Help needed for mystery neurological situation...

[Goosebaby]

So in case anyone was wondering... here's an almost 6 month update!

Yes, Blondie is still with us!

The short story is she has just started to stand and walk a little!!! (As a reminder, she started falling at the end of October, and eventually she got to the point where she couldn't even sit up unsupported! So since then, she has been living in the house under constant supervision to keep from getting pecked to death by Miss Penny... (I have no idea what I would have done if both my partner and I hadn't been lucky enough to work from home during the pandemic....)

And, if you are interested, here is the the full long update:

I last wrote about her condition in another thread in January: "she can finally sit, without falling over, for about 5 minutes. Today, she was able to stand for just a little bit." Unfortunately she regressed after a second treatment for lice so I'm afraid I may have used too much pyrethrin (sp?) but we continued "walking" her...

I went from using a harness to walk her, which was difficult to put on, to using a strip off the bottom of an old t-shirt (cut all the way around) as a sling, with two holes on one end and a couple of stitches to help it to sit on her breast better. After I put each leg in a hole, I pull each side of the t-shirt under her wings (because she likes to flap her wings when I first put her on the ground) I then pull the opposite end of the t-shirt and put her on the ground and I walk her in the garden (I'll have to post a photo.) And over time we've gone from my having to support her weight, to her managing to do so fairly well, although not entirely because one leg is weaker.

So a couple of weeks ago she no longer wanted to sit on her throne of two neck pillows, and she was able to sit for pretty long without falling over, so we started letting her sit on a small rug by our feet. I realized it was good because her muscles got stronger with each micro-adjustment to stay sitting upright... and as time went on, if she did fall over, she often managed to right herself.

I also started to just let her sit outside for longer periods of time and began to try to let her walk without the sling, but she'd run a step or two and faceplant into the grass.

Now, over the last week she has seemed more energetic and hyper, not wanting to sit still and not wanting to come back into the house after her walks and sitting time - which had gone up to at least 4x/day. Then several days ago she ran (without the sling) along the side of a fence (which helped to keep her up) for about 4 ft. so I kept using that spot to do that everyday and give her a little more confidence and make her stronger.

Then, this morning, while still in the house, she stood up for about 30 seconds - completely unaided and even took a few steps!! She stood up and sat down a little more not always fully, and soon tired out. But after a rest, I took her outside and at one point she ran (I think to stay upright) for about 10 feet before she did a faceplant. Wow!

Once back inside, she was clearly tired out, and she stuck the weak leg out in front of her (I wonder if it actually hurts her - probably), but she began to make little chirping and cooing noises she hadn't made since January of February! She also started creeping which she hadn't done before.

I took her out several times during the day and each time she stood on her feet longer and managed to walk farther! I can't wait to see how she is tomorrow. I had a feeling that if she started to walk again, she'd probably hit a critical threshold and then it would happen quickly. It does seem like that's what is happening!

Best of all there is hope! I thought the bad leg would prevent her from really standing and walking, but apparently not.

It has been far from easy, but she is one spunky unlucky, lucky chicken!

This is wonderful! Congratulations!!!

 

[amyduck]

A little more improvement today!

 

[Goosebaby]

A little more improvement today!

Wonderful and thank you for keeping us updated!

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that she is improving. You really have been so dedicated to helping her get better.

 

[amyduck]

Glad that she is improving. You really have been so dedicated to helping her get better.

Good to hear from you!
Just wondering, if it isn't Mareks, any thoughts on why one leg might be so weak? She is obviously able to use it a bit or she wouldn't be able to stand up, and she sometimes grabs my finger a bit with it, but not much (in fact, she hadn't been able to grip with either at first, but the other leg is quite strong now.) When I'm holding her, that leg is almost flaccid. I'm also wondering if it is painful. The other odd thing, is with her strong leg, when she is tired, she tends to stretch it out to the side...
One vet I saw said he didn't think she had Mareks, but thought it might be mycoplasma... he seemed to think it was unlikely anything would help... he was going to give us some medicine anyway, but he was out and was supposed to call when he got it, but we haven't heard.... Aside from that, I started to regularly give her a vitamin E pill and I crush a little selenium and add the powder to her food... (I read somewhere that it could help...) so there's a chance that is helping.... it's such a mystery.

