Chicken staggering and falling down

[Wyorp Rock]

If you haven't done so, offer some poultry vitamins to her. It looks like in that sweet photo with the little boy that she likes eggs I would use something like Poultry Nutri-Drench and put the drops on the eggs - this will give her a direct dose while she is enjoying her treat. Mine will gobble up eggs with vitamins on them.

I'm so sorry. I wish we had better answers, there is no way to know for sure without some testing. The only other thing I can think of would be to have a fecal sample tested for Cocci and worm overload and a gram stain for bacterial infection. This would rule those out, but, I do agree with Barbara that it does look like Marek's.

Marek's testing is done through necropsy, so if she doesn't make it you may want to consider sending her to your state diagnostics lab - I know this would be hard, but it would give you answers.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Look who's up doing chicken things today!! She was noticeably less impaired yesterday, and has woken up feeling almost spunky today. She is still a messed-up chicken, falling and stumbling. But she's been running around with the other girls, competing for treats, and acting like she's feeling better. I know it's likely a temporary rally, but I am glad to see her having a happier morning.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

I gave her Nutri-Drench and electrolytes and probiotics... no idea if those things helped, but I will sure give them again, in case that's what has her stronger.

 

[rebrascora]

Great to see that she is improved. All of those things may well help as they will support the digestive and immune system. I very much hope her improvement is permanent.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad to hear she is improving
Thank you for the update.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Aahhhh, poor Myrtle. She is really impaired now. The last three days have been really bad for her. She doesn't stand up at all, so any food and water she gets is what we set right in front of her. She is, of course, wasting away because we can't do as good of a job of nourishing her as she would do for herself. I think we have reached the point where it's an unkindness to allow her to linger this way. We have a vet friend who is coming over tonight to look at one of our guinea pigs, and I may ask her to help us release poor, sweet Myrtle. The kids are so sad :-(

 

[rebrascora]

I am so sorry to hear that she has taken a turn for the worse. If it is Marek's disease, she may be wasting away from tumour growth too. Muscle wastage is a symptom of Marek's.
Death is an important life lesson for children and whilst it is always sad, it's good to teach them the responsibilities of animal ownership and the difficult decisions that sometimes involves.
If you do make the decision to put her to sleep, I wonder if your vet friend might be prepared to do a basic necropsy for you. It might be educational and beneficial for them (more and more chicken owners are seeking veterinary assistance and very few vets have much knowledge of them) as well as help you to determine if there are any changes to your flock management that might benefit the rest of the flock. Finding a tumour would probably be enough to confirm Marek's without expensive testing. Checking the gut for parasitic worms may indicate that the rest of the flock would benefit from deworming etc. I appreciate it is not something everyone would want done to their pet or that the vet may not be interested or "that good a friend" but it is always useful to know what is ailing or killed a flock member if the opportunity arises.

Sending my sincerest sympathies to you and Myrtle.

Barbara

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

I am so sorry to hear that she has taken a turn for the worse. If it is Marek's disease, she may be wasting away from tumour growth too. Muscle wastage is a symptom of Marek's.
Death is an important life lesson for children and whilst it is always sad, it's good to teach them the responsibilities of animal ownership and the difficult decisions that sometimes involves.
If you do make the decision to put her to sleep, I wonder if your vet friend might be prepared to do a basic necropsy for you. It might be educational and beneficial for them (more and more chicken owners are seeking veterinary assistance and very few vets have much knowledge of them) as well as help you to determine if there are any changes to your flock management that might benefit the rest of the flock. Finding a tumour would probably be enough to confirm Marek's without expensive testing. Checking the gut for parasitic worms may indicate that the rest of the flock would benefit from deworming etc. I appreciate it is not something everyone would want done to their pet or that the vet may not be interested or "that good a friend" but it is always useful to know what is ailing or killed a flock member if the opportunity arises.

Sending my sincerest sympathies to you and Myrtle.

Barbara

Oddly enough, our friend who is a vet actually specializes in "exotics", which includes small animals that aren't just cats and dogs - so she does take care of lots of peoples' chicken flocks. But it's already a remarkable favor that she's coming out to our house to make a house call on our guinea pig - I can't believe she's willing to do that! She's doing it because our daughter is giving her son music lessons over the summer, and the ailing piggie belongs to our daughter. So they are trading services But I don't want to take advantage, nor do I have the financial freedom to pay for a necropsy... your points are excellent, because I now dread having others in our flock fall ill. They are all such pretty ladies, so happy and peaceful, just at the point of beginning to lay eggs for us. I would hate to start losing them to illness.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm so sorry about Myrtle

I agree with Barbara, it is very hard, but it is something that we all must face at some point. The kindest act of love for her is to let her go.

Having your vet friend do some investigating is a good idea, some people even perform their own investigation, have a look for anything out of the ordinary.

Alternatively, you could send her to your state lab - most of the time the information they give you is valuable and let's you move forward. Here's a link to your state diagnostic center in case you need it. https://www.animalhealth.msu.edu/

If you want to try yourself.

**WARNING** the following links contain photos and/or video of necropsy

http://vet.uga.edu/oldvpp/programs/afvet/attachments/how_to_necropsy_a_bird.pdf

Also a "video series" I believe there are 10 all together - this is a link to the 1st one

 

[rebrascora]

I understand. I hate to ask a favour of anyone and especially if they have already gone out of their way to help me.
If you are not too squeamish, it is possible to open her up yourself and look, but again, I accept that it's not for everyone. It is quite fascinating once you get over the emotional aspect. Some of us on BYC do this sort of DIY necropsy and share our findings via photos, so that we can discuss any abnormalities and perhaps come to a consensus on the cause of death. We are always keen to improve our knowledge by looking at other people's necropsy photos. There are threads here on BYC where you can share them if you are interested.
All that said, I would be wonderfully happy if your veterinary friend can effect a miracle recovery from Myrtle. X