8 week old pullet limping for past 5 days

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Pandang81

Songster
Sep 5, 2021
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South Texas
Ok so I brought home a new 8 week old pullet 10 days ago. She’s a funky looking little cross between a Silkie & blue copper maran according to the lady who hatched her. We couldn’t resist when my kids & I saw how funny looking & cute she was so she came home with us…

So 5 days ago she began limping on her left leg. I noticed immediately when I saw her hopping around trying to keep up with the other pullets we have. So I separated her so she wouldn’t strain herself so much & could hopefully recover. For the past 5 days she’s sat in her own separate box with food & water. I gave her a mix of vitamin b complex in her water & some corid daily (because my other pullets that I had her mixed with had coccidia prior to me picking her up).
No other symptoms other than she seems more petite & grows slowly compared to my other pullets but I’ve only had her for 10 days so not enough time to really gage that. Her poop is normal, she’s eating & drinking. She just cannot stand on her left leg (she holds it up) and when she tries to walk she completely falls over most of the time. She shows no other illness signs, doesn’t hunch or close her eyes & I cannot find a specific injury on her leg or toe, I’m no expert though so it could be there.
She does have a fifth toe on the left foot (the left foot is the one that she’s having trouble standing on) And the right foot that she favors only has 4 toes (see pics). (Silkies have 5 toes & she is a mix).

I wondered if it could be meraks or another infection but it’s been 5 days & she’s eating & drinking & pooping completely normally & acting healthy with no worsening. So then it leads me to believe it’s an injury… but after 5 days I don’t understand why she’s not healing at all. No improvement but no worsening either. She still cannot walk on.

Any ideas on what it could be? Or what I can do to help? Could an illness still present itself this way after 5 days with the bird still eating & drinking & pooping normally? What can be done other than rest if it’s an injury? Or could the 5th toe be causing issues?
 

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funky looking little cross between a Silkie & blue copper maran

So 5 days ago she began limping on her left leg.

I gave her a mix of vitamin b complex in her water & some corid daily
What is "some Corid" are you treating for Coccidiosis or not? Are you giving the correct dose of 2tsp Liquid Corid or 1 1/2tsp Powdered Corid per gallon of water?
B-Complex contains B1(Thiamine). Corid is a Thiamine analogue that blocks the uptake of Thiamine in Coccidia = basically it starves out and reduces the number of Coccidia so the bird can build resistance. That said, "extra" B1 should not be given during the course of treatment of Corid.
Either cut out the Corid or the B-Complex. IF you opt for the B-Complex, then give her 1/4tablet once a day, just pop it into her beak and let her swallow it. Right now you are depending on her to drink enough water for the vitamins to be effective.
She just cannot stand on her left leg (she holds it up) and when she tries to walk she completely falls over most of the time.

She does have a fifth toe on the left foot
Do the toes fold under her foot when she walks?

Hard to know really what's going on with her. Could be some type of developmental issues that is now just showing up as she gets older. If it's vitamin/nutritional, then that should resolve in a few days with vitamin therapy.
Injury, if it's that, it can take weeks for improvement depending on what happened.
 
Chances are this is simply an injury that should heal in a couple weeks. Try giving her half a chewable 81 grain aspirin twice a day for pain. See if that causes her to walk better on the leg.

But be aware that Marek's strikes at around this age and it most often begins with the sciatic nerve slowly becoming inflamed. If this is Marek's, the leg will become worse while she will be eating, pooping and behaving mostly normally.

This is how we determine if symptoms are pointing to a chronic incurable disease or something that will heal in time. An avian virus gets worse, not better. Most everything else heals given the right meds and time and will show gradual improvement.
 
