Chicken paralysis

[chick56]

I have a 6 month old flock who never got any disease and was perfectly laying eggs until today when i saw her in her brooders she was not standing so i first separated her from other and start observing her . I found that from her body she looks dead ( not moving legs, wings , neck or head ) and she just open her eyes only . Another behavior I noticed is that after every 20 to 30 minutes she get an attack in she moves her every part aggressively and open her mouth real wide . i think she is in a real pain . she is not eating and drinking but when i drown her beak in water she drinks very little. pooped only once in whole day.

need advice on the disease.plz

 

[chick56]

reply plz anyone??????

 

[Eggcessive]

Has she been free ranging where she could have eaten something toxic? She sounds as if she could have symptoms of botulism from eating toxin from a dead animal or fish carcass, or vegetation that has been buried, containing botulinum toxin. Lead or chemical poisoning, poisonous plants, or eating molded feed could also be possible. Is anyone else sick? Did she have a Mareks vaccine? Mareks can show these same symptoms, but in most cases they come along more gradually. Try to get her to drink some electrolyte water or give her a few drops carefully, and let her swallow. Chickens who have botulism may survive if they live for 48 hours. Sorry about your chicken. Here is a link about botulism:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism

 

[chick56]

i was expecting this by seeing her condition so the whole day i was giving her water at intervals but she does not seems to be swallowing it. none of the other chickens are sick. thanx for the link

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm so sorry that she is not responding. Keep her inside and warm. Tube feeding would be possible to get fluids into her. A piece of aquarium tubing with one end melted to soften it so it doesn't have sharp edges, and a 35 or 60 ml syringe can be fashioned into a crop feeding device. I would give fluids (electrolytes for poultry, Pedialyte, or Gatorade) first to rehydrate, but afterward, you can use KayTee baby bird feed to feed her. Here is a series of links with videos on how to tube feed a chicken: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

Here are a couple more links on botulism:
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/field_manual/chapter_38.pdf
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/diseasecontrol/botulism/

 

[chick56]

thank you eggcessive you were always helpful...................till now i was only giving her crumbles mixed with water but now i will try this tube feeding hope she 'll be alright

 

[Eggcessive]

You're welcome. I was just looking at your thread from last month, and you had another (?) chicken that had problems standing. How did that chick get along? Did it live, or did you decide if Mareks could have been the problem? Mareks and botulism both affect the nervous system, and can also look similar to lead, chemical, mold, and plant poisoning. If you are in the US, a necropsy can be done on a chicken that dies to look for Mareks or other causes of death. Here is a link to find your state vet: http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

 

[casportpony]

Is she in a warm room or on warm water bottles? If not, she needs to be.

One of the thing I learned recently was that one needs to give warmed fluids at 15ml per pound, then do it *again* 60-90 minutes later. Doing it back to back like this, then maybe even a third time, must be done before tubing food. Tubing is contraindicated when they can't sit up, so beware that she may vomit, aspirate and die if she can't hold her head up. If you think her blood sugar is low, she might benefit from some corn syrup in her Pedaled or Gatorade.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Forgot to say that one should not give fluids a second or third time if the crop has not cleared.

-Kathy