Help! Droopy wing in pullet? Injury palsey?

Rhoise · Sep 19, 2012

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Amber White Sex Link pullet 24 weeks just strted laying, 4.5 lbs

2) What is the behavior, exactly. Left wing drooping almost/sometimes to the ground, seems to limp a bit on left side....let them out to range this afternoon noticed injury?when i tried to put her in big regular coop she stumbled back down ramp and out the door, went into small familiar iso coop on her own and layed a giant egg in nest box(much bigger than her normal tiny pullet and soft eggs,she just started laying this week) when done she came out and snarfed up a bunch of pellets mixed with yogurt and water and then joined others in yard to eat grass? wing still droopy, a bit lethargic, but not pronounced, ran to me for treats with others stumbles on dragging wing a bit, but seems to be able to close it most all the way if she tries to.....manipulation doesn't appear to cause distress?

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Slightly droopy yesterday pronounced today

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
not that I can see or tell she can close and contain wing, manipulation doesn't appear painful

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
have been dealing with bullying issues, other hens chasing her,put peepers on bullys last week, chasing seems to have stopped, gone during the day at work she was like this when i got home, concerned bully chased and injured her, she seemed timid of big coop this afternoon, but did try to go to roost with others at dusk, ended up on floor sleeping(I put her on roost and she stayed)

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
layer pellets, grass, yogurt,left over squash,tomatoes, and corn

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
seperated her into smaller isolation coop, gave seperate food, she climbed right upstairs and layed egg, when i tried to put her in big regular coop she ran down ramp and out the door, went into iso coop by herself and layed her egg, came out and chowed down food, she went in to coop at dusk didnt roost, i lifted her up to roost and she stayed, will put into iso coop alone tomorrow am.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
self treat would be good , i don't think her wing is broken?

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Big coop is outside sand run and zeolite inside the coop, iso coop is dried grass clippings, in coop(2.5x2.5ft), plywood floor in run area(2.5x5 ft)

ChicKat · Sep 20, 2012

Hopefully this isn't what you are facing. Especially since your hen is already laying. I lost a black sexlink to Marek's disease and a drooping wing was the first symptom.

Keep that chicken isolated incase it is, and keep a close eye on her. Here is a link to a page where there is a collection of facts about Mareks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mareks-disease-fact-site

There can be a number of causes for neurological dysfunction in chickens and sadly Marek's disease is one of them. If you can think of something else, that may be affecting her, or if someone else has had similar experience. The bullying may not be the physical cause but could have generated a lot of stress, and unfortunately that is one thing that often triggers Marek's.

Hope it isn't that---but at least you can verify symptoms in some of the literature in the link, like the Merck Vet Manual and rule it out if it isn's MD.

leadwolf1 · Sep 20, 2012

MD can not be ruled out just by reading. That is an impossibility. Marek's Disease symptoms can vary so greatly that literature doesn't begin to cover the symptoms/signs that might or, might not appear.

That being said. Where did your chicks come from? Have you introduced any new birds? Been to any fairs, shows, etc where chickens are? Any friends farms or friends with chickens dropping by?

How large is your coop, I got bogged down in that section. Is the coop 2.5 X 2.5? If so, how many chickens do you have in there?

I would quarantine her so that she has a chance to heal if it is an injury. I would also start her on some vitamins.

.5 mls of poly vi sol, without iron, daily
400 ius of vitamin E twice daily.

Rhoise · Sep 20, 2012

I have 8 pullets, 4-dayolds from hatchery, 4-from local farmer purchased at 6 weeks of age and mixed with my 5 week old hatchery chicks, all birds are now 23 and 24 weeks of age(one in question is 24 weeks 3 days old).

No new birds.

Went to the State Fair 8/25/12 but wore sneakers and clothes that never went near my chickens(made sure as read on this web site).

Nobody with chickens or birds(that i know of of) has been in my backyard, also have seperate yard shoes by back door for coop.

Isolation set up is only for one chicken short term 2.5x2.5 inside coop, 2.5 x 5 covered outside run.....the pullet in question is isolated in that pen as of this morning she seemed better wing not drooping as much but still not completely tucked in tight, much better than yesterday.

