HELP! My bantam hen can hardly walk.

[EagleSkyFarms]

About a week ago my serama hen suddenly could not jump onto the roost but other than that she seemed ok but then it just got worse and now when she tries to walk she ends up spreading her wings on the floor and kinda sliding. In the middle off all this redid part of the coop and when we pulled a board from the wall we found poultry ticks. We have a lot of them and we are spraying with orange guard right now to get rid of them, but we think that they have something to do with her being sick, she is also very weak, like she tried to perch on my arm but was to weak to grab on. I have her separated but still in the coop and we have had her on electrolytes and pro biotic vitamins thinking that would boost her immune system but nothing has happend she has just slowly gotten worse and I'm worried if I don't do something soon she wont make it much longer.

 

[The Phantom]

@casportpony @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[Sarasarasara222]

Check to see if she is egg bound but i dont think this is it neither do i think it is Marek's disease but double check to be sure. A deficiency in vitamin B can cause issues with their legs and can paralyse the legs so try to boost her vitamin B.

 

[nightowl223]

If they were getting bled by parasites, they can easily pick up a secondary problem due to a weakened immune system. It could, with that description, be so many problems, the worst of which is Marek's. If it were me, I'd bring her inside, pronto, and if you have any infant vitamins (polyvisol without iron, or a knockof brand of it), give her a couple of drops of it by mouth, so you know it gets in her. If she's feeling bad, she may not be eating and drinking as much as she should. If she's inside, you can keep better track of her eating. Offer her scrambled eggs, oatmeal with lots of honey, and plain yogurt (not necessarily together, lol!), along with dampening her regular layer feed with ACV (with the mother) and water into a mash that might be more tempting for her. See if you can get plenty in her crop, and check that it goes down overnight like it should.

If it's Marek's, what's done is likely done, but there are so many other things it could be that we should try our best to help her pull through.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

About a week ago my serama hen suddenly could not jump onto the roost but other than that she seemed ok but then it just got worse and now when she tries to walk she ends up spreading her wings on the floor and kinda sliding. In the middle off all this redid part of the coop and when we pulled a board from the wall we found poultry ticks. We have a lot of them and we are spraying with orange guard right now to get rid of them, but we think that they have something to do with her being sick, she is also very weak, like she tried to perch on my arm but was to weak to grab on. I have her separated but still in the coop and we have had her on electrolytes and pro biotic vitamins thinking that would boost her immune system but nothing has happend she has just slowly gotten worse and I'm worried if I don't do something soon she wont make it much longer.

I'm sorry to hear about your hen.

How old is she?
How long have you had her?
Did you find any ticks on her? Have you looked in her ears to make sure they are not in the ears?

For the ticks, I would clean out the housing and treat with a permemthrin based poultry spray or dust. If you notice any bugs on her treat her as well. Look through her feathers really well.

The off balance, spreading the wings and sliding...sadly that sounds like Marek's.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
I would get her on some Vitamin E and B-Complex. You can find vitamins at Walmart, CVS or similar.
400IU Vitamin E daily along with 1/4tablet B-Complex for 1 week. Give her some scrambled egg daily in addition to her normal feed.

If you have photos or video of her you wish to share, that would be good. For video upload to youtube, provide a link.

 

[Eggcessive]

Wyorp Rock has covered most of the things I was thinking and more.

 

[EagleSkyFarms]

I'm sorry to hear about your hen.

How old is she?
How long have you had her?
Did you find any ticks on her? Have you looked in her ears to make sure they are not in the ears?

For the ticks, I would clean out the housing and treat with a permemthrin based poultry spray or dust. If you notice any bugs on her treat her as well. Look through her feathers really well.

The off balance, spreading the wings and sliding...sadly that sounds like Marek's.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
I would get her on some Vitamin E and B-Complex. You can find vitamins at Walmart, CVS or similar.
400IU Vitamin E daily along with 1/4tablet B-Complex for 1 week. Give her some scrambled egg daily in addition to her normal feed.

If you have photos or video of her you wish to share, that would be good. For video upload to youtube, provide a link.

View attachment 1749921View attachment 1749922View attachment 1749924View attachment 1749925

she is about a year old, I have had her for about 8 months, here is the link to the YouTube video.

and the ticks we have don't stay on the bird they only eat at night but she does have a little bit of poultry lice but they are very slow and bout to do die. most of the lice we have successfully killed. I am also doing regular DE dusting's and her cage is coated with DE.

 

[EagleSkyFarms]

Check to see if she is egg bound but i dont think this is it neither do i think it is Marek's disease but double check to be sure. A deficiency in vitamin B can cause issues with their legs and can paralyse the legs so try to boost her vitamin B.

That was one of the fist things I checked, she is not egg bound.

 

[Fishkeeper]

DE won't help anything, and in fact could give her lung problems. It's nowhere near effective enough to deal with an infestation of anything, and the sharp edges will harm her lungs.
Does she eat and drink?
I'd try to rig her a poultry sling, maybe even a little wheelchair.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are you getting ticks confused with mites? The red roost mite only comes out at night where they get on the chickens to suck blood, and hide in the coop during the daytime.

DE is very over-hyped, and will not treat an outbreak of lice or mites. It can be dangerous for you or the chickens to breathe.

Ticks can indeed cause diseases in chickens. Some of those may cause neurological symptoms.

At her young age, I would suspect her symptoms are due to possible Mareks disease. It is best diagnosed with a necropsy by the state vet who takes samples for Mareks testing. Keep her near food and water. Some chickens will tolerate a chicken sling where food can be placed in front of her. Here is a link and a video of slings that you can make:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/