Chick injured 3 days ago, now stumbling and falling backwards

[Lyndsie]

I have a 10 week old speckled sussex who has always been a bit of a runt. Smaller than the others and very friendly and docile. I picked her up this past Friday, and she did not want to be held. She squirmed out of my hands, and must have landed wrong. She squawked and ran into a corner of the coop. She doesn’t have any noticeable signs of physical injury, and saw her standing the very next day, but she didn’t seem to want to stand... she would just lay in the coop.
Yesterday, I noticed that she seemed to be losing her balance a lot. Today, she is much worse. She cannot stand up without staggering the falling backwards. I did a search and it sounds like this can be a symptom of maerks disease, which terrifies me. But the symptoms have only started since she flew out of my hands the other day. Other than being a little bit small, she was perfectly fine before that day.
She is eating and drinking a little bit but not much and we do not know if she is pooping or not. it seems like she may not be.
She is my favorite and I am devastated. Please help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @Lyndsie Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry to hear about your chick
If you have photos of her and her poop that you would like to share that would be good.

It sounds like she may have landed hard when she jumped, so it could be injury. The staggering and falling backwards are concerning though.
If you don't know if she's pooping, then you may want to cage her inside the coop (so she's still near the others) but you can monitor if she's eating/drinking and pooping. I would put down some puppy pads so you can get a good look.

Try to encourage her to eat/drink. I would also give her 400IU of vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex.

Getting a fecal float to rule out Coccidiosis overload is a good idea as well, just in case her symptoms are a coincidence.

It's possible with her age and a stress trigger (jumping/falling) that she is symptomatic of Marek's. There's no way to really know without testing.
Do what you can, make her comfortable, get her eating/drinking and give her a few days to see if she improves.

 

[Lyndsie]

Thank you so much! We found poop in her corner of the coop last night and it was black. We got a b12 liquid and gave it to her in an eye dropper. We’ve also been giving her eyedroppers of water with electrolytes in it. She eats some but we are not sure that she is drinking on her own. This morning, we saw her poop and it was normal. She seemed a bit more alert but was still falling over.
What is a fecal float and how do we get one?
Is there a way to test her for mareks without an expensive trip to a vet?
Thanks again.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much! We found poop in her corner of the coop last night and it was black. We got a b12 liquid and gave it to her in an eye dropper. We’ve also been giving her eyedroppers of water with electrolytes in it. She eats some but we are not sure that she is drinking on her own. This morning, we saw her poop and it was normal. She seemed a bit more alert but was still falling over.
What is a fecal float and how do we get one?
Is there a way to test her for mareks without an expensive trip to a vet?
Thanks again.

If you have photos or a video of her that would be good.

A fecal float is performed by vet, they take a sample of poop and look at it under a microscope to check for parasites.

I would try to encourage her to drink and eat. B12 may be helpful, but B-Complex has more of the B vitamins. For example B2 (Riboflavin) is good for the legs, B1(Thiamine) is often used along with Vitamin E to treat neurological symptoms, etc.

The only way to really test for Marek's disease is through necropsy. If you happen to lose her, then sending the body to your state lab will give you some answers.

 

[Lyndsie]

Here is a picture of her. I was told that her eyes look good, and that if had mareks they would not? I’ll get a video of her falling over this evening. She has always been significantly smaller than the other chickens. She had pasty butt when we first got her but we cleared it up pretty fast.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Here is a picture of her. I was told that her eyes look good, and that if had mareks they would not? I’ll get a video of her falling over this evening. She has always been significantly smaller than the other chickens. She had pasty butt when we first got her but we cleared it up pretty fast.

Is she just cute!

There are 4 forms of Marek's disease - Ocular, Visceral, Cutaneous and Neural.
With Ocular form, you may see the eye turn a gray color, the iris may be misshaped (keyholed).
With Visceral form, this is due to tumors on the internal organs.
Cutaneous Form affects the skin and feather follicles, basically crusty sore spots. Neural Form can be one or a combination - it affects the nervous system - paralysis of the leg(s) and/or wing(s), weight loss (wasting), difficulty breathing, loose stools, symptoms of Torticollis (Wry Neck). Some birds starve from wasting, while others may eat very well and only have paralysis symptoms.
Marek's is very complicated and even symptoms are not one size fits all. A lot depends on the severity of infection from the virus and what part(s) of the body it is affecting.
Here's one of the best article that I know of about Marek's, it was written by a BYC member that has Marek's in her flock. She has shared her research findings, hoping that is may help others have a better understanding.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

Hopefully with some time, rest and vitamin therapy, your little one will start to improve. Since she has always been small (runty), she may have a developmental or genetic disorder.

 

[Lyndsie]

I am having trouble uploading the videos. I’ll post them on the backyard chickens facebook page and link this post. basically she is sitting there eating grass looking happy but any time she tries to stand up she falls over. she seems very sad about being separate from the other chickens but when we try to put her with them they peck at her :-(
She is alert and eating and drinking and pooping though! seems like it might be the paralysis....

 

[Tylerblockbuster]

If its wry neck she would roll over and she would fall forward and look like she is trying to curl into a ball wry neck can be caused by falling so it's a possibility

 

[Lyndsie]

She always falls backwards. sometimes a little side ways but for the most part she just lands on her butt. she flaps her wings sometimes trying to keep her balance, then pretty much gives up and sits there on her bottom.

 

[Lyndsie]

This is how she is sitting on my lap right now. She ate part of an ear of corn that I fed her and loved it. she tried to fly down to be with the other chicks, and staggered and stumbled until she eventually fell over.