Regular set up is completely covered with coragated tin roofing 20 square foot(5 x4) inside coop, with a 50 square foot(5x10) run outside. Chickens range 1/4 acre lot completley enclosed by 6ft cedar fencing and secured hardware cloth on bottom 12 inches. They are cooped till 3 in the afternoon till they go to roost with sun set.

leadwolf1 · Sep 20, 2012

I am worried about the ones you got from the farm. If all were hatchery birds, I would say that the chances of it being Marek's would be slim. However, when you throw in the farm birds that were older when purchased, you bring in a whole other set of variables. They could have been exposed to anything in 6 weeks. That's where I ended up with Marek's. I purchased some 3 week old Silkies. If you hen doesn't respond to the vitamin therapy or, gets worse. I would suggest having her euthanized and a necropsy performed. You will need to rule out the possibiltiy of any contagious illnesses that could spread through your flock. You can find out the information that you would need by calling your local government extension office. They can direct you to a lab that does necropsies in your area.

Rhoise · Sep 20, 2012

leadwolf1 said:
I am worried about the ones you got from the farm. If all were hatchery birds, I would say that the chances of it being Marek's would be slim. However, when you throw in the farm birds that were older when purchased, you bring in a whole other set of variables. They could have been exposed to anything in 6 weeks. That's where I ended up with Marek's. I purchased some 3 week old Silkies. If you hen doesn't respond to the vitamin therapy or, gets worse. I would suggest having her euthanized and a necropsy performed. You will need to rule out the possibiltiy of any contagious illnesses that could spread through your flock. You can find out the information that you would need by calling your local government extension office. They can direct you to a lab that does necropsies in your area.

Thanks leadwolf, i will keep a close eye on things and manage accordingly, geez i was thinking injury not disease!!, again will continue to isolate her and try and figure out whats going on............ have done a ton of reading on this website and have seen your posts before.......All in or all out closed flocks for me now( i do still have them outside and have the wild factor to worry about), i'm learning the hard way, didn't realize how many things can happen to chickens, and really didn't know anything about bio security......if she does get sick we will likely have her necropsied to be sure, i think OR is closest place?

seminolewind · Sep 20, 2012

I am surprised she's laying! I would say it's an injury or nerve damage (palsy?). Marek's has alot of symptoms that are similar with many other illnesses. So you would also have to look at flock history, if any other chickens has symptoms, and what kind of progression.

She appears to be a hen that does all the normal hen things, lays eggs, and just has a wing that hangs. I would wait and see if it gets better or worse , then figure out what you should do.

Rhoise · Sep 20, 2012

Yes Seminolewind,

That's the plan, wait and watch for now, I really don't think it's Marek's, but won't mess around!!....just curious do you guys cull Marek's and at what point? If it is so contagious, what good is it to isolate her from the flock now? I'm sure my whole flock is exposed? They have been together just these 8 pullets for 19 weeks(since 6 week old chicks). I lost a pullet a few weeks ago(culled her) do to failure to thrive(wasting) assumed it was intestinal complications due to cocci infection as a chick?

Jeepers, chickens can exhibit multiple similar symptoms for all kinds of problems. I read too much on this web site and get nuts assuming my chickens are dying of CRD,MAREK'S,VIT DEF,WORMS,CROWDING,COCCI,.....

I've treated them with Corid, twice per vet recommendation/fecal(second time was for wasting hen, last ditch effort), I actually felt like I knew more about chickens than they did! I know I'm preaching to the choir here, have read horrific stories and testimonies, so sorry that you guys have experienced these issues and appreciate your sharing your experience so the rest of us clueless folks can maybe,possibly avoid some of these disasters!.......

I guess my question is, if this is Marek's and I see this flock through survivors, deaths, culled bird's etc....how long before, and is it even ever possible to start over from scratch,? and have healthy chicks without meds and drugs and vaccines? Organic GMO free chickens hahahha were my hopes in the beginning, but this is a nightmare! I think I have done more wrong than right in all my inexperience.....

I have (two or three) too many birds for wintering in my current situation with out modifications to coop and run, which we are working on(three RIR's turned out to be pullets not roo's and none of my chicks died until a few weeks ago). People suggested I get extra chicks for possible roos disease injury etc( I thought if they were roos I'd eat them or hens sell them), now I couldn't at this point morally/ethically let any of these birds leave this property so I am freaking out and trying to find a solution for winter. They all reached point of lay, and they have given me 111 eggs since September 1st with the pullet in question, bringing up the rear of the pack just last week and three or four eggs. They are beautiful birds and I made the mistake of naming them all.....ugghh!! This "too many" was a dilemma before possible disease, and we are willing to fork out the $$ to deal with our fate, but would it benefit the other birds in the flock to isolate or cull early if Marek's is whats going on,could they get sicker being around severe hen's symptoms, and how without necropsy can you prove Marek's without severe obvious symptom's and possible latent infections and carrier birds?? Gosh this is horrible!

leadwolf1 · Sep 20, 2012

There is no way to know that Marek's is the cause without a necropsy. There are just too many other diseases that might mimic Marek's. I am hoping that your hen is just injured but, there is that possibility that it is something else. I just lost a 17 week old phoenix cockeral to Marek's. He was right as rain, growth rate normal, running around...I noticed he was a bit 'off' one night...48 hours later, he was dead. Necropsy showed Marek's tumors in his intestines and pancreas. There were no external signs/symptoms.

