Chicken that can work wings and everything else can’t walk.

[dialuann]

This is about my hen, whom I posted an older thread about: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/please-help-my-silkie-showgirl-she-can’t-walk.1606556/

Chicken that can work wings and everything else can’t walk. She tries to pull herself upward to stand, and is successful in that department, but she just can’t walk. No matter how hard she tries, she just can’t walk.

 

[Papaye]

I have read all the posts on your other thread...

My favorite rooster - around one-year-old - is in the SAME condition than your hen.
(Except for one thing : he does NOT shake!)

...I'm giving the poor boy away soon in order to ease his life and give him a chance to heal from his walking problem : indeed, the one who will retrieve my rooster has a sufficiently flat plot of land AND bigger entrances to his coop than I have for now...

I'm persuaded my rooster CAN be healed, but it could take several months...
Sadly, for now, I am not equipped to ease his life with his disability...

But my rooster is a giant Brahma, and I'm pretty sure his walking problem comes from his weight : wounded or NOT, he seems to be unlucky enough to be one of these chickens that end paralysed because they can not support their weight...
(Or could also be the aftermath of a stroke, but again : whether there is a connection or not, he can not support his weight anyway.)

...Your hen, giving her breed - is probably most likely to have had a stroke than a genectic (weight) problem!
(UNLESS she really did hurt herself by jumping from the perch, and it actually reverberated on her back...? That COULD be possible!!)

Or her disability could also be due to a wound - apparent OR not - on the head...
Hard to tell.

In any case, don't seem to be Marek. But I am no expert...

...Giving her eggs to eat, especially yolks, EVERYDAY, can only help her.

(You need to keep her happy to make her want to live...!!)

...What can you tell about your hen?
Tell us ALL you can think about her : previous and current diet, overall behaviour, where she is coming from, if she (completely or not) did stop shaking, etc...
Write a novel if you feel you have to, but please : write in paragraphs...!

Did you vaccinate her?
If yes, with what vaccines...?
I am not worried about diseases here... but concerning side effects from vaccines, on the other hand...

Also, what products, external (even for the coop) AND internal, do/did you use exactly?
...I don't know where you are from, but since I noticed some people like to use chemical products that could be so dangerous I don't even understand how people could recommend them instead of natural products that have so much LESS risks to be harmful while being at least equally effective... I would SERIOUSLY worry about adverse events generated by some components of such (chemical) products if ever you used some of them...!

So, would you mind giving a list, just so we can (try to) verify the components of the products you use(d) - IF you use(d) them?
Because the gait of your hen could very well be the result of a bad reaction/response to a toxin, for example : after all, could also be a neurological disorder... knowing that all kinds of paralizis do NOT necessarily seem to be neurological even if they are...!!

(Also, just so you know : your hen has so much difficulty moving in your house, in her condition, because the floor is too SMOOTH.
I am NOT telling you to put her outside, of course NOT... but I am just telling you here her gait could be A BIT better outside...
Nevertheless, I really would recommend you to keep her INDOOR for now : outside is much too cold - if you have winter like me -, and since heat stimulates cell regeneration, you need to keep your hen WARM so she can heal faster and better.)

 

[dialuann]

I have read all the posts on your other thread...

My favorite rooster - around one-year-old - is in the SAME condition than your hen.
(Except for one thing : he does NOT shake!)

...I'm giving the poor boy away soon in order to ease his life and give him a chance to heal from his walking problem : indeed, the one who will retrieve my rooster has a sufficiently flat plot of land AND bigger entrances to his coop than I have for now...

I'm persuaded my rooster CAN be healed, but it could take several months...
Sadly, for now, I am not equipped to ease his life with his disability...

But my rooster is a giant Brahma, and I'm pretty sure his walking problem comes from his weight : wounded or NOT, he seems to be unlucky enough to be one of these chickens that end paralysed because they can not support their weight...
(Or could also be the aftermath of a stroke, but again : whether there is a connection or not, he can not support his weight anyway.)

