Chicken can't stand up!

[Haley S]

I went outside today and my hen was behind the coop and could not stand up. She had blood on her comb so I took her inside to clean it up, but when I put her down again she just tipped back and just ended up sitting down. There doesn't appear to be anytihng wrong with her legs, but they just don't seem to work. Any possible causes?
Please help!

 

[kmenchicks]

Any chance that she ate something that she should not have? Is her crop normal?

 

[chickfan]

Of course I don't know what is wrong, but I'll tell you the story of one of my hens. She was perfectly fine....Several months old, at least. Suddenly her legs would not hold her up. She seemed healthy otherwise, and I was just beside myself. I immediately jumped on BYC to ask questions, and got replies from several others whose chickens were doing the same thing.
There is a disease called Mareks that will produce these symptoms, so I didn't know if that was to blame. One person on this board (I thought I'd never forget her name but I have!) suggested giving her Vitamin B Complex. It had worked for her chicken. So off to the store I went. Got a bottle of human B Complex capsules. Put the chicken in a cage, and opened capsules and sprinkled that vitamin in and on everything that went into her mouth. Everything. I didn't even pay attention to how much I was giving her, because I don't think too much could hurt her. This went on for about 2 weeks, and suddenly she was starting to stand. So I'd let her out of the cage every day, and watch her. Of course she was a target for the other chickens since she was sort of staggering there for a few days, so I didn't leave her alone. Finally she did start walking again. I was shocked! Now she is huge and has the biggest legs of any of the birds we have. You'd never know anything had been wrong.
And on the lighter side...suddenly she started crowing and liking the girls! That vitamin B is more powerful than I thought! So she went from being called Barbara, to Bob.
I don't know if this would help anything, but it sure won't hurt to try it. Just keep all food and water saturated witn the powder from the capsules. I had mine in a cage big enough to scoot around in, and she could managed to scoot to the food and water. Let us know what happens, please. I'm subscribing to this thread.
Lou Nell

 

[SmallFlock2012]

In Mid march I decided to start a small flock as a project for my siblings-something I knew they would enjoy. Everything went well...we bought 17 chicks (2 different breeds). On saturday I was making some improvements to the chicken coop when I noticed one of the chicks (about 7 weeks old now) wasnt moving like the others. It would not stand up and just sat there shivering. When I offered food and water to her she gobbled both right up. The other chicks werent picking on her so I left her under the heat lamp and went to check on her the next morning. To my dismay, the chick was dead and another chick was displaying the same symptoms. I expected to go in there on Monday morning to find her dead but she still lives...and is still unable to stand. I am guessing it is Mareks Disease ...is it too late to vaccinate the others? And will Vit B help prevent them from getting it (if it is indeed Mareks).??

 

[seminolewind]

If it's Marek's, most likely it does not happen fast. Your ailing chickens could have a variety of things. I would check around for bad things they may have eaten, or look and smell the feed.

If it is Marek's, nothing will help. And it's too late for a vaccine because they have all been exposed already.

Keep a good flock history. Like how old, how they died, if others died, a good history sometimes helps figure out what they have.