Chick struggling to walk (video&pics)

[chickachickayea]

Prada, my 3 month old CCL, is struggling to walk, and I'm not quite sure if it's a slipped tendon, sprain or something else... X-posted this to the FB forum last night with not much response, hoping to have better luck here...

She was on chick starter when I got her in April until I moved them onto Flock-raiser crumbles around May/June. I started her on nutridrench yesterday for a vitamin boost. She is eating/drinking/preening fine. No other flock members show any ill symptoms. You can see her hobble in the video. She does have mobility in both legs and toes, but she'll try to walk and her leg will buckle under. The redness is from resting on her hocks, I'm sure.

TIA, any help is greatly appreciated!

Edited to add the correct video.. -_-

 

[rebrascora]

Sadly that is almost certainly Marek's disease. Her age and breed (CCL seem to be one of the more susceptible breeds) and the wobbly nature of her disability and the fact that she is eating and drinking and preening and otherwise looks fine (apart from perhaps her eye in that last photo) all point to it being Marek's. A good quality vitamin supplement will help to support her immune system and perhaps a probiotic or fermented feed to support her digestive tract and a safe place to hang out, because if the flock turn on her as they often can, the stress of it will make her condition significantly worse. Keeping her happy and comfortable and well fed will be your best hope of her fighting it. I have found being put out on grass near the pen with the other chickens, but in a large cage with her own food and water and shelter but able to eat grass has been beneficial. Whilst it is at least 3 weeks since she was exposed to and infected by the virus and the likelihood is that your whole flock was exposed at the same time, she will be shedding more virus into the environment whilst she is symptomatic, so you have to weigh her welfare against that of the flock, because she will be increasing their exposure and whilst some will be resistant to the disease others may be susceptible but have just not been infected yet. It occurs via the inhalation of minute particles of infected dander dust and then has a minimum 3 week period where no symptoms will be seen but it can be as long as months or even over a year in that dormant phase. Outbreak of symptoms are usually triggered by stress and what stresses one bird may not stress another, so not all birds will get symptoms at the same time.
She may benefit from spending at least some time in a chicken sling which can be made quite simply with everyday items....see below

It is important to ensure that the height is adjusted so that their feet can just touch the ground but their weight is supported. A 3rd hole can be cut under their vent to allow poop to drop through and feed and water cups clipped to the front of the box within reach of the bird, again adjusting the fabric back or forward to enable comfortable access to it.

Of course it may not be Marek's but it is by far the commonest cause of such leg weakness in birds of that age and is an extremely widespread virus that is incredibly easy to spread..... it can be carried on clothes and shoes and hair and skin as well as chickens that may show no symptoms even after quarantine and can even travel on the wind or be on the land when you move in or come with second hand coops etc. It is actually so common, you might consider yourself lucky not to have it in your flock.

 

[chickachickayea]

Sadly that is almost certainly Marek's disease. Her age and breed (CCL seem to be one of the more susceptible breeds) and the wobbly nature of her disability and the fact that she is eating and drinking and preening and otherwise looks fine (apart from perhaps her eye in that last photo) all point to it being Marek's. A good quality vitamin supplement will help to support her immune system and perhaps a probiotic or fermented feed to support her digestive tract and a safe place to hang out, because if the flock turn on her as they often can, the stress of it will make her condition significantly worse. Keeping her happy and comfortable and well fed will be your best hope of her fighting it. I have found being put out on grass near the pen with the other chickens, but in a large cage with her own food and water and shelter but able to eat grass has been beneficial. Whilst it is at least 3 weeks since she was exposed to and infected by the virus and the likelihood is that your whole flock was exposed at the same time, she will be shedding more virus into the environment whilst she is symptomatic, so you have to weigh her welfare against that of the flock, because she will be increasing their exposure and whilst some will be resistant to the disease others may be susceptible but have just not been infected yet. It occurs via the inhalation of minute particles of infected dander dust and then has a minimum 3 week period where no symptoms will be seen but it can be as long as months or even over a year in that dormant phase. Outbreak of symptoms are usually triggered by stress and what stresses one bird may not stress another, so not all birds will get symptoms at the same time.
She may benefit from spending at least some time in a chicken sling which can be made quite simply with everyday items....see below
View attachment 1460000 It is important to ensure that the height is adjusted so that their feet can just touch the ground but their weight is supported. A 3rd hole can be cut under their vent to allow poop to drop through and feed and water cups clipped to the front of the box within reach of the bird, again adjusting the fabric back or forward to enable comfortable access to it.

Of course it may not be Marek's but it is by far the commonest cause of such leg weakness in birds of that age and is an extremely widespread virus that is incredibly easy to spread..... it can be carried on clothes and shoes and hair and skin as well as chickens that may show no symptoms even after quarantine and can even travel on the wind or be on the land when you move in or come with second hand coops etc. It is actually so common, you might consider yourself lucky not to have it in your flock.

Thank you for your response. I was really hoping it wasn't the big scary M word... We are up on a hill above a valley with plenty of wind, birds and an unfortunate frustrating battle with rat(s) for the past few weeks...

