Chicken struggling with balance

[Fourchicken07855]

I'm sorry to hear about Buttons. It's hard to know what happened with her, but from your description of symptoms and the photo, I would suspect she was suffering from a reproductive disorder. Pertitonitis, cancer, tumors, Salpingitis, internal laying, etc. are sadly common in laying hens. Fatty Liver Syndrome is something else that hens can suffer from and it may also accompany reproductive issues. Unless you send the body to your state lab or perform an informal necropsy yourself, it's speculation on our part.

Now, the other hen that you are concerned about - puffed up, bum low - how hot is it where you are? What do you feed including treats? Has this hen been laying eggs (all normal hard shelled eggs)?
Look her over for lice/mites, check to make sure her crop is empty in the morning before she eats/drinks.
Get a good look at her poop and if possible, collect some samples and have your vet check for worms.

This is very helpful as we are beginning to doubt it was Mareks after all. We are in English countryside so it isn’t too hot generally. We feed them Layers Pellets from our local riding store everyday and as a treat Mealworms also from our local riding store. We are not sure that she has been laying though. We have been getting 2 out of 4 eggs for the last two years so Buttons wasn’t laying. We are wondering if this is maybe a clue to why she died and now she is dead we are still getting two eggs so quite clearly Deli Ali (the sick chicken) is also not laying. We will check her over for lice or mites and check her crop every morning and see if she improves. Thank you so much for what you and everyone are doing to try and help, our fingers are crossed for Deli Ali and hopefully she makes it.
(if you are wondering, my brother named her after a male footballer from his football team so that explains her name)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is very helpful as we are beginning to doubt it was Mareks after all. We are in English countryside so it isn’t too hot generally. We feed them Layers Pellets from our local riding store everyday and as a treat Mealworms also from our local riding store. We are not sure that she has been laying though. We have been getting 2 out of 4 eggs for the last two years so Buttons wasn’t laying. We are wondering if this is maybe a clue to why she died and now she is dead we are still getting two eggs so quite clearly Deli Ali (the sick chicken) is also not laying. We will check her over for lice or mites and check her crop every morning and see if she improves. Thank you so much for what you and everyone are doing to try and help, our fingers are crossed for Deli Ali and hopefully she makes it.
(if you are wondering, my brother named her after a male footballer from his football team so that explains her name)

Feel of Deli Ali's abdomen below the vent between the legs for any bloat/swelling or feeling of fluid.
I'm sorry she's not feeling well.

 

[Fourchicken07855]

Sorry for not updating sooner but unfortunately we lost Deli Ali on the twenty seventh of Jul. Thanks so much for all advice given to us. The other two are doing fine so we don’t think that they were affected by the disease. We still don’t know what caused either of our chickens deaths but have decided against it being Mareks. Thanks again everyone

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss

 

[lynx04]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your precious chickens. That's always so hard. I just want to add that I have an 11-week old pullet who has similar symptoms, except that she also had stinky, mucousy diarrhea. She also was really thin and dehydrated. But she was vaccinated for Marek's so I'm pretty sure it wasn't that. Going to http://www.poultrydvm.com/views/symptoms.php I narrowed it down to either roundworms or
Avian Spirochetosis

See more at: http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/avian-spirochetosis

I treated her for the roundworms and only saw a mild improvement. But I've been treating her with Denagard for a little over a day for the Spirochetosis and am definitely seeing improvement. The diarrhea is gone and she's regaining her balance, little by little. The key has been to keep her hydrated and fed. That has meant that I've had to separate her from her sisters for a couple of hours at a time and often forcing her to drink water with a syringe (just a few drops at a time and then she perks up and starts drinking on her own). Once she starts drinking, then she starts eating like a trooper.
I can't say that we're out of the woods yet, as it really seems like a 3 steps forward 2 steps back sort of thing. But she does really seem to be improving. Tonight she was able to stay on the perch for a minute or two with me only spotting her and she's plumped up a little. I think that's progress, but then who knows what I'll find tomorrow when I go down to their cage.

Anyway, once again, I'm so sorry for the loss of your chickens.