My 7 year old hen suddenly couldn't walk yesterday.

[FrankieSpitfire20]

Yesterday morning (London time) I went out to check on the hens water because temperatures were reaching around 30c, I found my eldest hen (7 years old) sitting on the floor and went to check on her only to notice that she couldn't stand. I brought her in the house and tried cooling her down thinking that maybe it was heat exhaustion as she is quite old and it was really hot. After sitting on a cooling pad I have for my dog and having a fan on her while feeding her water from a syringe every 15 minutes she began to eat and drink on her own but still wouldn't stand up. It has been about 24 hours now and she still can't walk, her poop was runny and yellow yesterday but today looks more solid after she ate more. The only thing that seems wrong with her is that she cant walk other than that she is perky, her comb is bright red and stood up and after looking her over is injury free. She is a 7 year old Warren and is lighter than usual and is thinner than the others. It has been about 24 hours since I found her and the other two hens seem fine. She has been drinking water and eating mushed up layers pellets (she hasn't been able to eat solid ones for a while as her sight is going and she fines the mush easier to pick up). She has been having one dose of metacam (oral suspension for cats) in the morning once yesterday and once today. I would prefer to help her myself but if a vet is necessary she is worth it. I will not look at putting her down as an option unless COMPLETELY necessary, she is a pet and family to me. She lives in an eglu cube with 2 other hens (one below capacity). We don't really sue bedding unless the weather has been really wet and the ground is mushy which it hasnt been since early February.

 

[azygous]

Treat her for heat stress. She has heat stress symptoms. Sugar water and electrolytes every hour until she improves. Try placing cool compresses under her wings pits. Lots of blood vessels there that can move the cooled blood to the rest of her body.

Of course this could also be end stages of an avian virus or cancer. Let's hope it's heat stress and she improves to go on living a long life.

 

[tip44]

FWIW I had a White Rock with similar issue, I think from Mareks. I put her in a sling with two holes cut for the legs inside a rubber tub, fastened the sling to the sides of the tub with large binder clamps. This let her stand up and not make a mess of herself. She seemed to like it better than laying in shavings. Took a month and she eventually started walking again, and still doing ok 2 years later.

 

[Weeg]

This may not be the case, but can you check for parasites? This like poultry lice and mites. Mites can suck blood and cause her loose energy, and turn pale. Is she missing any feathers, from feather plucking from mites?

 

[Sonya9]

It could be Mareks but if so something like an underlying illness triggered it. Mareks usually comes on slower too.