Chicken can't walk

[antheat]

Yesterday morning I saw one of the white easter egger hens was limping a little, not very noticeable, just a wee hitch in her step.

When we got home last night, she's completely lame and unable to walk.

I checked her entire leg (my knowledge of chicken physiology is rudimentary at best) and just above her foot it felt a little warm.

This morning she is panting and unable to do anything but flop around so I made sure she had food and water to hand and was in a quiet spot.

Now what?

Anthea

 

[dlhunicorn]

so if I am understanding you correctly this all happened within a very short (24-36 hours) space of time with no symptoms beforehand?
Can you give me more detailed info on this bird...age/breed/housing and environment conditions/feeding etc.?

 

[antheat]

Yes, no symptoms beforehand. I feed and water 2x a day and observe everyone to make sure I don't have any health issues.

There is no smell to the coop area, and clean water is available twice daily when I wash out the waterers and refill with clean water.

Age - erm, I think around 6 months - its an White EE pullet I bought about 2 months ago and they were 4 months old then, I believe. The other 2 white EE's are not showing any signs of anything, neither are the other 2 hens or the bantys.

Housing is in our garage, which is about 2000 sq ft in total, a metal building with the garage door kept open 24/7 unless its going to rain in which case I lower it until only a foot is open as its north facing so the rain comes in - the birds have one section - I'm not good at US measurements. They have a camper top if they choose to go in there - most roost on top of it on a wooden railing. There is a separate brooder area which is about the size, if a bit bigger, than the camper top. And you could probably get 4 camper tops, side by side in the coop area.

Feeding is a mix of scratch, layer pellets and chick starter as we have baby chicks at the moment. Also veggies, some corn from time to time, milo. They have access 24/7 to the poultry yard which has a pond, trees and grass, etc. Its about 1/4 of an acre.

The chickens share with the geese and ducks.

Thanks

Anthea

 

[horsejody]

Maybe she has Marek's. Which leg was it? Not always, but very commonly, Marek's starts on the left side. No matter what it is, I would isolate her in a small cage with food and water within reach.

 

[antheat]

Right leg.

she's unable to move at all now, laying on her side with her feet up close to her body. I tried giving her water, she swallowed it then threw it up.

I can't see any wounds or swelling or anything like that.

Anthea

 

[DAVENCHRIS]

My hen is doing the same thing, I posted a little earlier but i thought my hen had just gotten picked on and did not want to move. Now I took her out of the coop and have her in the house covered and warm. She ate a little and drank a little to. I put her outside for a while so I could watch her and she drug her self along the yard about 3-4 feet and then I bought her inside again..what do you know about Marek's? I am totaly new at this and I only have hens. pets & eggs. Any ideas what we can do? The stuff I have read on Marek's is to scientific for this layperson.

Chris

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Marek's is a herpes virus. It is found worldwide. It is everywhere in the environment that chickens or wild birds have roamed. The most common form is the paralysis one. Old timers used to call it range paralysis. Infected birds have a 95% mortality rate unless they are given intensive care (being isolated in a small cage with food and water within easy reach). Marek's itself is painless. The suffering comes from starvation, dehydration, being picked on and injuries because the bird is trying to move around. Even if the bird recovers, it will be a carrier forever. Most birds are exposed to Marek's and have the virus latent in their system. The disease manifests itself in times of stress or sometimes just out of the blue. We were hit with Marek's last year, and all of my chicks are now vaccinated. I have a Marek's survivor. Her name is Mildred. She is thinner than the other hens, and she walks with a limp. She is a sweet bird that gets along with the others and still lays eggs. The 3 weeks of intensive care were worth it to me to save her, but I won't chance it happening again.

Here is a link to a previous post.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=39918

 

[antheat]

I called Stillwater and the pathologist is of the opinion that she has botulism.

Anthea

 

[DAVENCHRIS]

What do we do?

 

[horsejody]

Sorry, I don't know anything about botulism, but I hope it all works out well. Hopefully, somebody here has experience with it.