Hen not able to stand or walk. Help!

[BackyardBuffys]

Hello, I'm hoping to get some help for my 4 year old orpington hen. I'm going to just share as much as I can because I've read so many things and have no idea what could be wrong with her.

Over the past few days, I've noticed her unable to support her weight to even stand. It started with walking, stopping to scratch around, and then sitting, almost like she wanted to lay an egg. Since then, she has progressively gotten worse and is now unable to stand.

She seems to have lost some weight, and has a very pale comb. When I try to get her to stand, it's like her feet won't stay flat or she's having a hard time controlling her legs. She's laying on her side now, but when trying to get her to stand she falls back and sits on her butt, pushing her legs out. I've attached a picture to show that. She also does not seem to be in pain.

She has an appetite and is eating lots, but her crop seems full and emptying very slowly. I was concerned she was not drinking, so I've been giving her water with Rooster Boost Vitamins in a dropper.

Poop is normal, no signs of broken eggs. She went through her molt, and has not been laying since. I was thinking she was low on vitamins and/or dehydrated, but not sure. Also read about Mareks, but I don't think it's that.

Any help or suggestions would be great! Just trying to get her healthy.

 

[nuthatched]

What's her diet?

 

[BackyardBuffys]

She has normal 16% pellets, just like the others. Scratch every few dew days, access to oyster shell. We also have been giving them broccoli lately since we had extra.

Edit: forgot to mention right now she's more interested in the scratch and meal worms and not eating the pellets. Also been giving here a little yogurt with oats.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks usually shows up in chickens under a year of age, unless they have been recently exposed by a new flock member who is a carrier. Most likely she has a reproductive disorder or even cancer. Does she have any yellow urates in her normal droppings? Is her lower belly enlarged? Sometimes internal laying masses, infection, or a tumor can cause the digestion to slow down, and may even cause a crop disorder. Check her crop early morning to see if it is emptying. Those things can press on the sciatic nerves, causing lameness. Many times we cannot tell for sure what was wrong until a necropsy can be done at home or by the state vet. I would keep her comfortable, propping on towels or a chicken sling, and consider putting her down if she ever seems to be suffering.

 

[BackyardBuffys]

Droppings are a normal color, no yellow.

This morning her crop was still full, but really didn't show interest in food like she had been, even after offering treats.

We are going to see how today goes, but thinking we might need to put her down.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

One of my rooster is almost in the same condition as your hen...!!
He is a young Brahma - around one year old only...

He is not pale, but I don't know... he is whining sometimes, but I really don't know if he is hurting when he does, or if he is just so bothered by his weakened state he just wants to make it known...

He eats and drinks normally, and his droppings are also normal.
(But I can't tell if he has lost some weights, since, given he is a growing boy, I did not weight him yet.)

...He has had walking problems for some times now... but not for very long. Two-three weeks - maybe four...
Before that, only thing that could have alerted me : he had not wanted to sleep in his coop - an Eglu Cube - half the time since I have brought him home... maybe because he had to jump from the coop to get out, and he was hurting, and I was stupid and did not NOTICE? (I was persuaded sleeping outside was just his preference...!!)

Now, he is CONSTANTLY sitting on his legs.
He can not stand up straight anymore, and has so much difficulty walking he now steps back most of the time when he actually wants to move forward; and when he does, he looks like your hen on your pictures.

For my rooster, that is clearly NOT :
- Marek : symptoms do not correspond,
- lices and mites : he had NONE, and just in case, I have treated him when I noticed his walking problems,
- worms : he is dewormed,
- Vitamin deficiency : I gave him vitamins, including B, precisely as a preventive mesure,
- a wound on the head : he is gentle, is not interested to show dominance, so does not fight.

I think the cause of his problems is... a stroke!
And his symptoms, the aftermath...!
(I am NO expert, but it looks like that to me...)

I actually thought it could be a wound IN his back, at first, since the problem seems to be localized on the hips, and the big breeds (like Orpingtons and Brahmas) are renowned to be particularly at risk of such wounds...
But I have isolated him in a really small run connected to an Eglu Go in order to prevent him from worsening his condition by moving... and yet, it gets worse...
Hence the fact a stroke is more likely to me.

...To try to help him and keep him active (and so, alive), I give him wet cat food and/or yogurt... with curcumin, honey, egg yolk, olive oil... In addition to Premium Mix. Everyday, for these last days...
I also put baking soda in his waterer. 2,5 to 3 grams per liter of water...
(I can't tell you if it really helps or not. I would need more time to see if it works... But I am trying something at least, and my rooster likes what I give him to eat; so...)

As the days go by, he has more and more difficulties to enter in his coop to go to sleep : the Eglu Go is on the ground, but the door is actually certainly too small for a Brahma rooster that has such a condition to get inside...
I have to put him in his coop myself most of the time now... And today, I even had to get him out of the coop myself, for the first time!

So, to let him have a chance to survive, I am giving him away.
To a person who is more equipped than I am to ease the life of my rooster in his condition : indeed, my rooster clearly needs AT LEAST a plot of land very flat, and a coop with a big entrance... and my garden is not very flat, and all of my coops are Eglu - so the doors are not sufficiently big for my poor rooster...

I think he could heal, but I also think it could take SEVERAL MONTHS.

Good luck with your hen. Whatever is your choice...
(I would soooo not have the courage to put my rooster down...)

In the past, I have read about some people who used some kind of "wheelchairs" for their hens or roosters that have such a condition - in order to help them to support their weight, and so, to WALK normally...
You could try with your hen, maybe...?

 

[LuciferRoo]

@Palate, just an fyi. I would not discount injury from a fight, just because your rooster is gentle and does not display any interest in being dominant.
Roosters are jerks. Big jerks. They will attack such a rooster like a teenage bully attacks the weak kids.