If you would be dealing with Marek's, I would say that you will never be free from medications and vaccines. Marek's can live in your soil for up to seven years. It is a crazy disease that strikes in so many ways that I have lost count.

The one thing that gives me a lot of hope for your pullet is that she is laying. Marek's birds do not lay eggs. At least not when symptomatic. As far as quarantining. It has been shown that symptomatic birds might shed more virus then asymptomatic ones. Therefore, it is very important to try and remove symptomatic birds quickly. As for euthanizing. Unless they are in terrible condition, I do not euthanize. I provide hospice. I have a ChICU in my house. They get all the yummies that they can eat. I treat for anything that might be secondary to the Marek's. Alot of diseases like to jump on Marek's birds. Yet, through three necropsies I know that my birds are free from everything but, Marek's.

blondiebee181 · Sep 20, 2012

Rhoise said:
Yes Seminolewind,

That's the plan, wait and watch for now, I really don't think it's Marek's, but won't mess around!!....just curious do you guys cull Marek's and at what point? If it is so contagious, what good is it to isolate her from the flock now? I'm sure my whole flock is exposed? They have been together just these 8 pullets for 19 weeks(since 6 week old chicks). I lost a pullet a few weeks ago(culled her) do to failure to thrive(wasting) assumed it was intestinal complications due to cocci infection as a chick?

Jeepers, chickens can exhibit multiple similar symptoms for all kinds of problems. I read too much on this web site and get nuts assuming my chickens are dying of CRD,MAREK'S,VIT DEF,WORMS,CROWDING,COCCI,.....

I've treated them with Corid, twice per vet recommendation/fecal(second time was for wasting hen, last ditch effort), I actually felt like I knew more about chickens than they did! I know I'm preaching to the choir here, have read horrific stories and testimonies, so sorry that you guys have experienced these issues and appreciate your sharing your experience so the rest of us clueless folks can maybe,possibly avoid some of these disasters!.......

I guess my question is, if this is Marek's and I see this flock through survivors, deaths, culled bird's etc....how long before, and is it even ever possible to start over from scratch,? and have healthy chicks without meds and drugs and vaccines? Organic GMO free chickens hahahha were my hopes in the beginning, but this is a nightmare! I think I have done more wrong than right in all my inexperience.....

I have (two or three) too many birds for wintering in my current situation with out modifications to coop and run, which we are working on(three RIR's turned out to be pullets not roo's and none of my chicks died until a few weeks ago). People suggested I get extra chicks for possible roos disease injury etc( I thought if they were roos I'd eat them or hens sell them), now I couldn't at this point morally/ethically let any of these birds leave this property so I am freaking out and trying to find a solution for winter. They all reached point of lay, and they have given me 111 eggs since September 1st with the pullet in question, bringing up the rear of the pack just last week and three or four eggs. They are beautiful birds and I made the mistake of naming them all.....ugghh!! This "too many" was a dilemma before possible disease, and we are willing to fork out the $$ to deal with our fate, but would it benefit the other birds in the flock to isolate or cull early if Marek's is whats going on,could they get sicker being around severe hen's symptoms, and how without necropsy can you prove Marek's without severe obvious symptom's and possible latent infections and carrier birds?? Gosh this is horrible!

Deep breath.....don't freak yourself out over the what-ifs and but maybe I shouldas....what will come will come. Do the best you can with your bird, it's good we have this great site and all these folks offering help. Don't stress too heavily over what you have no control over or what you think might happen, it'll drive you nuts. Just focus on what you can do now. Sounds like since she's laying the prognosis is good. I would continue isolation so other birds don't start in picking on her injury.

Help! Droopy wing in pullet? Injury palsey?

More options

Rhoise

Songster

ChicKat

Free Ranging

leadwolf1

Songster

Rhoise

Songster

leadwolf1

Songster

Rhoise

Songster

seminolewind

Flock Mistress

Rhoise

Songster

leadwolf1

Songster

blondiebee181

Songster

Similar threads

New posts New threads Active threads

Latest posts

Latest threads

Threads with more replies in the last 15 days