Had to break a broody hen, now she has balance issues, help?

[Anime2lover]

I had a hen that was broody for a exile. We had to break her because she wasn't eating enough and we noticed how weak she was getting. She couldn't even stand and walk without losing balance. When she stood she stood with her front end in a downward position. We separated her and she got better for about a week, until I noticed yesterday that she had regressed back to what she was when we found her.

She eats and drinks just fine, and her poop is normal. She is also still highly alert and tries to run when I come close.

Any ideas??

 

[Anime2lover]

Anyone??

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Can you post a picture of her posture or a video of her walking?

Might she have been injured? Have you tried vitamin therapy?

 

[Anime2lover]

Can you post a picture of her posture or a video of her walking?

Might she have been injured? Have you tried vitamin therapy?

Cannot do video. She can't even lift her head to eat now. She didn't eat at all yesterday either. I thought vitamin deficiency only happened in younger birds.

 

[Sunshine009]

Any chance it's lice or mites? A big enough infestation can cause anemia which might explain weakness. It's common in broody hens since they spend a lot of time just sitting in bedding instead of walking or roosting. I'd imagine you might've noticed if that were the case but you never know.

Feed lots of high protein food regardless if she'll take it, or gently force-feed. Syringe water into her mouth, but carefully as to not push it into her lungs. Mealworms, cooked eggs, red meat.

 

[Anime2lover]

Any chance it's lice or mites? A big enough infestation can cause anemia which might explain weakness. It's common in broody hens since they spend a lot of time just sitting in bedding instead of walking or roosting. I'd imagine you might've noticed if that were the case but you never know.

Feed lots of high protein food regardless if she'll take it, or gently force-feed. Syringe water into her mouth, but carefully as to not push it into her lungs. Mealworms, cooked eggs, red meat.

No, lice or anything seen on her. I checked on her just now and she has a gullet full of fresh food. Took these pics to. She also held her head up on her own this time (somewhat)

 

[Anime2lover]

?

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Hard to know what's going on.... Any bird that doesn't eat a balanced diet or just isn't eating enough can become vitamin deficient, so I'd focus on getting her eating nutritionally rich foods like wet mashed pellets with some poultry vitamins, scrambled eggs, green veggies, etc. I'd also carefully look over her feet and legs from foot pad to hip to make sure there is no sign of injury or swelling. Another possibility is that she spent so long in her nest and stopped eating well because she already felt sick with something.... How old is she? Any known illnesses in your flock like Mareks?

 

[Anime2lover]

Hard to know what's going on.... Any bird that doesn't eat a balanced diet or just isn't eating enough can become vitamin deficient, so I'd focus on getting her eating nutritionally rich foods like wet mashed pellets with some poultry vitamins, scrambled eggs, green veggies, etc. I'd also carefully look over her feet and legs from foot pad to hip to make sure there is no sign of injury or swelling. Another possibility is that she spent so long in her nest and stopped eating well because she already felt sick with something.... How old is she? Any known illnesses in your flock like Mareks?

1 or 2 yr. As for illness, we did have something (don't know what it was) go through our flock through the winter. That cleared up around the end of winter, and symptoms were totally different. Mostly consisting of sudden death, coughing, and wheezing.