Doin the moon walk-HELP!

[luvmigrls]

So I said that to get your attention. I posted something about a week ago under an existing post but haven't gotten feedback.I have a barred rock going on her third winter. At first I thought this was just a hard molt(may be) but noticed that when she wanted to walk forward she went back until bumping into something while holding her head parallel to the ground. She is was practically naked, the temps are dropping and there has been a hawk hanging around. I have brought her to basement. The initial exam didn't show signs of mite or lice around vent, eyes, or feather shafts but I dusted her with Diatin Earth anyway along with her temp bed. I have treated her water with Wazen in case of worms. She is getting yogurt, tuna, apple, cabbage, and grains with oyster shell. I had read through several sites on symptoms/diseases and can not point to one thing in particular. The only common symptom I saw in any was nervous or un-thriftiness. Her poop is normal, no scaling or lesions on legs or skin, no swelling anywhere, no moisture under wings, no white on tongue, eyes seem normal, she is eating and feathers are starting to grow back but when she goes to walk she approaches things a little bit side step. I can't tell if she is still going backward being as to the small rehab area (refer box). I know I will think of more after I sign off but have to go to work. Will check for replies later. Any advice out there?

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

It could be a hard molt combined with a virus attack. The backing up with head tilt sounds neurological. I had a hen refused to walk and would spend hours rubbing her face on the floor. We (vet and I) never figured out exactly what caused it but the general idea was that she caught some virus from visiting wild birds. Whatever it was caused her to stop eating and then the neuro stuff was made worse when she dropped too much weight. If so and you can get her over the virus without incurring permanent brain/neuro damage she should be fine. Cher caught a doozy though. We managed to get her through a few weeks with syringe feeding baby bird food and she even put on weight but her 'tick' was still so bad she would fall out of the coop and even knocked the ramp down on top of herself. We had to put her down eventually. Se did recover a lot, even had a fair few 'normal' days but then she'd have days that were just horrible.

Hope your girl gets better.

 

[luvmigrls]

Thank you for your input. This year we have had a growing population of what I thought were morning doves reaping some of girls grain. But I took a baby one to the vet to ask for their help as I found it flopping around by the coop on morning. I took it in the house so it wouldn't get eaten by a cat or something. I watched it overnight and noticed that it could not stand up straight. It would drop its head and tip over sideways. When I took it to the vet the next day he said it wasn't anything broken but that the bird might have a concussion and brain damage. He said it could recover or be that way indefinitely. I didn't have time to nurse a wild bird to health, I had my hands full. Now that was about 1-2 weeks before I noticed Rocky's strange behavior and extreme feather loss. So I am wondering if that is where a virus came from. We also have a growing number of fox squirrel's invading the back yard. Do you know of anything used to treat a virus? She is still eating so that's not a concern for me right now. I think I read somewhere about apple cider vinegar in the water. I will try that for now. Thanks again, and sorry for your girl Cher.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

The vet gave her a series of antibiotic shots for a day and I think she got a shot of steroids. Otherwise it was TLC and wait. Antibiotics you should be able to get at a feed store, not sure about the steroids.

 

[luvmigrls]

Chick_IN_THE_Burbs

I am going to get some antibiotics that I can mix with her feed if they make one. But I may have more serious problems than I thought. Today I noticed one of my Americana's doing the backward walk too. And her tail feathers are gone. So I am thinking virus or worse. I am going back to do more research on diseases.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Hate to say it but the disease the doc thought it may have been with Cher was Meraks. There is a form that is neurological. Eradicating that as a possibility would be good first step.

 

[janinepeters]

Yes, I would say Marek's is likely, and yes, some wild bird species can carry it (including doves). But if both your chicken and the dove have Marek's, it could well be that your chickens gave it to the dove, rather than vice versa. Most flocks are infected with Marek's. Some chickens carry it without ever getting the disease, others become acutely ill and quickly die, and still others can carry it for years before succumbing to it, perhaps when stressed, as when in a hard molt. Vaccination helps, but is not 100% effective.

 

[luvmigrls]

Update on Rocky. I could not locate any of the antibiotics suggested here where I live. The only one available is something like Teramycin used in treating respiratory illness/disease. But I am hopeful that whatever the case, she seems to be holding her own. She was getting terribly depressed in the box in basement, and missing her sis's. Her feathers are growing back, she is eating, but is still thin. I let her out with the flock and she was anxious to graze. The weather has warmed up some so I set her spend the night in the coop. She stayed under the light. Last night she was in the outer part of the coop and was on her roost. Today she is hanging out with the other girls. Most importantly, she has not done the backward walk since we let her back out. I am keeping a close eye on her, as well as the other one that had started acting odd. I have not seen either do the backward thing. Someone mentioned vaccination for Marex. Other than talking her to the vet, not sure how to get a hold of the drugs needed. Guess I will go back to the site on marex to study it some more. Maybe there is a homemade concoction I do. Thanks to both of you for your time and help. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[chickenzoo]

If She is three years old I doubt its Mareks.. Since you have another hen doing it. ..I would say illness or injestion of something toxic. make sure their is no moldy feed they are getting off the ground..in a.corner etc.... Penicillian either human or animal or.for fish can normally be used for some illnesses. The one chicken I had with lowered head and backward walk had botulism or mold toxicity.

 

[casportpony]

If She is three years old I doubt its Mareks.. Since you have another hen doing it. ..I would say illness or injestion of something toxic. make sure their is no moldy feed they are getting off the ground..in a.corner etc.... Penicillian either human or animal or.for fish can normally be used for some illnesses. The one chicken I had with lowered head and backward walk had botulism or mold toxicity.

I was just talking to an avian pathologist and he said that chickens of all ages get Merek's.