Help! Silkie feet not working right. [Graphics.]

[purplebaby]

my littlest silkie (Syphie) is not feeling well. (about 5 months old) her feet are cold and she doesnt move them. she is fluffed out and her legs are sideways. her neck is fine. she eats and drinks if i feed her. she doesnt seem to be getting up at all. i brought her inside and crated her. i gave her scrambled eggs, but she had no interest in wet cat food. she is pooping.


btw
i lost 2 compines about a month ago and they seemed like they died of poison.


Here Are Some Pictures Of her.

 

[silkiechicken]

Her legs like that remind me of a slipped tendon in chicks... but... it also reminds me of Marek's disease for some reason. Hopefully someone comes along and can help you more.

 

[dlhunicorn]

the legs being in position of one in front and one in back is a typical posture for Mareks ...of course this is not a definitive diagnosis as such ...

 

[purplebaby]

i think you might be right, she seems worse.... it is very late at night and maybe i am worn out/overtired, but i am very down about my ability to have chickens. what am i doing wrong?
what can i do to keep this from happening?

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, sounds like you didn't get a very "clean" stock of birds. How many other birds do you have? If I only had a few... I'd clean out the rest and start over with chicks, vowing to not accept any older birds or chicks from under a foreign mother hen. Don't know much about these diseases though so don't know how long it can reside in the ground.

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

My philosophy is keep her seperated. Do a ton of research. And THEN decide what to do. I think sometimes on boards like this it can be easy for people (including me) to come to snap decisions about what is wrong (and very often worst case scenario), when we aren't vets, and we don't know.

One website I found said paralysis can be caused by Marek's, newcastle, botulism, and the larval stage of the Poultry Tick (also caused birds to lay around, and act depressed. Once it was cleared up, birds were fine) <btw, these particular birds were from Pennsylvania>.

I'm sure there are a zillion other causes, as well. Don't give up hope on your girl, or cull yet!

Meghan

 

[verthandi]

Did the other birds have the same condition?

If she is still eating and drinking. I would try a vitamin suppliment and vitamin E to start and see if that helps. Someone posted a good article on silkies and mineral/vitamin imbalances this week.

If she isn't getting around and flopping over, you can make a ring out of a rolled up towel and set her in the middle of it.

 

[purplebaby]

thank you all. she is even worse this morning. the other 2 i thought might have been poisoned or ate something bad were the same. they died shortly after acting like this. i have accepted that she (my fav) will die.
i have been looking on line for info on this and i think that is what it is... mareks. my next question is where do they get it? and does that mean the rest will get it?

so sad today

 

[dlhunicorn]

http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=linksgeneralinfo&action=display&num=1161855136

 

[purplebaby]

thank u those links are awesome....
some are just so technical that i just dont get all of what they are talking about. it is so far removed from my little world of special education.