...Your hen, giving her breed - is probably most likely to have had a stroke than a genectic (weight) problem!
(UNLESS she really did hurt herself by jumping from the perch, and it actually reverberated on her back...? That COULD be possible!!)

Or her disability could also be due to a wound - apparent OR not - on the head...
Hard to tell.

In any case, don't seem to be Marek. But I am no expert...

...Giving her eggs to eat, especially yolks, EVERYDAY, can only help her.

(You need to keep her happy to make her want to live...!!)

...What can you tell about your hen?
Tell us ALL you can think about her : previous and current diet, overall behaviour, where she is coming from, if she (completely or not) did stop shaking, etc...
Write a novel if you feel you have to, but please : write in paragraphs...!

Did you vaccinate her?
If yes, with what vaccines...?
I am not worried about diseases here... but concerning side effects from vaccines, on the other hand...

Also, what products, external (even for the coop) AND internal, do/did you use exactly?
...I don't know where you are from, but since I noticed some people like to use chemical products that could be so dangerous I don't even understand how people could recommend them instead of natural products that have so much LESS risks to be harmful while being at least equally effective... I would SERIOUSLY worry about adverse events generated by some components of such (chemical) products if ever you used some of them...!

So, would you mind giving a list, just so we can (try to) verify the components of the products you use(d) - IF you use(d) them?
Because the gait of your hen could very well be the result of a bad reaction/response to a toxin, for example : after all, could also be a neurological disorder... knowing that all kinds of paralizis do NOT necessarily seem to be neurological even if they are...!!

(Also, just so you know : your hen has so much difficulty moving in your house, in her condition, because the floor is too SMOOTH.
I am NOT telling you to put her outside, of course NOT... but I am just telling you here her gait could be A BIT better outside...
Nevertheless, I really would recommend you to keep her INDOOR for now : outside is much too cold - if you have winter like me -, and since heat stimulates cell regeneration, you need to keep your hen WARM so she can heal faster and better.)

Hi!
Thank you for your response!

We did not buy her, she was hatched off here on 6 August 2023, making her five months old! She is a Turken-Silkie-Showgirl! Since about this week, she has had a baby chick chirp still! So cute. Her mom took care of her well until she was two or three months, I believe.

Up until recently, she was perfectly healthy. There were no signs of disease or any issues in her. When she was a baby chick, she used to eat Chick Starter Grower until she was about month or two, which I have now heard that that was bad until the hens lay eggs. When she got off of her Chick Starter Grower, she started eating the feed the rest of the flock ate at the time (which is mentioned in the thread!).

Also about her diet, she usually ate, as a treat, bread. The bread was the usual store-bought bread.
The rest of the flock ate the bread pieces as a treat, too, so if it was the bread, I would think many of them would be having issues—I think. She also ate as a treat tomatoes, too, which the rest of the flock enjoyed. She also had pumpkins as treats.

We have never used chemicals to clean the coop before! We typically scoop out old pine shavings and replace them with new pine shavings, which occurs in the coop floor and in the nesting boxes. We wipe down roost poles, etc. There is no mold in the coop that we know of.

We have never vaccinated our chickens before!

She was never much of a skittish chicken. She wasn’t much of a fan of being held, but she ate from your hand. She was rather friendly, and was not being bullied by the other flock members, although, as I have heard, the flock members still could have striked/attacked her, even if they seemed friendly.

Yes, I have heard about the grip issue inside the house! Whenever trying to walk inside the house, she does do that, even if she is much more of a better walker outside. She had made improvements in how she sits (much more upward and normal-looking), and she has being trying to stand finally! She was started to stand (or at least pull her feet and legs more upward) when she’s not sleeping or actually sitting down!

I hope this helped!

 

[Country Birds]

So I don’t have even a smidgen of knowledge that a lot of others have on this site, however, I recently lost one of my little bantams to a similar problem. In my case, a family member was feeding a lot of scratch grains and food scraps to my chickens daily and I think it led to a vitamin deficiency, which showed itself in the smallest chicken first.
Maybe try adding a vitamin supplement to your chicken’s water and stopping all treats for awhile to see if that helps? I’m sorry I’m not more help, I know it can be stressful when you don’t know what’s going on with your chicken!

