Speaking of vets.... I called the hillview Vet in Franklin today. If my lil quarantined guy shows no improvement I'm going to have him checked out next week. If he passes before then I will definitely have a necropsy done to see what the heck is going on. With this heat I wonder about mold as well. That can cause similar issues I guess as can vitamin deficiencies but they are all on commercial feed. I just cant figure out how a chicken can be running with no signs of anything one day and then completely immobile the next with no sign of injury?? It's not like it slowly progressed. So weird.
I feel for you. We took a wall down from the old shed which is next to their coop. That very next morning my ee didn't come out of the coup. She was just sitting there waiting for me. It took several weeks before she would walk again. I gave her super vitamin b complex from
Walmart their brand. I crush one tablet into their 1 gallon waterer each day. I want to say it was almost a month before I saw real progress. they still get the vit b. i did build a 4x4 box covered with hardware cloth so I could keep her with the flock. Of course that was after a 2 week separation to make sure no one else came down sick, or her worse. I really don't know what it is, but my other birds have not been affected at all. She does well today. She has a normal chicken life, just a little wobbly on her feet if she doesn't get her vit b.
If it is merick, as you suspect. What happens is tumors grow inside the body. Normally on or around the sparatic (sp) nerve. Once it hits that nerve, paralysis happens. Is he putting one foot forward and one back? That is the classic md pose. Now if the tumors are close to the spine, some leg paralysis and possible wing paralysis can happen. It can even claim his neck.
How is his eating? My ee didn't want to eat and lost a lot of weight. I had her inside in a dog crate and low and behold she laid an egg. Well it resembled an egg, sorta. So then I started her on layer feed, seemed she got better after that. Slow but sure.
I really don't want to take her to the vet, she's my chicken who is my pet but not a pet. Lol. Actually she will probably be culled and sent out for necropsy. She's not suffering, she walks, eats, flys and poops. She uses her beak to scratch not her feet. That is about the only thing different that I can tell.
Hopefully your vet will be knowledgable in chickens and can help. In the meantime, please practice bio security. For you flocks safety and others flocks. If it is md, it is highly contagious.
Also I posted several links a few pages back, on the iPad ATM can't copy them again, please go read them. The more information we have the better armed we are, and can be better prepared. There are some very knowledgable people on those threads, they will be able to help more than I can. In fact they blow me away with their knowledge base.
Hoping all goes well for you and your rooster.
Deb
