiosis, but the normally white urates in the dropping look yellow. Yellow urates can be a sign of reproductive infection or ascites (water belly.) Is she eating and drinking? Can she reach her food and water? I would try some human vitamin B complex 1/2 tablet daily crushed into some food or a spoonful of water. Make sure the others are not pecking her, and she might be better off separated in a dog crate with food and water. If possible, post a picture of her tomorrow of how she looks.

 

[Jdhite]

Thank you @Eggcessive! She is currently separated and able to get to her food and water. Should I treat with corrid in her water? I'll pickup some B vitamins tomorrow (all I have on hand are injectables for large livestock). I'll snap a picture of her shortly!

 

[Jdhite]

@Eggcessive here are a few pictures. The leg that she isn't using/has ZERO resistance when I move it is her left. She's not moving her toes, etc. she hopped for a bit and laid down for the picture on the garage floor. She looks a little "wet" because I applied some poultry protector, to knock out a few mites/lice I saw on here earlier.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry to hear about your pullet.

You've had her around 10 weeks?
Have you ever treated for Coccidiosis?

She has lice/mites or no? Poultry Protector may kill the bugs when sprayed directly on them, but if she's got an infestation, then Permethrin dust may be better.
Treat the others and their housing too.

Any chance she ate something moldy, toxic, rotten, compost, maggots,etc?


I'd work on hydration. If there's any way to get a fecal float to see if Coccidiosis is part of the problem that would be good. Corid is the treatment, but there would be a contraindication with the B-Complex (specifically B1 Thiamine), so using a Sulfa Antibiotic may be a better choice. Again, getting that through a vet would be quicker than ordering it unless you have a feed store that carries something like that.