strange reoccurring infections in chicken

[Chickenslol]

I have an almost three year old light brown leghorn with off and on infections that I’m having trouble getting to the root of.

First: about three weeks ago i pulled aside this chicken because she seemed fluffed up, i checked and found that she had vent gleet, so i treated her with micanzole and antibiotics. her abdomen was swollen like water belly, so i assumed that she would probably pass and just tried to keep her comfortable

second: i start to deworm her as a precaution in case it was causing the vent gleet. gleet goes away, she starts to look better, abdomen stops swelling. yay!

third: i finish the fifth day of safeguard and she immediately swells back up, worse than before. i assume that the end is near and continue to keep her comfortable. she loses weight, and her abdomen is so heavy that she cannot walk correctly/at all and has to stand in an eggbound position.

fourth: i keep her comfortable for about a week, but start to put a little bit of a fish antibiotic(enthromycin) in her food that i had from before to keep vent gleet at bay. the swelling in her abdomen goes down, she becomes more mobile and interested in food, BUT still cannot walk correctly and stands in an egg bound position, often losing her balance and falling forward.


at this point i am hesitant to put her back near the flock at all.
-she is my only remaining chicken from tractor supply (aka unvaccinated).
-i’ve read that mareks can cause reoccurring infections, and the loss of balance makes me concerned, but she’s mostly falling onto her face, as if she has lost the ability to hold any weight in the front from the effects of water belly.
-she still stands like she is egg bound
- she has lost a TON of weight even though she is eating a lot

at this point i am at a loss. does anyone have any ideas what might be going on? is it more worth it to just cull her? thanks for any suggestions

 

[Stravager]

Is she pooping at all? Any other signs like cloudy eyes, pale earlobes, respiratory stress? It might be water belly and if that's the case it's usually a heart condition.

 

[Chickenslol]

Is she pooping at all? Any other signs like cloudy eyes, pale earlobes, respiratory stress? It might be water belly and if that's the case it's usually a heart condition.

she is pooping and eating normally, no extra symptoms other than a droopy comb. I would suspect water belly but it seems very strange to me that she would start to get better and worse and than better again you know? i’ve had a chicken die from water belly before and it was a pretty linear progression to death.

 

[nuthatched]

What did you worm her with? It dors sound like a reproductive infection that's starting to get out of hand?

 

[Chickenslol]

What did you worm her with? It dors sound like a reproductive infection that's starting to get out of hand?

i wormed her with safeguard goat dewormer (fenbendazole). a reproductive infection could be likely, she hasn’t laid an egg this whole time, but in the past when i’ve had hens with infections i’ve never seen some of the other symptoms like balance loss. being a tractor supply chicken however i would not put it past her

 

[nuthatched]

i wormed her with safeguard goat dewormer (fenbendazole). a reproductive infection could be likely, she hasn’t laid an egg this whole time, but in the past when i’ve had hens with infections i’ve never seen some of the other symptoms like balance loss. being a tractor supply chicken however i would not put it past her

Sometimes masses can put pressure on the sciatic and cause paralysis. It's hard to say.

 

[Chickenslol]

Here’s my big question, is it safe to put her back in with her sisters? if her balance starts recovering i might consider it but i was wondering if anyone thought this might put them at risk. all my other chickens are vaccinated but i wouldn’t want to hyper expose them

 

[Chickenslol]

she is getting better every day! as long as she continues to improve i might put her back into the coop with her sisters, i feel like it might not be mareks, but we have to wait and see

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If she improves to the point where she can be with her flock, that would be best.
She's 3yrs old and been with this flock for how long? If it is Marek's, then everyone is already exposed.

Sounds more likely she's having reproductive issues. Hens can have ups and downs along the way. Hopefully she will bounce back for a while and be able to get back outside and chicken with her sisters.