Another one down Update: worse today

[Qi Chicken]

First our rooster attacked my children so we had to rehome him. Then 6 weeks ago our welsummer became lame and we can't find a cause. Then 2 weeks ago both buff orps became broody and we can't break them. Now Amelia is down. This is becoming very stressful. I am so frustrated because so many diseases end up with them not being able to walk. I am just so sick of not knowing what the is going on with them. We have 13 hens and have been getting 8-10 eggs per day. We had three today.


1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Barred rock, 26 weeks old, average weight

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Went in to check the coop this am. All birds still on the roost except Amelia the barred rock. She was on the floor. Seemed to be staring up. Had difficulty walking. Falling over to the left side. Balance self with wing.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
No symptoms yesterday. Began this am 12 hours ago

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
None in the coop but one welsummer became lame 6 weeks ago. She is living in the kitchen. She is unable to stand at all really and could not from the beginning, it did not look the same as this. Have tried many remedies. None effective. I think she was injured. She is still laying and eating well but has extreme difficulty walking. She walks a little on her toes then sinks to her hocks. Never has exhibited classic Mareks pose with legs. No eye or feather follicle problems.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No. Her face seems very red. I don't know if it is more red than usual or not.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Don't know.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Eats kent brand layer pellets. Today gave her scrambled egg with polyvisol. Tonight put electrolytes in all the water. A few days ago somehow (?!?!?!) the tray that was screwed to the wall that held their oyster shell was broken off the wall. They have not had additional oyster shell for 4 days or so?

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
The one I saw was (very) green and soft

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Scrambled egg with polyvisol. Electrolytes in water. Isolated this am. Took her out this afternoon. Could walk normally but would fall to the side maybe 5 times in the 5 minutes I watched her. Would balance with wing. Tonight took her out and as we were setting up the new broody cages she got back into the coop. She was walking fairly normally and was able to get up onto the roost. I saw her loose her balance 3-4 times. ****SO SHE IS NO LONGER ISOLATED> MY HUSBAND THOUGHT IT WAS MORE STRESSFUL FOR HER IN THE CRATE. SHE WAS TRYING TO GET AWAY AND I DIDN'T WANT HER TO GET INJURED WHILE CHASING HER. i AM WORRIED ABOUT THIS SPREADING.......................

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
No vets nearby that will see chickens.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
No pic

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
10x11 coop with pine shavings, large run with sand. Free range evenings and weekends. 14 birds outside. One in kitchen.

If it at all possible that the chicken in the kitchen has Mareks and I am endangering my flock by keeping her I will put her down tomorrow.

edited for spacing

 

[looptloop]

I have no advice, so I'm bumping to the top for you.

Hope you find out something soon!!!

 

[Qi Chicken]

She is worse today. She is walking as though drunk. Kind of listing from side to side. Any advice. Please???

 

[Qi Chicken]

Can someone take a look at the list of syptoms and let me know???

She is the same but tipping over a little more. If anyone has ANY experience with this please help. She is not eating much etc. She is wiping her beak all the time and every time I go in there tries to crawl on my lap. This is not normal behavior for her.

 

[serendipityfarm]

The only thing that comes to mind is Marek's. I had a friend who lost some of hers a number of years ago to Marek's and the neuro symptoms are what sticks out in my mind. Maybe do a search on here and see what you find as far as a list of symptoms???

Either way, Best of Luck, I hope you get some answers soon!

 

[maizey]

Very sorry, but very interested, please keep us posted. Wish I had something to add that would help.

 

[Qi Chicken]

She is definitely worse. Tips over a lot. We have one sick one in the house. two broodies in two different pens and so she is now in the very secure outside run. I feel terrible for her out there. I'm sure she is scared and sick.

 

[slackwater]

Instead of Mareks, I'm going to propose leukoid leukosis. I had something similar hitting my flock, although they were a bit younger at the time (16-20wks). They would stop eating, lose weight, start using their wings to balance and eventually stop walking altogether. If I pushed them, initially they would struggle, but then they just gave up. They would pass after anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. Nothing I did helped.

Since I had it hit more than one bird at a time, I became alarmed that I was facing a Mareks outbreak. I had one bird necropsied, and it came back as leukoid leukosis. From what I understand, this is something they come to you with, that weakens their immune system and causes tumors similar to Mareks - and there is nothing you can do about it. They will either die from the disease itself or a secondary illness/infection. It is passed from hen to chick via the egg - doesn't transmit well from chicken to chicken horizontally.

So, the bad thing - there isn't anything you can do about it. The good thing - it's not overly infectious. It is possible that your welsummer has it and may still recover (I had two Polish cockerals exhibit neuro signs, but they have since recovered. It has taken a good 6wks or so). But...your BR may not. So sorry...but I wanted to share my experiences, in case that is what it is. Hang in there!

 

[ranchhand]

Has there been any opportunity whatsoever for them to get at mold or moldy food? That can present with symptoms very much like Marek's.

 

[PepsNick]

What's he vaccinated for? Not anything new he's been exposed to lately? So sorry. I haven't been having very good luck with my flock lately, either. Cure? More chickens!