 

[Carson213]

easiest solution...buy two more chickens. i've dealt with this...and other problems. unless you want to spend $100's on a $2 chicken...just buy more and don't worry about it. however, if you have the money, take it to the vet college and they'll take care of it. if $1000+ is your budget, they will fix it.

 

[Carson213]

easiest solution...buy two more chickens. i've dealt with this...and other problems. unless you want to spend $100's on a $2 chicken...just buy more and don't worry about it. however, if you have the money, take it to the vet college and they'll take care of it. if $1000+ is your budget, they will fix it.

at some point you draw the line on pet vs livestock and that's a personal decision. i just spent a fortune on a cat...it's an amazing cat...but we'll see how long he lives.

 

[Goosebaby]

Good to hear from you!
Just wondering, if it isn't Mareks, any thoughts on why one leg might be so weak? She is obviously able to use it a bit or she wouldn't be able to stand up, and she sometimes grabs my finger a bit with it, but not much (in fact, she hadn't been able to grip with either at first, but the other leg is quite strong now.) When I'm holding her, that leg is almost flaccid. I'm also wondering if it is painful. The other odd thing, is with her strong leg, when she is tired, she tends to stretch it out to the side...
One vet I saw said he didn't think she had Mareks, but thought it might be mycoplasma... he seemed to think it was unlikely anything would help... he was going to give us some medicine anyway, but he was out and was supposed to call when he got it, but we haven't heard.... Aside from that, I started to regularly give her a vitamin E pill and I crush a little selenium and add the powder to her food... (I read somewhere that it could help...) so there's a chance that is helping.... it's such a mystery.

I currently have a gander that has on and off lameness/neurological symptoms, he’s improving now and I’m hoping he doesn’t go backwards again.
I have no idea what’s wrong with him, all I’ve been able to do is bounce around from different ideas. My main theory was spinal inflammation from an infection.
Interestingly he has been weaker in his left leg throughout his illness.

He’s been getting stronger the last few days since I decided to double his vitamins, which does have vitamin e in it. Maybe there’s a connection?

If it’s mycoplasma I’ve heard Tylan and sometimes denagard can clear it up, but not fully eradicate it, I currently haven’t tried it, maybe someone else here has more information in regards to that specifically?

 

[Goosebaby]

@amyduck I just realized you’re down in Oakland, I’m up in Yuba county.
Any chance you’ve noticed a lot of ticks in your area the last few years? I’ve had a tick epidemic the last several years, I’ve had horrible reactions that mimicked Lyme’s but didn’t test positive “though my doctor decided to test me after he had me on Doxycycline for several weeks I also had a dog that succumbed to a mystery paralytic disease also and I’d wondered if Roxby my gander’s condition was related.

Maybe there’s a tick illness in northern CA our birds are catching?

Or maybe there’s some other disease going arouand, mycoplasma synoviae is one I kept coming back too, but I would dismiss it because it causes the feet and hocks to swell fairly considerably, my gander’s hocks were hot too the touch at the beginning of his illness and here and there recurringly, but they were never really swollen looking, maybe there’s a form of MS that doesn’t inflame the tendons as much?

 

[amyduck]

@amyduck I just realized you’re down in Oakland, I’m up in Yuba county.
Any chance you’ve noticed a lot of ticks in your area the last few years? I’ve had a tick epidemic the last several years, I’ve had horrible reactions that mimicked Lyme’s but didn’t test positive “though my doctor decided to test me after he had me on Doxycycline for several weeks I also had a dog that succumbed to a mystery paralytic disease also and I’d wondered if Roxby my gander’s condition was related.

Maybe there’s a'tick illness in northern CA our birds are catching?

Or maybe there’s some other disease going arouand, mycoplasma synoviae is one I kept comaing back too, but I would dismiss it because it causes the feet and hocks to swell fairly considerably, my gander’s hocks were hot too the touch at the beginning of his illness and here and there recurringly, but they were never really swollen looking, maybe there’s a form of MS that doesn’t inflame the tendons as much?

I'm so sorry you've been dealing with whatever source of the reactions you had! Did the doxy work? I'm working from home, but technically work in the Alameda Watershed near Sunol, and we were told recently that there have been a lot of tics. Fortunately I've never seen on in my garden so that's probably unlikely...
Sorry about your goose, but glad to hear he's improving. I just wish I knew what it was. I might have some Tylan, so maybe I'll try that... but I have not noticed any swelling...