Hen off her legs - scaly mite?

[fairy5]

Hi,
Firstly sorry if this ends up being long winded....
Saturday before last we notice one of our bantams is limping. Still eating, drinking etc. Saw a vet Monday who said he thought it was a sprained leg and to strictly rest her for 10 days along with Metcam and Baytril. I queried her raised scales on her feet and he wasn't concerned that it was scaly mite and said that some birds simply have feet like that, like as humans we have different attributes. He thoroughly checked both her legs and pelvis and when he got to the top of one she screeched so it was obvs painful.
Fast forward 10 days: She's been rested for 10 days now and whilst she hasn't gotten worse, she hasn't really improved much. she's still eating, drinking and pooping and everyday I remove any poop from her feathers via a bath if need be and am giving her nutritional yeast, yoghurt and mealworms along with her food. She's had treats in the form of watermelon and egg which she ate with gusto and she seems generally bright and chatty, she just can't seem to support her own weight and is using one wing to steady herself sometimes. She's also feeling a bit skinny. I am continuing the meds until they are finished as there is still some left in the bottles and also giving her nutri drops that are full of extra vitamins.
I posted a picture of her feet on a poultry facebook group a couple of days ago and 3 people said she had mites so I am also treating her for mites by slathering on sudocrem when I get home each day just incase.
So my question is can scaly leg mite cause a bird to not be able to support her weight and not walk properly? And has anyone had this and had them recover properly?
I don't want to cause her unduly suffering but as she seems bright and still eating I am trying to explore all options before I have to send her to the coop in the sky. I am aware it can also be a million other things like a vitamin deficiency (hence the yeast & nutri drops) and I also have Mareks in the back of my mind but I feel if it were a sprain should I not have seen some improvement by now? Or is she off her legs still due to sitting around for 10 days? I am fully prepared to take her back to the vet but interested to hear other's experiences given that he didn't think she had scaly leg and others have said she does.
Thanks in advance!

 

[rebrascora]

How old is she? Marek's is certainly possible and if it gives you hope, I can tell you that I have had some chickens with it that have regained use of a leg and gone on to free range with the flock again after being nest bound for a couple of months. My red line for euthanizing Marek's birds is when they lose interest I food. If we get some more warm sunny days, give her the opportunity to go out on some grass within sight of the flock and I would encourage her to move a short distance towards a favourite treat each day. Start with just a couple of feet and then extend it a little each day. Make sure she is on a surface with good traction and don't worry if she has to crawl. Even if it is a sprain or strain, walking just a few feet each day after 10 days of rest will be good physio.

In my experience, scaly leg mite would have to be shockingly bad for it to make a bird lame like this ,so I do not think that is the cause.

 

[fairy5]

We got her and another in June last year and I think they were 30 odd weeks when we got them - they were over POL - so she's not quite 18 months. I will try and get her moving when I am home tonight and do the same again tomorrow. When I pick her up and turn her onto her side her legs sort of just hang but she's not lost total use of them as she hobbles around. Frustrating little critters!

 

[rebrascora]

Marek's can cause complete or partial paralysis, in fact it can exhibit as just a lack of control almost like they are drunk rather than limbs being stiff and unresponsive. It can be as discrete as being unable to keep one eyelid fully open or as dramatic as the bird floundering on their side unable to right themselves with legs sticking out in odd directions..... and everything n between. There are no hard and fast rules with Marek's. I had one bird with it trailed her leg around for a couple of weeks grazing her knuckles and tripping over it until she learned to lift it up out of the way and hop everywhere. She was a lightweight bird and managed fine like that. Others improve my being taken out of a stressful environment where they are being picked on or put under pressure. Some miraculously recover after a couple of days, some deteriorate and die over a period of weeks, others make significant progress over month if you are prepared to support them. Vitamins are good and perhaps probiotics and sunshine and grass when you can access it.