We got a lot of information from this site, so it's our turn to give something back.
One of our hens, a Columbian Rock about 3 years old, started to stay on the ground and not roost at night. This was a first warning sign - which we ignored. After a week, she was getting weaker and started to do her own thing. After a few days she just rested on the ground, usually alone. We isolated her and checked for parasites and other stuff but were not able to find anything.
After a few days she started to walk unsteady and tumble. She was sometimes not able to control her feet, and we were very concerned she could have Marek's. At this point I noticed her crop being sour and we tried the usual stuff to help her. Nothing worked, not even manually emptying the crop. We decided to use Miconazole Nitrate to treat the yeast infection, which worked instantly. Phew.
Unfortunately, even after a few days, she still was not able to control her legs all the time. She was now losing weight rapidly and force-feeding was too stressful. It was strange, sometimes she was able to stand up but would tumble flat on the ground when she tried to turn. Sometimes she was able to do a few steps, but usually she was just sitting around with her legs in funny directions.
It was bad. We felt to have tried everything we could but her quality of life was miserable. We decided to cull. I got everything ready and when she noticed me coming she was standing up and seemed a bit more active. We decided to give her a few more days, but it was just a constant up-and-down.
We checked for signs of worms everywhere but could not find anything. The rest of the flock remained healthy too. We decided to deworm anyway and if it won't work finally cull her. We used Fenbendazole to catch as many worm species as possible, at a low rate of 25 mg per kg. 24 hours later - what a difference. She started to eat, got some energy back and was active. By now she is using her feet like nothing ever happened. We will now finish the deworming process and plan to re-introduce her to the flock soon, she is making great progress and gained some weight.
We hope this helps some of you if you happen to be in a similar situation. If you have any comments or suggestions, please share, we are still not 100% sure what she had.
One of our hens, a Columbian Rock about 3 years old, started to stay on the ground and not roost at night. This was a first warning sign - which we ignored. After a week, she was getting weaker and started to do her own thing. After a few days she just rested on the ground, usually alone. We isolated her and checked for parasites and other stuff but were not able to find anything.
After a few days she started to walk unsteady and tumble. She was sometimes not able to control her feet, and we were very concerned she could have Marek's. At this point I noticed her crop being sour and we tried the usual stuff to help her. Nothing worked, not even manually emptying the crop. We decided to use Miconazole Nitrate to treat the yeast infection, which worked instantly. Phew.
Unfortunately, even after a few days, she still was not able to control her legs all the time. She was now losing weight rapidly and force-feeding was too stressful. It was strange, sometimes she was able to stand up but would tumble flat on the ground when she tried to turn. Sometimes she was able to do a few steps, but usually she was just sitting around with her legs in funny directions.
It was bad. We felt to have tried everything we could but her quality of life was miserable. We decided to cull. I got everything ready and when she noticed me coming she was standing up and seemed a bit more active. We decided to give her a few more days, but it was just a constant up-and-down.
We checked for signs of worms everywhere but could not find anything. The rest of the flock remained healthy too. We decided to deworm anyway and if it won't work finally cull her. We used Fenbendazole to catch as many worm species as possible, at a low rate of 25 mg per kg. 24 hours later - what a difference. She started to eat, got some energy back and was active. By now she is using her feet like nothing ever happened. We will now finish the deworming process and plan to re-introduce her to the flock soon, she is making great progress and gained some weight.
We hope this helps some of you if you happen to be in a similar situation. If you have any comments or suggestions, please share, we are still not 100% sure what she had.