What is "some Corid" are you treating for Coccidiosis or not? Are you giving the correct dose of 2tsp Liquid Corid or 1 1/2tsp Powdered Corid per gallon of water?
B-Complex contains B1(Thiamine). Corid is a Thiamine analogue that blocks the uptake of Thiamine in Coccidia = basically it starves out and reduces the number of Coccidia so the bird can build resistance. That said, "extra" B1 should not be given during the course of treatment of Corid.
Either cut out the Corid or the B-Complex. IF you opt for the B-Complex, then give her 1/4tablet once a day, just pop it into her beak and let her swallow it. Right now you are depending on her to drink enough water for the vitamins to be effective.



Do the toes fold under her foot when she walks?

Hard to know really what's going on with her. Could be some type of developmental issues that is now just showing up as she gets older. If it's vitamin/nutritional, then that should resolve in a few days with vitamin therapy.
Injury, if it's that, it can take weeks for improvement depending on what happened.
Treating her 10ml per gallon of water. The corid blocks thiamin but b complex has several b vitamins so I have been giving both. So I should remove one? She shows no signs of coccidia.
 
Treating her 10ml per gallon of water. The corid blocks thiamin but b complex has several b vitamins so I have been giving both. So I should remove one? She shows no signs of coccidia.
I’ll have to look at her toe, hard to tell with her feathered feet & because she falls over so quickly once she tries to walk so she usually just sits & we have her food & water within short range.
 
Chances are this is simply an injury that should heal in a couple weeks. Try giving her half a chewable 81 grain aspirin twice a day for pain. See if that causes her to walk better on the leg.

But be aware that Marek's strikes at around this age and it most often begins with the sciatic nerve slowly becoming inflamed. If this is Marek's, the leg will become worse while she will be eating, pooping and behaving mostly normally.

This is how we determine if symptoms are pointing to a chronic incurable disease or something that will heal in time. An avian virus gets worse, not better. Most everything else heals given the right meds and time and will show gradual improvement.
Good to know. I have these 8 week old pullets in my garage & was planning on putting them in their own pen with my flock of layers this week but now that this has happened I’m quarantining them all in my garage for the next 30 days to be safe regarding the mareks. I’m going to ask the lady I got her from if she’s had any of her birds with illnesses. Hopefully she simply has an injury. She was very upset & vocal when I separated her from the other pullets.
 
Treating her 10ml per gallon of water. The corid blocks thiamin but b complex has several b vitamins so I have been giving both. So I should remove one? She shows no signs of coccidia.
B-Complex does have several B vitamins including B1(Thiamine)

What is "some Corid" are you treating for Coccidiosis or not? Are you giving the correct dose of 2tsp Liquid Corid or 1 1/2tsp Powdered Corid per gallon of water?
B-Complex contains B1(Thiamine). Corid is a Thiamine analogue that blocks the uptake of Thiamine in Coccidia = basically it starves out and reduces the number of Coccidia so the bird can build resistance. That said, "extra" B1 should not be given during the course of treatment of Corid.
Either cut out the Corid or the B-Complex. IF you opt for the B-Complex, then give her 1/4tablet once a day,
just pop it into her beak and let her swallow it. Right now you are depending on her to drink enough water for the vitamins to be effective.
 
B-Complex does have several B vitamins including B1(Thiamine)
@Wyorp Rock thank you for this. I’ve cut out the coccidia for her & now giving her the b complex tablets 1/4 dose orally. I also found this info …good to know!
https://bitchinchickens.com/2021/01/21/thiamine-vitamin-b1-deficiency-in-chickens/

Also I spoke to her breeder & she said all if her other chicks & adult chickens (she had many different kinds) are fine, no signs of illness. So I’m still hopeful.
 
@Wyorp Rock thank you for this. I’ve cut out the coccidia for her & now giving her the b complex tablets 1/4 dose orally. I also found this info …good to know!
https://bitchinchickens.com/2021/01/21/thiamine-vitamin-b1-deficiency-in-chickens/

Also I spoke to her breeder & she said all if her other chicks & adult chickens (she had many different kinds) are fine, no signs of illness. So I’m still hopeful.
I hope she responds to the vitamins.

Keep us posted.
 

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