Hen stumbling/falling

[Courtburr]

I need help figuring out what to do......

This past Sunday, I was part way to Norway when my chicken sitter alerted me that one of my year-old Silver-Lace Wyandottes was stumbling around. I asked him to give her some Rooster Booster Poultry Cell and put some in their water. I just got home today to find that she's progressively gotten worse, even with the supplements. However, she is still laying, eating and moving about with the flock. She stumbles and falls constantly, using her left wing as a crutch and sits/lays when she can. She always falls to the left, but her legs aren't injured and she can see fine out of both eyes. She can actually run full out in a straight line, then just staggers and falls. It makes me so sad because I don't know how to help her.

Because I think I ruled out a vitamin deficiency, my next assumption is Marek's. I had assumed that she had been vaccinated as a chick, but now I read that vaccination is only an option from Murray McMurray, which is where the place I got her and her sister from purchased them. I have a very mixed flock, including two orphans from a kid incubation project (that I know haven't been vaccinated) and three new pullets from another local place that also ordered from Murray McMurray. I am pretty sure she would have gotten them vaccinated as I paid a pretty price for them as chicks. None of the other birds show any signs of issues.

I've checked her over and her comb color, eyes and physical appearance looks normal.....except her feathers that I asked about on here some while back: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/strange-wispy-feather-growth.1291793/. I watched her poop earlier and it looked pretty watery and her feathers back there are not very good (not caked with clumps, just messy). Their poop consistency changes so often depending on what they eat though, that I never put too much into how it looks.

I have only been in this chicken raising business for 2 years now and this is really my first run in with an illness of any kind. I'm at a loss to know what to do. I don't want her to suffer, but don't want to mercy cull if it's something that's treatable.

 

[Courtburr]

I just went out to lock them up. She had made it up onto the roost, which I assumed she could as she laid an egg in the nest box today. It was very hot today too, so they're all panting while roosting, even though there's a fan blowing a nice breeze through the coop. All the rest are panting silently, but her breathing is quite audible and looks more labored too. I checked on the floor under her and there appeared to be a fresh, normal looking poop.

 

[zdb]

sounds like marek's. youtube search for it or sick chicken staggers. there are plenty video's showing similar issues. some good conversations too. if memory serves, there's a vet on there who goes into some detail. we have one who's been immobilized like yours over a year. still lays. apparently eggs are safe. just difficult to keep her clean and fed. can't leave her with other birds and she can't move to food.

currently considering different meds to try. wondering if some kind of antifungal might buy her some relief and let those inflamed sciatic nerves calm down. let us know how you do. most folk i've seen don't take a bird this long. she's not in pain and did not deteriorate further as others normally do. and she eats well. good luck.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Sorry I'm of no help but hoping someone has the answers ... Where are you located?

@WVduckchick @azygous @aart @dawg53 @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive
Your help is needed ... Thank you in advance

 

[aart]

From reading your other thread, it sounds like she may have some genetic anomalies.
That could be part of what's going on now.
Hard to call when a bird is more uncomfortable than not....if she's laying, she must be fairly 'healthy'. Maybe she just hurt her leg(sprain/strain) have had that happen here, can take weeks to fully resolve.

Panting birds can benefit from a dose of Sav-a-Chick electrolytes/vitamins.
I give a dose to the whole flock about once a week during heat waves, after them saving one from heat stroke, it really seems to help.

When I have a bird that seems 'off', I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so you can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[azygous]

Unfortunately, leg problems are next to impossible to diagnose, let alone treat. I have a nine-year old hen currently with lameness, and she needs help getting down from her perch each morning. This has been going on for years, and otherwise she's in good health, even still occasionally producing an egg.

Yes, it could be Marek's or another avian virus. Or it could be arthritis, which is what I suspect with my hen. Or it could be genetic or organic brain damage as @aart brought up. If your hen picked up any grit contaminated with a petroleum distillate, that would produce brain damage and lameness of the kind you are seeing.

There really isn't anything you can do to treat, unless there's a secondary infection involved. If she has labored breathing, she could have a respiratory infection. Or the sounds could be from an impacted crop or blocked larynx. Do her eggs have "wrinkles" in the shell or are they normal ans smooth? If wrinkled, you may be looking at infectious bronchitis, which can cause lameness as a by-product.

Or you may simply have a case of dehydration. It produces all of the symptoms your hen has. Electrolytes in the water is the necessary treatment.