10 week old buff Orpington injured cant walk

[Sunnyabc]

Dear Helpers, On Monday morning we found Buffy had been wedged/trapped underneath a protruding branch in coop all night. I had to extract her and she was unable to stand. I took her to the vet for X-ray and nothing broken so vet said most likely soft tissue damage. The vet gave her pain meds and she rebounded quickly later in the day. She was also fine the next morning so we felt ok about leaving the small flock of 5 with chicken sitter for 2days. We returned This morning to find her laying on coop floor unable to stand or walk again (she keeps falling backwards). She is drinking and eating very little. I have attached a vid link here. All she wants to do is lay in my lap is it possible the others are injuring her in the night somehow? I don’t see any excessive aggression during the day. https://www.stinsonbeachphotography.com/Chickens/n-6rNbLv/i-Xm69R6Q

 

[rebrascora]

I'm afraid that looks like Marek's disease to me. It often happens that they get stuck somewhere when they have an attack of Marek's. Chickens are usually pretty agile so unless something fell on top of them or they got tangled in some mesh or wire, finding them stuck in an odd place is a red alert for the disease in my opinion, especially at this age, as it affects their coordination and balance. The symptoms can come and go and are usually triggered by stress, so removing the trigger can sometimes create an improvement but they will be prone to further outbreaks. The best you can do in my experience is to provide a sae area for her within the flock, usually a cage with her own food and water. Provide a vitamin supplement like Nutri Drench or Poultry Cell to boost her immune system and fermented feed or a probiotic to support her digestive system. Access to sunshine and grass are other things that I have found beneficial to chickens with Marek's Disease but sadly some will die regardless of how hard you try to support them. Keeping them as happy and stress free as possible is really important though.
I may be wrong and it may not be Marek's, but the treatment I have suggested can only be beneficial regardless of the cause of her illness.

 

[Sunnyabc]

I'm afraid that looks like Marek's disease to me. It often happens that they get stuck somewhere when they have an attack of Marek's. Chickens are usually pretty agile so unless something fell on top of them or they got tangled in some mesh or wire, finding them stuck in an odd place is a red alert for the disease in my opinion, especially at this age, as it affects their coordination and balance. The symptoms can come and go and are usually triggered by stress, so removing the trigger can sometimes create an improvement but they will be prone to further outbreaks. The best you can do in my experience is to provide a sae area for her within the flock, usually a cage with her own food and water. Provide a vitamin supplement like Nutri Drench or Poultry Cell to boost her immune system and fermented feed or a probiotic to support her digestive system. Access to sunshine and grass are other things that I have found beneficial to chickens with Marek's Disease but sadly some will die regardless of how hard you try to support them. Keeping them as happy and stress free as possible is really important though.
I may be wrong and it may not be Marek's, but the treatment I have suggested can only be beneficial regardless of the cause of her illness.

Oh my this is breaking my heart .... I have nutridrench and it says 1cc for them directly but doesn’t say how often. Also wondering if it’s contagious

 

[rebrascora]

Marek's is contagious but they have usually been exposed to the virus at least 3 weeks prior to exhibiting any symptoms, so I tend to take the view that the rest of the flock has already been exposed to the virus and isolating the sick bird only serves to stress/depress it which makes it worse. That said, a Marek's sick bird will be actively shedding the virus, so it can increase the risk of others getting it, but assuming they have all been together for several weeks already, they may already be infected. The virus has periods of dormancy like the human cold sore virus, so you cannot tell who carries the virus until they have an outbreak and it can be dormant for weeks, months or even years before an outbreak is triggered. Both ailments are caused by a Herpes virus. It is a heart breaking disease but it is not always a death sentence. I have had quite a few that have made some pretty miraculous recoveries, to counterbalance the grief of those I have lost. The important thing is to keep them happy and eating. I messed about trying to give them turmeric and St John's Wort in the early days and it put them off their food after a few days or stressed them if I direct dosed them. Now I feed some scrambled egg and a bit of meat as treats with their fermented feed and some Nutri Drops in their food or water or direct dosed if they take it willingly, a couple of times a week, maybe 3-5 days in a row in the first instance.

 

[Sunnyabc]

Marek's is contagious but they have usually been exposed to the virus at least 3 weeks prior to exhibiting any symptoms, so I tend to take the view that the rest of the flock has already been exposed to the virus and isolating the sick bird only serves to stress/depress it which makes it worse. That said, a Marek's sick bird will be actively shedding the virus, so it can increase the risk of others getting it, but assuming they have all been together for several weeks already, they may already be infected. The virus has periods of dormancy like the human cold sore virus, so you cannot tell who carries the virus until they have an outbreak and it can be dormant for weeks, months or even years before an outbreak is triggered. Both ailments are caused by a Herpes virus. It is a heart breaking disease but it is not always a death sentence. I have had quite a few that have made some pretty miraculous recoveries, to counterbalance the grief of those I have lost. The important thing is to keep them happy and eating. I messed about trying to give them turmeric and St John's Wort in the early days and it put them off their food after a few days or stressed them if I direct dosed them. Now I feed some scrambled egg and a bit of meat as treats with their fermented feed and some Nutri Drops in their food or water or direct dosed if they take it willingly, a couple of times a week, maybe 3-5 days in a row in the first instance.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I have separated her from other 4 and she’s laying in the sun. I Don’t have fermented feed but will mix a bit of yogurt with her fav live meal worms and scratch ... mmmmmm. of course she is my favorite and most loving girl

 

[rebrascora]

of course she is my favorite and most loving girl

The advantage of that is that she will be much more relaxed about being given supportive care and therefore hopefully more chance of recovery.

Go steady on the scratch. Much as they love it, it is mostly high carbohydrate calories and can lead to other serious health issues if fed in any quantity.