I have her along with 4 chick-mates in a coop sectioned off in my mature flocks (3 hens 1 rooster) run for integration purposes, so naturally I'm worried about the health of the others... At this point it seems futile to separate/quarantine if it is in fact Marek's. I do have 2 dog crates I could house her in if I need to.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I started her on nutridrench yesterday for a vitamin boost

I'm sorry to hear about your pullet.

I agree with @rebrascora that she may be suffering from Marek's. Here's a great article that you may want to read http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

If it is Marek's, supportive care is important. Poultry Nutri-Drench is a good product, but it does not contain many of the B vitamins, especially B2(Riboflavin) which are essential to leg health. Take a look at Rooster Booster Poultry Cell or you can use human B-Complex vitamins. For her age, I would give 1/2tablet daily.

 

[chickachickayea]

I'm sorry to hear about your pullet.

I agree with @rebrascora that she may be suffering from Marek's. Here's a great article that you may want to read http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

If it is Marek's, supportive care is important. Poultry Nutri-Drench is a good product, but it does not contain many of the B vitamins, especially B2(Riboflavin) which are essential to leg health. Take a look at Rooster Booster Poultry Cell or you can use human B-Complex vitamins. For her age, I would give 1/2tablet daily.

Thank you. Nutri-drench is what I had on hand last night. I am at TSC right now and they only have Rooster Booster Vitamins & Electrolytes w/Lacto Bacillus and Durvet Vitamins & Electrolytes.

 

[rebrascora]

I would go for the Rooster Booster as the probiotics will help her too.

 

[chickachickayea]

I would go for the Rooster Booster as the probiotics will help her too.

I just got home with the Rooster Booster purchased.

Should she be separated? At this point, my flock has most likely already been exposed, I'm coming to terms with that. Other than close monitoring, what would be the point of separation? Doing the buddy system quarantine doesn't work too well with this I'm afraid.

 

[rebrascora]

If you separate her, she will probably become depressed over time and that will make her worse. If you keep her with them, she is continuing to shed the virus and increase the remaining flock's exposure to it and also increase the reservoir of infected material that will be building up in the flock's environment. I have always supported symptomatic birds within the flock wherever possible to give them the best chance of survival but it might be more prudent to isolate. Only you can make that call. I have one of the milder strains so I do get a decent percentage of birds survive even sometimes after weeks or months of supportive care, so keeping them in contact with the flock, even if they are in a cage, means that there is no real reintegration stress which of course would be likely to trigger a further outbreak, since stress is big factor in outbreaks occurring. I would offer her nutritious treats like scrambled egg and little slivers of raw liver or a bit of fish every couple of days to keep her interest in food and try to encourage her to move a short distance towards a treat each day, but outside of the pen so that she is not competing with the other birds or getting hassled by them. I have found that some birds have been able to re-coordinate their limbs over a period of weeks of such therapy, starting with just a few feet and slowly increasing the distance. It is important that they are allowed to figure it out themselves without any pressure or help. I had one that was nest bound for almost 2 months but eventually got back to free ranging with the flock. It was pretty ugly watching her crawl along the ground mostly using her wings, but her will to live and fight was strong and with such therapy as I have described she eventually regained significant if not quite full coordination of her legs and could roost on the highest bar at 6ft and would come flying when I called her and that was the second outbreak of the disease that she beat. Her first one caused her to be stricken for about 2 days with the classic Marek's splits before she made a complete recovery.

 

[chickachickayea]

If you separate her, she will probably become depressed over time and that will make her worse. If you keep her with them, she is continuing to shed the virus and increase the remaining flock's exposure to it and also increase the reservoir of infected material that will be building up in the flock's environment. I have always supported symptomatic birds within the flock wherever possible to give them the best chance of survival but it might be more prudent to isolate. Only you can make that call. I have one of the milder strains so I do get a decent percentage of birds survive even sometimes after weeks or months of supportive care, so keeping them in contact with the flock, even if they are in a cage, means that there is no real reintegration stress which of course would be likely to trigger a further outbreak, since stress is big factor in outbreaks occurring. I would offer her nutritious treats like scrambled egg and little slivers of raw liver or a bit of fish every couple of days to keep her interest in food and try to encourage her to move a short distance towards a treat each day, but outside of the pen so that she is not competing with the other birds or getting hassled by them. I have found that some birds have been able to re-coordinate their limbs over a period of weeks of such therapy, starting with just a few feet and slowly increasing the distance. It is important that they are allowed to figure it out themselves without any pressure or help. I had one that was nest bound for almost 2 months but eventually got back to free ranging with the flock. It was pretty ugly watching her crawl along the ground mostly using her wings, but her will to live and fight was strong and with such therapy as I have described she eventually regained significant if not quite full coordination of her legs and could roost on the highest bar at 6ft and would come flying when I called her and that was the second outbreak of the disease that she beat. Her first one caused her to be stricken for about 2 days with the classic Marek's splits before she made a complete recovery.

Thank you for being so thorough. My fiancée is debating culling her. I need to think things over.

 

[rebrascora]

There are no right or wrong answers to this difficult situation. Just what feels right in your circumstances. I wish you luck!