7 week old with loss of balance, finding it hard to stand - Updated - it was cocci?

[leadwolf1]

I am so glad that she is doing better!!! Coccidiosis can cause some strange things to happen!

 

[soler]

hopefully this is it.......! I'll update in a few days. thanks so much for all the advice on this.

 

[SSTupperware]

best of luck...

 

[soler]

Just wanted to confirm - it was the cocci that caused the inability to walk. She made a full recovery after the Corid, and i haven't even wormed her yet.

 

[leadwolf1]

That is such great news!!!

 

[soler]

That is such great news!!!

i know!! thank you so much for all your support and ideas on this one. It was a massive learning experience... my main takeaway of which is, always test the poop right away! and put a lot of calls through to the dept of agriculture poultry vet.

BTW - for anyone in NY state, i have the email of the poultry vet specialist that works for the department of agriculture - it is her job to take calls and emails with poultry questions. She knows which diseases are common, and can arrange necropsies etc. She was very helpful to me. Send me a private message if you need her details.

 

[aquaponics3712]

I have a baby girl born May 23rd, 2013 (almost 3 months). On Thursday evening, I noticed that she was having trouble walking and her bottom was caked in diahrea. (I did not notice any blood at this time.) Her comb and wattle were pastey white. The first thing I thought was that she was dehydrated so I started giving her water in a syringe but when water was given to her she DID drink it on her own as though she was VERY THIRSTY. She also ate the food I gave her on her own. I kept her inside for the night to watch her. By Friday morning she was pooping blood. It looked like she had been cut and was free bleeding - it was so running and thin. She was soooo week and was falling over and would try to stand but was unable to.

I checked this forum and went to TSC asap and got Corid. I began giving that to her immediately at 11:30 am Friday. I also put save a chick in her water to help with the dehydration. Within a couple of hours she looked a little stronger and the color was starting to come back to her.

(I medicated all of my hens and other chicks as well just in case.) I then cleaned out all of the bedding from the house and replaced it with new pine shavings. I moved their run as well to offer new grass/soil.

I put some of her medicated water onto her food to make sure she was getting medicated no matter whether eating or drinking.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, she was sitting up (still inside in my bathroom) looking much more alert and the bleeding looked to have completley stopped. By 4 pm, her poo was firming up quite a bit and still no blood. She was now trying to walk more but was still off balance and could only take about 4 steps (or what looks more like wobbles.) Another thing that I enjoyed was hearing her start to chirp again. She hadsn't done that the day before.

This morning (Sunday) around 5 am, I found her behind the pedistal sink lying on her back, her feet sticking stretched out- lying perfectly still. This freaked me OUT! I thought she had died in the night, but she I supposed had fallen backwards and gotten stuck back there. (Or perhaps she was sleeping as she wasn't struggling to get up....I didn't wait to find out - I was so panicked and grabbed her up from there!).....anyway.....she is still on the corid for 2 more full days (she has been on it for 54 hours). I have taken her outside in her own little doggie pen so that she can get sunshine and can at least hear her chicken brothers and sisters to hopefully encourage her to hurry up and get better! I am sitting and watching her while I work by the kitchen window so that nothing can get to her.

BUT I am still concerned -

She is alert, and if she weren't trying to walk, I would have no idea anything was wrong with her. She eats, drinks, pecks at the ground. But when she tries to stand or walk, she is still very wobbly and sits down most of the time. She can only take a few "unsure" steps. I am wondering if anyone else's chicks took this long to get their legs back? And I know I can't give her vitamins for the duration of the corid treatment, so is there anything I can do? Or do I just have to wait this out?

Thanks for any suggestions!!

 

[aquaponics3712]

UPDATE!
I am SOOOOO excited!

Last night, she was still stumbling and very weak. MUCH better than 5 days ago, but she still couldn't walk more than 2 or 3 steps at a time. So, I made some eggs for her with corid on them and I gave it to her at about 9 pm. I checked on her 3 times in the night and she was sleeping the whole time. ( I am keeping her in my bathroom until she is strong enough to hold her own with the flock.)

And this morning when I opened the door to the bathroom she was standing at the door. I reached down to pick her up like usual to give her her medicine water and she RAN FROM me, flapped her arms and sqwaking around the room. (I was secretely THRILLED!) I showed her a treat (more eggs) and she came running TO me this time.

I can't tell you how excited I am to see her up and running, strutting and bobbing her little head. I was so worried that she might never walk again. But what seemed like over night (actually 5 nights) she is now I'd say 90% back to her normal self.

Thanks so much for your support and for everyone who posts their experiences on this forum! My chickies lives have been saved as a result!!