Urgent! sick hens!

[King Corrin]

Okay so a few weeks ago I lost a young pullet to unusual symptoms. The bird acted lethargic, puffed itself up, closed its eyes, retracted it’s head inward, and eventually it couldn’t walk. It also would occasionally make strange noises unlike anything I’ve ever heard from a bird (sounded like a duck). Eventually despite my nursing it passed away. Now I have a hen who’s very important to me which started having trouble walking yesterday. It would stumble drunkenly and use its wings to support itself. Today it is having trouble standing at all and is acting aggressive (usually friendly). It currently just waddles in its knees and can make runs before falling again. It’s acting very lethargic, but still eating and drinking. I’m fairly confident it’s not mareks as all my birds are vaccinated and the area I am located in is luckily clear enough. Anyone had experience with this? Anyone knows any methods to get her to walk normally again?

 

[twendt]

Have you looked up Marek's? Were your pullets vaccinated? It could also be from moldy feed?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. What do you feed your chickens? Have you checked your feed for any mold, an off odor, or moisture? Sometime coccidiosis can cause them to have some of those symptoms with extreme weakness. A vitamin or mineral deficiency could also be a problem. Mareks vaccine is not 100% effective, and there have been chickens here before diagnosed during a necropsy, although they were supposedly vaccinated at the hatchery. Soory for your loss. If you lose another chicken, it would be good to refrigerate the body (do not freeze) and contact your state vet to get a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets and labs to contact for details:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[King Corrin]

Sorry for your loss. What do you feed your chickens? Have you checked your feed for any mold, an off odor, or moisture? Sometime coccidiosis can cause them to have some of those symptoms with extreme weakness. A vitamin or mineral deficiency could also be a problem. Mareks vaccine is not 100% effective, and there have been chickens here before diagnosed during a necropsy, although they were supposedly vaccinated at the hatchery. Soory for your loss. If you lose another chicken, it would be good to refrigerate the body (do not freeze) and contact your state vet to get a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets and labs to contact for details:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Thanks. I feed my adults nutrena later feed and moldy food may be the culprit as I have been noticing an off smell around my food storage area. I will look into potential other causes as well but I believe moldy feed or coccidiosis may be the culprit

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to do a flush with Epsom salts or molasses to see if it makes a difference in your chicken showing symptoms. 1 tsp of Epsom salts in 1/2 cup of water, given or carefully squirted in the chicken’s beak twice a day for 3 days is one of those. Make sure that she is taking plenty of plain water as well. Here is the link that also contains the molasses flush:
https://books.google.com/books?id=G...om salts flush for toxins in chickens&f=false