PLEASE help!! 9 weeks old chick not walking

[sararoni]

I got 6 chicks from a friend when they were 2 weeks old. They were bought from a breeder as day old chicks and had shown no problems while at my friend`s house.
After a few days at my place 1 of them could not stand.
After a lot of reading from the forums here I gave her B vitamin complex and she was fine again the second day.
After a few days another one had a crocked neck and could not walk and again got better with B vitamin.
After a week I saw blood in their brooder and started them all with Corid for 5 days. I was going to give corid for 3 more days but blood was seen again after 1 week and they got 5 more days. After 2 weeks I gave them 3 more days.

As soon as the corid treatment ended I saw one of them not standing, it was the chick that first had the leg issues. The second chick is still fine and so are the other 4.
She has been inside since 3 days.
I gave her B vitamin confident this happened because corid drained away that, but no improvements at all.
I have been reading a lot from the posts regarding similar cases and have given her, garlic and yogurt as well.
Today she is not eating very well.
Her poop has been mostly watery and green looking.
Just now I gave her some corid with a syringe so maybe I can rule out coccidiosis. She didnt have any blood this time but I am running out of options and hope that it was a vitamin deficiency like I believed it was the first time this happened to her 7 weeks ago.
Now she is 9.5 weeks and this time is looking serious.

1. Could this be Mareks? They were not vaccinated against it.
2. Can Mareks come and go like this?

She was on chick starter and some times little grass or greens from the garden.

Any advises of what this can be and what to do at this point will be very appreciated
Please tell me what you think

 

[sararoni]

What ever it was that has brought this improvement about, I'm extremely pleased for you and your girl.

She looks so much better!

-Kathy

If I see her walking tomorrow you might hear in the news about a crazy lady in Chicago seen dancing around holding a chicken

 

[enola]

We don't judge when people say they can't use a vet for their chickens. I have never and probably will never take a chicken to a vet. I have learned so much from this site and am very greatful for the level of patience these ladies have.

 

[Nambroth]

How is she doing? Have you been weighing her. It seems that her BM's are getting less green which is good. Did I already suggest a bit of milk thistle? That last, really orangy green one may have just been from the B vitamins. It had that bright, artificial, neon green color rather than a deep liver enzyme green. The mareks vaccine only costs $25 with shipping from Jeffers. I have read a study (and I have to find it again) that suggested that you can vaccinate an older flock and expect protection or a less severe outbreak even if they have already been exposed to the virus. I believe the study or studies that I read also suggested some benefit in vaccinating a bird that is already symptomatic. Birds expose to Mareks usually can become symptomatic starting at about 5 weeks and I can't remember what the cutoff age is but that's just an average. Birds can actually become symptomatic at any age.

I don't want to derail this thread very much, but everything I have researched about the vaccines for and the virus itself suggest that inoculation after symptoms are present is not beneficial and may even be harmful. Are you sure it was a study and not just an article written by someone? If you find it again please do send me a message with the link or a way for me to read it so that I can keep my FAQ current with scientific findings.
Vaccinating after known exposure to Marek's is also likely to be without merit. Vaccinating after 36 hours of age might help but it is not going to build the same immune response to the virus, and will only help if the birds are not exposed to the live virus within 3 weeks (minimum).
Again if I am wrong about any of this I'd love to be corrected, I am not a professional, I am just a research nut.

I should also mention in general it will cost about $50 to get the vaccine overnighted from any supplier (Including Jeffers), as it must be kept cold this time of year, and one will need to buy syringes of the appropriate size as well unless one has access to them locally.

 

[Nambroth]

Again, it is my non-expert, personal, crazy-chicken-lady opinion that it is very unlikely Marek's if she showed signs at 2 weeks old, and I think you are doing the right thing in terms of supportive care and supplementation.

Unfortunately I do not think coconut flake will help. If you have any other higher quality nut or plant oil you can try it. Something like food grade almond oil, or if you have a very good olive oil (sadly a lot of the less expensive commercially available olive oils are cut with cheaper oils). Avoid canola, soy, avocado oils (avocado oils may be good for us but avocados are a no-no for birds). I know that these are not necessarily commonly kept though!
Don't go crazy trying to find the coconut oil-- I just wanted to suggest it as something that can sometimes help (I like having it for other reasons, it's the only thing that can help my hair and I cook with it and so on, but you may feel differently and that is totally okay!). I had a completely paralyzed rooster earlier this year and it took me more than a month but he is walking again.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Second that, oil aspiration actually has worse consequences than water or meds.  I would definitely try and take Kathy's advice about gavage tubing.



I've always had such misgivings about amprolium.  I have just always felt that you can't take away thiamin, such an important nutrient, without SOME kind of consequence.  Now I will really think twice before buying medicated feed.  Of course, controlling the Mareks in my flock has gone a long way toward keeping me from having to worry about coccidiosis.

Most birds tolerate amprolium without any complications. Of course there will always be the exception to the rule. In this situation you are torn between treating and accepting the consequences or letting the coccidia multiply and eventually kill the bird anyway.
Many people don't feed medicated crumble to their chicks, instead they treat when they have an outbreak, that is a personal choice and the cause of much debate.
The incidence of wryneck in the silkie breed seems to be increasing and sometimes I wonder if that could be that most silkie owners treat their birds more like pets than poultry , spoiling them with too many treats and by doing so , unwittingly causing the deficiency .
Then there is the worrying fact that after just 2 weeks of storage the vitamin and minerals listed on the feed bag begin to deteriorate and are adversely effected by humidity and other climate factors.
I now add a multi vitamin with probiotics routinely to the water, it's cheap and easy and gives me peace of mind.

 

[rbaker0345]

Here's something I'd like you to try: Pinch the skin between her toes as hard as you can. Does she have ANY pain reaction, does she flinch or pull away at all?

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Try these:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf
17


Illinois

Illinois Department of Agriculture, Galesburg Animal Disease Laboratory
Animal Disease Lab
2100 S Lake Storey Rd
Galesburg, Illinois 61401
Phone: 309-344-2451 Fax 309-344-7358


18


Illinois

University of Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
2001 S. Lincoln
Urbana, Illinois 61802-6199
Phone: 217-333-2123 Fax 217-244-2439


-Kathy

 

[Fancychooklady]

The amprolium/corid is a thiamine B1 inhibitor. So just when the vitamin B was taking affect you administered corid and effectively rendered it useless.
Remove all medicated feed and corid make a mash of scrambled egg and add some vit B ,polyvisol or nutridrench . There are avian multi vits that can be added to the water. If you suspect coccocidiosis switch to sulfadimethoxine, it's a good alternative to amprolium . The green poop is sometimes a sign of starvation, there are baby bird/parrot formulas available at pet shops that contain vitamins and probiotics. Try the scrambled egg first, and a little sugar in the water , small amounts , often.
Kathy is the expert on tube feeding, if all else fails.

http://www.jefferspet.com/products/...84af9fa2600f00000499/533884af9fa2600f0000049c

http://www.jefferspet.com/products/...84af9fa2600f00000499/533884b09fa2600f000004ae

 

[casportpony]

So hard to say what it is or could be. Tube feeding is not just a way to keep them hydrated and fed, it's also a diagnostic tool. Tube fluids, then fluids and food and the poop should normalize if it's not from disease. To me that poop looks like some poops I have seen when mine have had an bacterial infection.

-Kathy