Hen cannot walk or balance

[InducedAgate]

Hello! As the title reads, I am concerned that my hen is unable to walk. This occurred suddenly about 3 days ago when she began to favour one leg, then became completely unable to walk. She loses her balance and tips over forward, then scoots backwards because she cannot move forwards. She also has a tremble. She's missing feathers but I am unsure if it's related to the walking issue or not because she has also been picked on. Her weight is not where it's supposed to be, but its probably a consequence of being bedridden, and she's not scarily thin. She still has an appetite and interest in foraging. I suspect it's something neurological?

She is a silkie breed, and she is about 3 years old.

This is an example of the walking attempts described. It seems she cannot balance to bring her legs forward so instead she goes backwards:

This video is when I set her outside for some grass time:

 

[casportpony]

I hate to say this, but I think it might be Marek's.

 

[InducedAgate]

I hate to say this, but I think it might be Marek's.

Maybe, I'm just confused about where she would have gotten it because we haven't introduced anyone new in about 2 years, and the neighbour with a flock has had the same birds for almost 5. I'll consider that, though.

For now we are treating for mites and infection and taking her out for yard time so she can relax in the grass. We'll look into euthanization if her condition doesn't improve after some time.

 

[InducedAgate]

 

[Eggcessive]

I would treat her leg mites with some castor, mineral, or other oil, or vaseline twice a week. I have not experience with Mareks, but it can look like this. I have heard of hens having some internal infection that cause pressure on the leg nerves and made it look like Mareks. One of my hens spent 5 weeks in a basket after she lost balance and could not take a step without falling backward or sideways. She recovered being then able to walk all over out chickens yard for the next year. This year when she finally died at 8 years old, Her necropsy showed large lash eggs and oviduct cancer, which presumably was why she couldnt walk or balance. There are 2 ways to test for Mareks. One way is to have your state vet do a necropsy with testing. The other is to collect some blood on a live chicken to get tested by a lab such as University of GA or here in TX:
http://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf
I don’t know the details of obtaining the blood serum, but you can contact them for details.

 

[InducedAgate]

Update: she hasn't gotten any worse, and she seems to be able to stand now. Her feathers are coming back at least. just gonna continue what we've been doing and make sure shes comfortable

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that she is standing some and let us know how she is getting along.

 

[InducedAgate]

Update! I didn't notice at the beginning (maybe it wasn't as bad) but the ankle on her bad foot was super swollen when I checked all over her last week, which the antibiotics cleared up. She appears to have a wound. Looks like bumblefoot but on her ankle? She's looking better physically, she's preening again, and she can fully stand, but she's having issues bending her ankle to walk forwards. She can go sideways and hobble forwards now, though. My only worry now is the patch of necrosis, but I don't need any help dealing with that. Thank you for the responses!