Chicken canker and gait

[Chickensinramona]

I have a 5+yo ameraucana.

In the past month she has been acting very different. Fluffed up and in the henhouse. Not really interested in anything. I first chalked it up to being broody because she’s had this issue in the past. However when I picked her up I noticed a foul smell coming from her mouth. When I opened up her mouth I noticed that they were definitely cankers in her throat and in her mouth. I have ruled out wet pox. I was able to remove the large canker with no issue and the other ones in her esophagus area appear to have disappeared.

Her appetite is slowly returning. Today I watched her eat a mouth she found. Plus she is interested in packing at the ground and eating some scrambled egg, raw egg, and a little bit of scratch. I had been tube feeding her to ensure she was getting nutrients.

I started her out on metro – pro which is pure metronidazole powder. I didn’t see much improvement. Now I have her on medistatin which is nystatin. Her fifth and final dose of this will be tomorrow. She is completely separated from my flock and has the nickname of flower bed chicken because during the day I let her out to be in that area and at night she is locked in my garage.

I have done quite a bit of reading on canker and she seems to exhibit all of the symptoms including issues with gait. She is extremely clumsy on her feet and sometimes loses her balance.
Her droppings are watery with green formed pieces. She typically just wants to sit fluffed up and will occasionally move out of the sun and into a shaded place. Last night she had actually got back to her little bed I made for her on the patio when it was getting a little dark. It’s like she knew that’s where she needed to be before I brought her in. She also still preens herself.


So here’s the ultimate question. Do I just continue to tend to her and let nature take it’s course? Or do I euthanize her? She is completely alert and will click She will move around when she wants to. But she pretty much lives a very sedentary lifestyle. I just wonder if I’m holding on in hopes that she will recover. I keep thinking that if she had something that was terminal, she’d be dead by now. It’s probably going on 2 weeks that I’ve been treating her.

I have attached a picture of her droppings. I have a short video of how she walks too.

 

[Eggcessive]

It is always hard to know exactly what causes a gait issue, where they lose balance or the legs become weak. Mareks is usually a consideration. If you have not added a new bird in recent months, that makes Mareks a bit more unlikely. I had an older hen who was vaccinated for Mareks, come down with a similar gait issue. She could not stand up without falling backward or to one side, and spent about 5 weeks in a basket being handfed. She finally had enough, and began walking again with a slight wobble, but got around well enough to go anywhere she wanted. She died of a reproductive tumor or disorder about a year later. I have heard of abdominal infections having similar symptoms if pressure is put on the leg nerves.

Canker can make carriers of your flock, so watch for any others with symptoms. If you should lose the hen with canker, you might want to get a necropsy by the state vet, where they can look for a cause.