 

[venovee]

I saw in your other thread that you were giving her vitamins and they seemed to be helping, are you still doing that? I think she may have a vitamin deficiency from not getting enough nutrients from her food (chicks should eat Starter Grower until they reach laying age, around 18-20 weeks). The vitamin deficiency may have caused the muscles in her legs to weaken or even atrophy, especially since she hadn’t been using them for a while.

I’d keep giving her vitamins and trying to get her to walk around on her own, basically exercising the muscles she’s not been using. Since she can already stand again that’s a good sign that she’s made improvement!

I’m by no means an expert on the topic, so I’m just using knowledge of anatomy and how I think this should work out lol. Keep us updated!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is about my hen, whom I posted an older thread about: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/please-help-my-silkie-showgirl-she-can’t-walk.1606556/

Chicken that can work wings and everything else can’t walk. She tries to pull herself upward to stand, and is successful in that department, but she just can’t walk. No matter how hard she tries, she just can’t walk.

I'm sorry that she's still not improved.

You've corrected her feed/nutrition and have also been giving her vitamin therapy for about a month or so.
If she's not improved by now, then she may not at all.
Marek's is a good possibility, but no one can know unless you lose her and have testing performed.

Quality of life needs to be considered every day. She may live a long time this way and if you are willing to continue to hand feed her, keep her in a sling, clean her and tend to her daily needs that's very good. Do continue to monitor her, in the other thread you mentioned she was beginning to get some pressure type sores which can be common when mobility is limited, but they also need to be taken care as well to prevent infection.

She's a cute little thing. I wish there was more that you can do, but it seems like Vitamin Therapy and nutrition is mainly the only things that can be suggested.

 

[Papaye]

Hi!

Thank you for answering. (And for writing in paragraphs!!)

Up until recently, she was perfectly healthy. There were no signs of disease or any issues in her.

She could actually be the "weakest" of the chicks, and you did not notice.
(That would NOT be your fault : sometimes, there really are no obvious signs!!)

But I am not telling you she is! Just it could be possible...

When she was a baby chick, she used to eat Chick Starter Grower until she was about month or two, which I have now heard that that was bad until the hens lay eggs.

Hmm... I don't know if I understand what is that you call "Chick Starter Grower".
Is it the crumble/pullets I saw (on the internet) they sell to feed chicks from birth to 16 weeks...?

If it is, I don't know how they could think it is a good idea to sell the food such as...!!

(...Customer should be able to rely on the informations written on the products they buy, and so, be CORRECTLY informed - here on the needs of chicks - by the maker/seller...
Indeed : preferably, 0-8 weeks old and 8-16 weeks old chick should NOT be fed the same thing.
Not that would kill them, of course... we don't need to EXAGGERATE...! But it IS right that some foods are just better to give to chicks depending on their age AND their needs.)

From birth through 5 weeks, I would have recommended you to give them Chick Starter Feed.
We call it "Premier Âge" in France, and it is made and used for (feeding) chicks, ducklings, and goslings (among others, since it is also used by people who give it to other baby birds they own)...

There is two types of Premier Âge I know of, since they are the only ones I can find and buy not too far way from my place :
- pellet crumbs;
- mixed cereals (crushed/broken specifically so chickens and ducklings can eat them without risk of choking).

(I personally prefer AND would recommend to use mixed cereals (with broken/crushed peas - should I call them "split peas"?), because cereal mix just LOOK better than crumbs (for the babies)...
...In the past, I even actually noticed the ducklings I fed cereal mix were very obviously growing stronger than the ones I fed crumbs...!
BUT, in case you would be interested to know for your next chicks : the babies having the better and the healthiest growth were ultimately the ones I mixed food grade Diatomaceous Earth in the food...!
Even the smallest of them, that I was scared would not survive, has eventually grown strong...!)

Premier Âge (Chick Starter Feed) is used from birth through 5 weeks...
...after which we then start a food transition by mixing Premier Âge with Deuxième Age (...what you would call "Chicken Grower Feed", I think?).

