Hello everyone, I’ve been lurking here for several days, but thought it time to make a thread of my own for some advice as a first time chicken owner.
My little Delphine is around 1 year old - I got her and her 3 flock mates at point of lay in April this year. The other 3 stopped laying last month, but Delphine kept on laying 1 egg every other day.
On Saturday 1st November, I noticed that she was wobbly on her legs - rocking back onto her hocks when she stopped, and using her wings to balance. I observed her until a vet appointment on Monday 3rd November, when she went to see the bird specialist at our practice. I showed her a video of Delphine moving, and also sent the video to a vet surgeon friend of mine - she lives in Dublin, but is also a chicken specialist.
Delphine has no injuries, breaks, or dislocations. We have no rooster to induce trauma, and all the 3 other hens are happy and healthy with no similar signs.
Both vets suggested either a deficiency, or possibly Marek’s disease.
On Monday 3rd, I brought her indoors into a large dog crate - I work from home, and so have been able to observe her during the day. On Monday 3rd, the vet had given her sub q fluids, a pain killing injection, and prescribed a vitamin powder to give in her food.
She has had the vitamin powder in her food, plus ‘Poultry Drink’ in her water from Monday 3rd - Saturday 8th.
On Friday 7th, she went from being able to take a few wobbly steps to being completely off her legs. It is as though she doesn’t have the strength to push her body up on her legs.
On Saturday 8th, I also got her ‘Vit-Min Drops’ which contain vit e, b1, b2, b12, and others. She has been getting 2 x 2ml of this daily, directly to her beak, along with the powder and water additive above.
My vet friend suggested a wormer as well, and so she has been on Flubenvet for 2 days now. The in-person practice vet is currently on leave this week.
Delphine still has strong use of her wings, a very healthy appetite, and is bright, eating, drinking, preening, and moving with her wings as best she can - however she’s not been able to get onto her feet for almost 1 week.
The plan had been to give her the full 7 days of worming treatment and see if there’s any improvement at all. The in-person practice vet had suggested bloods & x-rays if there’s no improvement - I’ve no issue spending the money, but I’m not sure what benefits this might have?
I understand that Marek’s has no diagnosis other than autopsy, which I would do for the benefit of the rest of my flock if she needs to be euthanised. I’ve only had mammals before now, and they’re so much easier to diagnose and make informed choices about their treatment - with chickens, it’s like being in the dark.
I don’t want to cut short something which could be fixed with time, but I also don’t want to drag out something incurable. Anything else you might suggest or think would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
My little Delphine is around 1 year old - I got her and her 3 flock mates at point of lay in April this year. The other 3 stopped laying last month, but Delphine kept on laying 1 egg every other day.
On Saturday 1st November, I noticed that she was wobbly on her legs - rocking back onto her hocks when she stopped, and using her wings to balance. I observed her until a vet appointment on Monday 3rd November, when she went to see the bird specialist at our practice. I showed her a video of Delphine moving, and also sent the video to a vet surgeon friend of mine - she lives in Dublin, but is also a chicken specialist.
Delphine has no injuries, breaks, or dislocations. We have no rooster to induce trauma, and all the 3 other hens are happy and healthy with no similar signs.
Both vets suggested either a deficiency, or possibly Marek’s disease.
On Monday 3rd, I brought her indoors into a large dog crate - I work from home, and so have been able to observe her during the day. On Monday 3rd, the vet had given her sub q fluids, a pain killing injection, and prescribed a vitamin powder to give in her food.
She has had the vitamin powder in her food, plus ‘Poultry Drink’ in her water from Monday 3rd - Saturday 8th.
On Friday 7th, she went from being able to take a few wobbly steps to being completely off her legs. It is as though she doesn’t have the strength to push her body up on her legs.
On Saturday 8th, I also got her ‘Vit-Min Drops’ which contain vit e, b1, b2, b12, and others. She has been getting 2 x 2ml of this daily, directly to her beak, along with the powder and water additive above.
My vet friend suggested a wormer as well, and so she has been on Flubenvet for 2 days now. The in-person practice vet is currently on leave this week.
Delphine still has strong use of her wings, a very healthy appetite, and is bright, eating, drinking, preening, and moving with her wings as best she can - however she’s not been able to get onto her feet for almost 1 week.
The plan had been to give her the full 7 days of worming treatment and see if there’s any improvement at all. The in-person practice vet had suggested bloods & x-rays if there’s no improvement - I’ve no issue spending the money, but I’m not sure what benefits this might have?
I understand that Marek’s has no diagnosis other than autopsy, which I would do for the benefit of the rest of my flock if she needs to be euthanised. I’ve only had mammals before now, and they’re so much easier to diagnose and make informed choices about their treatment - with chickens, it’s like being in the dark.
I don’t want to cut short something which could be fixed with time, but I also don’t want to drag out something incurable. Anything else you might suggest or think would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
