Ameraucana chick can't stand or walk much - falls over

[PalmCityChic]

Hello - this chick, Lucy, is approximately 14 weeks old, she had some very bad health issues as a young chick, she wasn't growing or digesting her food, after many tests at the vet - we couldn't find anything wrong with her. Miraculously she made a turn and started growing and could even fly a little. Still she is very small compared to others her same age. A few days ago she showed signs of not being able to stand up. She would stand and her legs would collapse beneath her. I thought perhaps an injury, and I looked her over and could see nothing wrong. She is not showing improvement. Yesterday, I isolated her, she is in a pen right next to her friends, so she is alone but not lonely. She eats and drinks well - looks well - no other symptoms. Sometimes one of her legs will stick out to the side when she is laying down. I've researched the forums and can't seem to find something for this. Could it be Merecks? How could I tell if it's in fact an injury? Should I return to the vet ($325.00 last time and found nothing out, and I truly cannot afford that). Any help would be greatly appreciated! THANKS!

 

[Wyandottes7]

If you can see nothing wrong, she probably has either a vitamin deficiency or Marek's Disease. Vitamin deficiencies are actually rather common, but can be fixed. You could try getting some poly vi sol infant vitamins (without iron) from a supermarket, and start giving her a few drops a day. If this is being caused by a vitamin deficiency, this should help.

Unfortunately, if its Marek's DIsease, you won't be able to do much. The age range of 5-25 weeks is the most susceptible to Marek's, so that could be what she has. Do you know if she was vaccinated as a chick? If you try vitamins for a few weeks, and there's no improvement, Marek's is most likely.

 

[PalmCityChic]

Thank you so much! I have those very same vitamins I gave her when she was very little not digesting her food and not growing, I'll start them back up! I am going to call the feed store where I got her and see if they get their chicks vaccinated - I don't know for sure. THANK YOU! Pray for this little angle. She's had a rough go! Thanks again for your encouraging words!

 

[PalmCityChic]

Hello again,

I did find out that yes, she was supposedly vaccinated as a chick (hopefully - but I can understand how one little chick might have been missed).

Update - she started doing so much better with the vitamins - she began walking again and even flapped her wings like she wanted to fly. She is currently about 16 weeks old, but the size of a 5 week old chick. She has good days and bad days. Some days, she lies on her side and I think this is the end - and then the next day she is standing up!

She is living in my garage and we live in Florida - so the weather is fairly tepid, we do have a few cold nights and then I put a heat lamp near her for warmth. I'm still giving her the vitamins - have you ever heard of a chick that gets better than worse, then better again and back and forth?

Most of the time she has a hearty appetite, but she is very frail. When she was 5 weeks old, her food wasn't digesting at all, she stopped growing and she spent the day at the bird vet and they ran so many tests, but couldn't find out what was wrong with her. I had purchased 2 smaller chicks to keep her company - but they have grown way passed her - she lives in a pen right next to the other two (they were jumping on her and hurting her, so I had to separate them from her). This way she is not alone (although - those two are quite big enough to go out with the rest of the flock now).

Any more suggestions? Just keep giving her the vitamins and keeping her comfortable? Honestly, everyday when I go out to check on her I am so afraid she will be gone - and to my surprise - she is usually standing there looking around.

HELP - Any comments or suggestions are so very welcome! thank you from me and Lucy!