Hen not walking

oriole

Chirping
13 Years
Jun 7, 2010
12
4
79
I've had a lot of ill chickens in the last 2 months. First it was my Japanese and thanks to BYC I was able to figure out what was wrong with her (wry neck) and she is fine now. Then one of my year old hens just came up to where I feed them treats in the evening and she was sitting on the ground. She wasn't eating and didn't look good so I kept her in the house overnight but she didn't make it.
I have no idea what she could have had.
So now to my question, I also have a hen almost two years old and she was vaxed at the hatchery where I bought her. She has been sitting down on the grass and eating/pecking at the leaves. I didn't think much of this but I noticed that she was doing it more and more. She has been getting worse and I have been giving her Poultry Cell with a syringe for about a week. Plus I have been putting it in the water along with Hydro Hen.
She is a big hen and feels heavy but I am worried because I don't see her eat or drink much.
She is part of a flock of 12 and none of the other chickens seem to be affected. They all free range, have a large indoor hen house. This hen will come in at night and go out in the morning but she isn't on the roost, she will sleep in the pine shavings on the floor.
Any ideas. I bought some antibiotics for chickens but she doesn't seem to have any breathing problems.
 
Does she lay eggs?

Feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs - is there any bloat or feeling of fluid?
Have you checked out her legs/feet - bottom of her feet too to see if she has any injury or bumblefoot?
Is her crop emptying overnight?
Any lice/mites?
 
She hasn't laid an egg in a month. I have checked to see if she feels egg bound, her legs and feet are good.
I am worried about her eating, her crop has been empty for a couple of weeks. She does eat a very small amount of peanut suet balls. Like two or three when I have seen her eat.
For the last week I have been having to bring her to the water and food in the evenings. She will then sit on the grass and eat a little. When I give her the Poultry Cell she doesn't like it and will fight me. So her legs are strong enough for that. She also leaves the hen house everyday but now because I go get her I put her back in the house.
I read something that said it could be botulism, but I would have thought if it was it would have killed her fast. Still, we also feed a lot of wild birds and my husband doesn't clean up the dropping under the feeders so I wonder if she ate something moldy??? The chickens usually don't bother with the dropped bird food because they don't like shelled sunflower seeds or peanuts. The chickens will not bother with layer food when they are in the yard so I stopped keeping a feeder for them outside.
I forgot to say her waddle and comb are bright red and I she is an Australorp chicken.
Thanks so much for the reply.
I guess I am wondering if I should give her the antibiotic for 7-10 days or if that just wouldn't do any good.

 
If she's not laid eggs in a while, then she may be suffering from reproductive disorder - cancer, tumors, salpingitis, etc.
Sometimes masses can press on the nerves of the legs to cause an inability to walk.

Could be disease like Marek's. Botulism in birds progresses, so not that likely.

You could try an antibiotic to see if that makes a difference, it all really just depends on what's going on.

If you happen to lose her, having a necropsy would give you more information.
 
If she's not laid eggs in a while, then she may be suffering from reproductive disorder - cancer, tumors, salpingitis, etc.
Sometimes masses can press on the nerves of the legs to cause an inability to walk.

Could be disease like Marek's. Botulism in birds progresses, so not that likely.

You could try an antibiotic to see if that makes a difference, it all really just depends on what's going on.

If you happen to lose her, having a necropsy would give you more information.
Thank you so much.
I have her in the house now. I did give her the antibiotics, and since it was so hot out and she was panting I gave her water with some Hydro Hen. She did seem to calm down she hated me forcing that Poultry Cell down her and it didn't seem to be helping after a week so I stopped that.
Much to my surprise I tried some canned dog food to see if she would eat and she ate about a third of the can. At one point I thought I had killed her as she seemed to stand up and lean way forward while gasping but then she sat back down and in a minute she wanted more dog food.
I ended up with her in the house over night and while she didn't move out of the bed I made for her she did eat another bowl of the dog food (which I mixed with some water to help keep her hydrated) and some peanut suet. So, I've decided to just keep her in the house for the next week and see how that goes if she doesn't get better I will take her to the vet to be put down humanly. If it is cancer then there would be no point in making her suffer.
 
Update:
The chicken is still in the house. She only stands a few times a day. I have tried two antibiotics on her with no improvement. I have taken her back outside during the day and she can't move much farther than 10 ft of where I put her down. It will take her several hours to manage that. The most steps she can seem to manage it 4. She stands and walks with her tail down and head down as well. She sometimes will use her wings to balance. She uses her wings to get up as she will flap them. She pants or breaths heavily when she tries to walk or gets excited.
She will go hid under a bush and then stay there but when I go out to get her for the night she doesn't want to come in.
She is only pooping twice a day, still seems to love dog food and will only eat the layer feed when I don't give her anything else. She seems to drink very little water so I'm not sure putting the antibiotics in the water has done anything. She also loves fruit cocktail, but not the pears. So she is eating. She doesn't feel skinny. Her legs are very strong as she will kick me like crazy when I was giving her the oral antibiotics and the Poultry Cell in a syringe. I'm beginning to think it is a spinal injury.
None of my other chickens have been sick which I am thankful for. I found a vet that specializes in birds so I will take her in at the end of this week.
 
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