And at 8 weeks old, the chicks should preferably NOT be eating any Premier Âge/Chick Starter Feed anymore!

Also about her diet, she usually ate, as a treat, bread. The bread was the usual store-bought bread.

...Is the bread you tell is "store-bought" the French kind, or the soft kind (you know : the one used to make Croque-Monsieur...)?
Sorry for the stupid question.

You can give your chickens the French kind one as a treat - once a week -, but I would personally not give the soft one...

Nevertheless : I am pretty sure giving bread to your hen did NOT cause such a paralisis...

The rest of the flock ate the bread pieces as a treat, too, so if it was the bread, I would think many of them would be having issues—I think.

Actually, it is NOT because only ONE chicken from all a flock would end in such a condition that food is not bad/dangerous, and so, not to be blamed.

Some chickens will die from eating some food, while others won't have any symptoms...
In such, they are like people : some die from food poisoning, and some are still healthy after eating the same thing that killed other people.

But again : you don't have to worry being responsible for your hen's paralizis, because you are NOT.

She also ate as a treat tomatoes, too, which the rest of the flock enjoyed.

Be aware tomatoes, like other members of the nightshade family, contains a compound called "solanine".
...Solanine is toxic to chickens.

If you want to give tomatoes to your chickens, you have to be careful the tomatoes are riped : red, juicy, and NO GREEN PARTS.
(Do not give them leaves or stems!!)

There are people who recommend to cook the tomatoes to give them to chickens, but I personally don't think it is necessary if the tomatoes are sufficiently ripe?

She also had pumpkins as treats.

...I would tell you I really think that : YOU ARE DOING REALLY, REALLY GOOD BY GIVING HER PUMPKINS!!!

(Give pumpkins to your flock, and your birds will love you.)

We have never used chemicals to clean the coop before! We typically scoop out old pine shavings and replace them with new pine shavings, which occurs in the coop floor and in the nesting boxes. We wipe down roost poles, etc. There is no mold in the coop that we know of.

We have never vaccinated our chickens before!

That's great, because you at least know YOU did not cause any neurological damage to your hen.

Indeed : by not using chemicals AND not vaccinating your chickens, you did not harm her with some toxic components...!

She was rather friendly, and was not being bullied by the other flock members, although, as I have heard, the flock members still could have striked/attacked her, even if they seemed friendly.

They could, indeed...
...If they did, they could have wounded her; and if they did hurt her and you did not notice, it would be probably because it would have resulted in an internal injury IN the head...

Chickens can easily die from a blow to the head...

I actually had a young hen that died from that : she was in her coop when I did hear her being very vocal... and next thing I know, I hear a big "BOOM!!!" in the coop...
When I did go to see what happened, she was dead in the next box.

What I think happened to her :
1 - she was going to lay her first egg,
2 - another hen, or one of the stray cats, got in the coop and scared her,
3 - being frightened, she wanted to ran away,
4 - since she could NOT get out of the coop, she made big movements out of fear,
5 - in her panic, she eventually hit her head on the roof of the coop (possible, because of the fact this coop is an Eglu Cube),
6 - shocked by the hit, she just fell dead.

...Chickens are fragile. So they really can easily die from a blow to head - EVEN from simply being PECKED... but/and if it missed, they can then be end up paralized...
Such as your hen, or my rooster...

She had made improvements in how she sits (much more upward and normal-looking), and she has being trying to stand finally!

Congratulations to you!
You really take good care of her.

Even if her condition worsen again eventually - could happen; life is life -, know you really can be proud of yourself!

I hope this helped!

Yes, it did.

In my opinion, your hen's condition really can only be the result of a wound (in her head or in her back), OR be the aftermath of a stroke...
Not Marek, not a poisoning from chemicals, not even Vitamin Deficiency - since you ALREADY have given her enough vitamins...
...Obviously not mites or lices either, or worms, or whatever... you know?

Your hen... just was not lucky. Can happen, and nobody could have done anything to prevent her paralisis...

...Let us know how she is doing over time, please! Thank you.

(Again : you are doing great! Whatever happens to your hen afterwards, you deserve to be told it.)