HELP!! Almost paralyzed Hen!

[Mannus]

Hi, I have 17 chickens total, but one of my Brown Leghorns has been acting weird. She is the smallest of the flock, and her comb and wattle never fully developed. Right now, they are red with a blueish tinge. But the real problem is that it is like her left wing and leg are paralyzed!! She can move them, but just barely. We noticed this first about two days ago when we found her in a corner being trampled by the other chickens. I nudged her and she jumped up and ran into the coop with the others, but she never jumped up into the boxes or roost like she usually would. she basicaly laid there for two days on the floor, finally this morning, i noticed that she wasn't even moving her left side. I just talked to my friend who has raised chickens for years and years, and he said that this happens all the time and he doesn't know what causes it. He calls it 'chicken polio'. He says he doesn't know if it is contagious or genetic or caused by trauma. All he said was to put the hen out of her misery and be safe in case if was contagious. He said he had a lady that had 5 chickens and 3 came down, and another friend who had 50 and 1 came down with this. Jerry said he has experimented with cures and stuff, but nothing works and the hens get progressively worse and worse.

Does anyone know what causes this? Or what the heck it is?! I've given up saving the hen (my dad will be home in an hour or so, he said he will take care of her. Thank god, I could never do it.), but is there anything I can do that will save my remaining 16 hens? Is this a bacteria? Jerry said people all over the county are experiencing this. Now it looks like she is having seizures or spasms or something.

Thank you for any help!!!! This is my first chicken emergency.

--Mannus

 

[chickenlady]

Sorry to hear about your hen. It could be something she ate, maybe toxic or maybe botulism. The blueish in the comb could be from a heart problem, insufficient oxygen. Aspergillosis causes blueing of the comb. This is a fungal infection. I think fowl cholera also changes the color of the comb. What color has her droppings been?

 

[Mannus]

He dropping are normal, white with some brown. Or at least that is what they always have been. I've been googling stuff... could this be Merek's?

 

[chickenlady]

I guess it could be mareks but I would not rule botulism out. The symptoms are so similar that sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two. The treatment for mareks is to cull, the treatment for botulism is epsom salt or molassis flushes. It could also just be a vitamin deficiency. It is very hard to diagnose over the computer.