23 week australorp hen not walking

[BladeDuck]

I'm pretty stumped. I honestly thought she would be dead by now or considerably better. Its been 12 days since I noticed she wasn't coming out of the coup with the other chickens. She couldn't walk or stand and was a bit floppy just sitting there. I brought her inside and inspected her. No broken bones I could tell, no wounds, crop felt good, vent looks good, couldn't feel any hard eggs externally. Put a gloved lubed finger up her vent about 2 inches and couldn't feel anything. She wasn't acting like anything was tender on her body. Poop is normal. Her head and neck were alert and good. She was an early layer at 18.5 weeks and laid well for 3 weeks until I found her like this. Even though I couldn't feel any egg issues I figured she might be egg bound. So I gave her a warm bath, lubed her up, and gave her .8ml orally of calcium glucosonate. I've been doing the calcium twice a day since then and put soaked feed by her in the coup to make sure she's eating. Put some raw apple cider vinegar in her water a few times as well. Since then she has laid 4 shellless eggs and 2 hard eggs. One of them was pretty big so I assumed that was the problem and she would be better, but that was 5 days ago and she's not better. She has been able to hobble a little bit in the last week so I put her by the outside waterer in the morning but she makes her way back to the coup within the hour and stays in there the rest of the day. The other hens aren't bugging her so I haven't felt the need to keep her isolated. I'm going out of town in 3 days for a week and I'm not sure what to do. The 14 year old neighbor girl watches them while I'm gone. I don't want a chicken dying on her but I also don't think she's bad enough to just cull. I can instruct her to give her soaked feed but not comfortable having her do the calcium. I think I'll just do once a day on calcium starting today. Ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

It's hard to say what exactly is going on. She may be temporarily lame from her egg laying troubles or from passing a large egg. Mareks disease, internal laying, vitamin or mineral deficiency, and coccidiosis can cause lameness. Things like this always happen when you are going out of town, but you could have her put vitamins and electrolytes in their water, and instruct her what to do with the body if the hen dies.

 

[drumstick diva]

Is it possible to take her to a vet before leaving? If she needed to be culled - it could be done so that your neighbor girl wouldn't have the trauma of the hen dying on 'her watch."

If she does have Marek's she probably has spread it to your others by now. Surviving birds would be carriers for life.

 

[BladeDuck]

I'm really hoping it's not mareks. But I don't think it is considering she has gotten a little better with movement and her head and neck have stayed good the entire time. Could be internal laying I suppose.
What kind of vitamin electrolyte mix should I buy?

 

[Eggcessive]

I have used Rooster Booster Vitamins with Lactobacillus, SavAChick packets, and Durvet Vitamin and Electrolytes. Most of those are in feed stores.

 

[BladeDuck]

Thanks. I put some chopped up beef liver out there yesterday. They all went crazy for it, including sick chicken. Shes about the same, a little more mobile. She got herself up on the shelf last night in the coup. I think she's just getting better at using her wings to lift herself when she needs to move. Nerve damage or a bone fracture is seeming very possible at this point. I finally opened up that big egg she laid, it was a double yoker. I think she has stopped laying. Probably because she isn't eating as much as usual. Its hard to tell because now her sisters are starting to lay. They are from the same hatch and same breed.