Help- 4 month old ISA Brown can't walk

bonnie27clyde

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Hi everyone- I have about 20 chickens and 5 ducks. Yesterday morning I went out and found one of my black astros all puffed up and barely moving. I brought her in to examine her and didn't see anything wrong! She was walking around all day the day before. She ended up passing in my hands as I wrapped her in a towel. A couple of hours later I went out to clean everything and examine the flock and noticed that one of my 4 month old ISAs was just hanging in a corner. I recalled that she had been doing that the day before as well and I thought she was laying. I have examined her and it seems she is having trouble with one leg/foot. She is eating and drinking a ton, her poops look normal and she is very alert and making content sounds. She just freaks out when she tries to move. I thought maybe there was a fight or one of my newly discovered roos got aggressive. I am attaching a couple of videos and a photo for you. I'm not sure the two are related? I really don't know what to think? I've considered Marek's and Botulism, but she is not exhibiting more than one symptom...and I don't think her legs are completely paralyzed. I don't think anything is broken and nothing is swollen. Any ideas would be very welcome.
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I would be suspicious that a duck or cockerel has hurt her by jumping on her back. But keep in mind, that Mareks disease can show up at her age. Try to keep her with her flock, but separate her inside a wire dog crate with her food and water within reach. It can be a common feature of Mareks to keep one leg forward with one leg back or under them. Sometimes the toes will curl under. If she is injured, it can take days or several weeks to recover. Chicken slings can be helpful to get them up and keep clean, along with placing them in front of food and water. Not all chickens tolerate them, and they should get frequent breaks from the sling to sleep and rest on the floor. Please look at some of the ideas for slings which can be hung from the top of a crate:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

Hopefully it is not Mareks, but here is some reading about it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/
 

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