3yr old Chicken went from normal to not walking in 5hrs

[Talisa]

I have a Barred Rock hen. She is around 3yrs old. Her comb has always been laid over on her head, she has always had issues laying eggs--even soft shelled ones. We have given her calcium supplements and that hasnt changed the egg situation much. She is and has been a very infrequent layer.

On Sunday we let her out, we have 5 chickens and 4 ducks all hens, and she was fine. (we have over an acre that has a privacy fence) When we got home 5hrs later she was laying on her side unable to stand or walk. We thought she might be egg bound but after an exam she is not. She has no missing feathers, no broken bones and everything feels fine. We have had her in her own cage covered and resting. We are giving her an antibiotic and vitamins in her water and feeding her high protein, calcium and greens along with her feed. She is eating, drinking and holding her head up. She had normal poo and has no drainage from her eyes or nose. She went from laying on her side to laying on her feet and able to stand and walk a few steps and talking to us a little.

My question is--what could this be? Has anyone else had this happen?

 

[oliv]

HI
sounds like you are doing all the right things and there has been improvement so that's good too start, other than that is it possible she had a tick? (not sure if you have paralysis tick where you are? another possibility is a kidney infection the nerves to the legs of birds run along side the kidney's so sometimes when they get a severe infection it can paralyze their legs..the anti b you are treating her with may fix that if the bacteria is susceptible these are the only things i can think of right now but i am sure there are others.. you might want to check the colour of the urea in her poo tho, the white is effectively the wee and should be quite a bright white, any discolouration to green or yellow can indicate kidney or liver issues.

very best of luck,
it is so nice to hear of people who treat their animals well.

 

[Talisa]

Her poo is completely normal. The white is very white. I am not sure about ticks--when we soaked her we found nothing on her. I read to give her Vitamin B for her legs so that is what we are going to start today. Every day she is showing signs of improvement but I would have liked to know what caused this so I can keep it from happening again.

 

[seminolewind]

Vitamins are good. Usually if a chicken becomes unable to walk in a short amount of time, it can be botulism, mold, or stuff like that.

 

[oliv]

so good to hear she is on the improve, sure she'll be out chasing bugs again soon.
good luck

 

[Talisa]

Is happy to say Tuesday the Chicken is up walking and talking again! We are going to keep her in isolation a few more days so we can give her lots of attention and treats! We are giving her oatmill with yogurt and egg and a side of romain lettuce all topped with vitamin B. We are still giving her the vitamins and antibiotic in her water. She should be better than ever in a few more days!

 

[Talisa]

UPDATE

Tuesday Chicken is back with her flock. We kept her isolated for a week (7days), 4 days too long for her liking. I'm not sure what was wrong or what helped but this is what I did:

I got some powder antibiotic from the feed store and put in her water. We also but some electrolytes and vitamins (power form also from feed store, they called it Perk Up) in her water. We gave her B Complex (human form) in her food--several pills crushed--and gave her extra treats. She had access to her feed as well as a mix we made for her. The mix was Yogurt, with raw egg, oatmill, Vit B and a side of Fresh greens.

By day 3 she was up walking and talking but we made her wait for day 7 to be let out. We watch her all the first day but she kept up with everyone and acted as if nothing ever happend.

So glad we were able to get her back to normal! We are planning to give her extra vitamins once a month to see if that keeps what ever this was from happening again.