Chicken loosing balance? What do I do?

[murphygirlwyondotte]

Hi guys-
I have 6 GLW's all about 3 months old. Blanche, my biggest girl, has all of a sudden developed a hard time standing in one place for more than 30 seconds and kind of walks a little wobbly. I've been monitoring her all morning (noticed this last night just before dark) and she still walks and runs occassionally, I also saw her jump/"fly" a few times. But she will kind of fall back on her hind legs and then plop down when standing in one spot. Her fingers will sometimes be curled up while this happens too. And she doesn't seem to be able to balance on one leg. She also will go lay down in shade or coop while the others free-roam; that could also be becuase it's been a hot morning so she wants to be in the shade? She will then go join the others after a few minutes of laying down. I offered them treats, corn and zucchini. Blanche did eat a little but she didn't come running at first sight of treats and I don't think she ate as much as the others. The other's don't seem to notice, I don't see any bullying signs so far. PS: all the other chickens are fine and show no such symptoms. Any suggestions on what I should do to help her? Or even on what this could be caused by? Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds like she could have symptoms of a riboflavin (vitamin B2) deficiency, but it also could be signs of possible Mareks disease. You can give her some human vitamin B complex 1/4 tablet, or 1/4 ml daily of the liquid. If it is a vitamin deficiency, you should see improvement within 2 weeks or less.

I would stop the corn and other treats that dilute the protein and vitamins in her chicken feed. She should be getting a chick starter/grower feed of 20% protein, and that has everything she needs. That should make up 90% of her diet, and it already has some corn in it. I do like giving a healthy snack occasionally, and usually it is scrambled egg, or a little fresh garden veggies such as the zucchini (not too much.) Here is some reading about riboflavin deficiency:
https://thepoultrysite.com/publications/diseases-of-poultry/217/vitamin-b2-deficiency

Though Mareks disease is less likely than an injury or vitamin deficiency, it still might be a problem. Here is some reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/