Help diagnosing a Chicken please

[TheDonger]

We have 1 chicken that is walking with a bad limp, we have done a check and do not see any sore or lesions, not broken bones as far as I can tell.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you know if she was vaccinated for Mareks disease. It very well could be an injury or perhaps a vitamin B2 (thiamine) defiency, but Mareks can cause a a paralysis of one or both legs or wings. A vet could xray the foot for a broken bone. I would suggest starting poultry vitamins that contain thiamine, or crushing 1/2 of a vitamin B complex tablet into some food or a little egg daily. Confining her to a small pen with food and water, and daily checking of her ability to walk would be good.

 

[theoldchick]

Bless her. A radiograph could tell you if the leg is broken or if the hip is dislocated. Another thing to consider is a slipped tendon. Did this happen suddenly? Is it improving with time or getting worse?

 

[TheDonger]

I believe she was vaccinated as a chick, seem to have come on sudden but has seemed to get better and worse from day to day, it has been about 4 days now since we noticed.

 

[TheDonger]

Any more ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

If it is an injury, it can take weeks for something like that to heal. The reason I feel that Mareks is a possibility is that her foot almost seems numb or paralyzed. Have you started vitamins yet? Keep her close to food and water, since chickens with injuries or Mareks can starve. If she should die, it would help to get a necropsy and Mareks testing from your state poultry lab. If the chicken came from a feed store, it is not likely that she was vaccinated. Many people still report their chickens get Mareks, even though they were supposedly vaccinated. It takes 2-3 weeks for a day old chick to achieve full immunity, and if the chick gets exposed to Mareks before that, it can still get the disease. Hopefully, it does not have that, but it is a possibility.

 

[TheDonger]

So things kept getting worse, we are pretty sure it was Mareks, even though she was vaccinated as a chick 2 years ago. We are not watching the rest of the flock for signs. Thanks for all the info and help.