Hey, all! It's been a LONG time, but I've been busy being home school teacher since school started back in August. I am back on because I have a chicken situation.
Something's up with our Mille Fleur D'Uccle hen, Millie. My father-in-law noticed her having issues walking while he was caring for our chickens the week after Christmas (we were in Colorado skiing). He assured that she was still getting her food and water (she would kind of hobble/scoot to it), and he put one feeder and waterer on the floor of the coop so that she had access. She was not able to get up on the elevated feeder or waterer for access. Upon returning home, the kids went out to gather eggs, feed, and water and watched Millie for a while, with her interaction with the others. They confirmed she was having issues getting around and that Coconut, our sexlink rooster, was "picking on" her. Then my 13-year-old spoke up and said, "It didn't look like he was picking on her, it looked like he was trying to mount her." I went out and watched and, alas, it appeared that Coconut was mistaking Millie's handicap as a submissive squat and trying to mate the poor girl. We brought her in the house, gave her a bath, and have been keeping her in a box. She still eats and drinks and seems to have her wits completely about her. She just can't get around normally. When she does try to move, it is more of a roll, hop-scoot sort of thing. She doesn't have much room to move around in the box, but when we put her on a towel on the floor is when she will occasionally try to move about. Her only other symptom is open-mouthed breathing.
I read up on Merek's, and I wondered about that, however none of my other chickens are showing any symptoms. All of my big hens and roos were vaccinated as chicks for Merek's, but not my bantams, which include a cochin, Millie, and two silkies. None of the other non-vaccinated bantams are showing any of the same symptoms.
I did give Millie some oral vitamins tonight to see if that helps. She's been inside in the box for about 10 days now, and the only things I've tried are the vitamins that I started tonight and I did check for a broken bone. I don't think there's a break, but I'm not really sure what to look for, either. I even thought that Coconut (who is easily 3x Millie's size) could have easily hurt her trying to mate her, but I'm not sure.
Insight?