Is this Wry Neck? Urgent pullet unable to walk and twitching her head.

[Aristocat123]

Good morning and happy Sunday to all.
I know some of you have seen my previous post about this little girl and helped me out. She is a sweet little fighter and I’m doing everything within my power to help her. Please help me help her.
1. She is a 5 month old Mille Fleur D’uccle.
2. Had Coccidia at 4 weeks and been treated for it by the breeder.
3. Two weeks ago I saw bloody poop and a couple of times and treated her for Coccidia again with Corid.
4.At that time she wasn’t able to walk or stand on her own.
4. Then I noticed she had a terrible mite infestation and treated her for that as well with Permethrin.
5. Dewormed her with Panacur as I found round worms in her poop.
6. She has been separated and I made her a sling.
7. I also found a wound on her chest.
I think she had been picked on.
8. I gave her Amoxicillin, Iodine, Neosporin. The wound is healing nicely. Almost closed up.
9. I have been feeding her scrambled eggs, Tuna, cat food and flock raiser along with Rooster Booster electrolytes and vitamins, plus B complex.
Just when I think she’s getting better she seems to relapse again.
I noticed her head twitching and unusual movements.
These are the latest pics of her.

This was Thursday and I had her in a crate outside to get some sun and fresh air. By the end of the day she was back to not being able to hold herself up. I put her back in the sling and this is her today.

I am at a loss as I seem to fail her and it’s breaking my heart that she is still struggling.
Thank you for reading this long post and please help me.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think with the lameness, using the wings to balance, odd neck movements, that something neuological such as Mareks disease, may be a possible problem. How old is she? Was she vaccinated for Mareks. Have you had any other chickens with Mareks or unexplained lameness or deaths? She seems to be eating and drinking without a problem. You could try giving her some vitamin E 400 IU daily and add a little chopped scrambled egg for some selenium, to see if that helps. You can also contact a Texas lab here where they do a Mareks test on blood serum for about $20 here:
http://www.vetdna.com/
Usually Mareks is diagnosed with a necropsy after death, but some have used this lab to decide how to proceed if Mareks is suspected. Sorry about your hen. I hope she improves with vitamins.

 

[Aristocat123]

I think with the lameness, using the wings to balance, odd neck movements, that something neuological such as Mareks disease, may be a possible problem. How old is she? Was she vaccinated for Mareks. Have you had any other chickens with Mareks or unexplained lameness or deaths? She seems to be eating and drinking without a problem. You could try giving her some vitamin E 400 IU daily and add a little chopped scrambled egg for some selenium, to see if that helps. You can also contact a Texas lab here where they do a Mareks test on blood serum for about $20 here:
http://www.vetdna.com/
Usually Mareks is diagnosed with a necropsy after death, but some have used this lab to decide how to proceed if Mareks is suspected. Sorry about your hen. I hope she improves with vitamins.

She was not vaccinated for Marek. I don’t have any other ones with this symptoms. They are all happy and just started to lay or getting back to laying from winter break. They were all treated for mites and some just finished getting over Fowl Pox . Her and her sister are the only ones not vaccinated for Marek everyone else is. Her sister is fine.
She is 5 months old. I forgot to put in my original post that I did see the head movements before I started treating her for all of the other symptoms but because I am not experienced with chickens I overlooked it, so I feel awful about it.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I am at a loss as I seem to fail her and it’s breaking my heart that she is still struggling.

Hi there, sorry you both are facing this.

It looks neurological to me... Possibly Mareks making her immune system weaker allowing all the other things to set in. Do you know if she was vaccinated against it? Have you contacted the breeder and did they make any suggestions?

I agree with the suggestions made by the first poster. Following is a good link for more information regarding Marek's..
Marek's Virus FAQ

Try the vitamin E, since you've already used eggs. Maybe look at the Rooster Booster brand Poultry Cell (product) and see if that offers anything more that might help your gal.

I personally would not treat a bird that keeps relapsing and euthanize (cull in my case), and send for necropsy to confirm actual cause of the symptoms you are seeing... links to help if you decide to go that route..
How to Send a Bird for a Necropsy

State poultry labs

"Her and her sister are the only ones not vaccinated for Marek everyone else is. Her sister is fine."

The vaccine only stops symptoms, they may have it and just not showing, vaccinated birds not welcome here... it takes at least 3 weeks after exposure before symptoms CAN appear.

Not every bird exposed will succumb! Hang in there.

 

[Aristocat123]

Hi there, sorry you both are facing this.

It looks neurological to me... Possibly Mareks making her immune system weaker allowing all the other things to set in. Do you know if she was vaccinated against it? Have you contacted the breeder and did they make any suggestions?

I agree with the suggestions made by the first poster. Following is a good link for more information regarding Marek's..
Marek's Virus FAQ

Try the vitamin E, since you've already used eggs. Maybe look at the Rooster Booster brand Poultry Cell (product) and see if that offers anything more that might help your gal.

I personally would not treat a bird that keeps relapsing and euthanize (cull in my case), and send for necropsy to confirm actual cause of the symptoms you are seeing... links to help if you decide to go that route..
How to Send a Bird for a Necropsy

State poultry labs

"Her and her sister are the only ones not vaccinated for Marek everyone else is. Her sister is fine."

The vaccine only stops symptoms, they may have it and just not showing, vaccinated birds not welcome here... it takes at least 3 weeks after exposure before symptoms CAN appear.

Not every bird exposed will succumb! Hang in there.

Thank you. I feel horrible and somewhat responsible because I didn’t catch any of the symptoms until it was too late.
I checked and rechecked the Marek disease symptoms and she only has the inability to stand or move around.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank you. I feel horrible and somewhat responsible because I didn’t catch any of the symptoms until it was too late.
I checked and rechecked the Marek disease symptoms and she only has the inability to stand or move around.

Sounds like you provide a normal ration and did all you could.

Have you given excess treats or fed only scratch grains that might have contributed to these symptoms? If so you can't change the past, only learn from it. Beating ourselves up doesn't benefit anyone, there's enough hardship without it.

It only takes one symptom and that's a fairly major and common one at about the right age, it's kinda hard to ignore. Testing is the only way to know for sure. What if you are blaming yourself for something you HAD no control over? Those with vaccinated birds can often live in ignorant bliss while the disease proliferates among their flock. NO rudeness intended here. I think vaccinating is 100% the right choice for some people... and you *might* be one of them! This could be your canary in the coalmine so to speak?? But I am not suggesting jump to any conclusions. Most everyone who faces Marek's hopes it's a vitamin deficit and some have recovered with treatment, many of the things you describe are possible causes of a deficit. Some Marek's birds will also recover and may relapse throughout the future. According to the state vet at UC Davis... it is in EVERY poultry environment. Those with confirmed Marek's who still don't vaccinate have reported seeing only a couple deaths per year... this is likely dependent on which strain they are facing.

Noting that vaccinated birds who have NOT been infected cannot infect non-vaccinated birds... unless they have been infected and just aren't showing the symptoms because their vaccine was effective... then they may be able to unwittingly be spreading it.

It sounds like she faced a whole host of attacks to the immune system. It stinks that things work in unison to take the "weak" out. Even their own flock members will peck them when their down.

If you still have the time and energy and think she has a good life, then you should do what is right for you both, once you figure that out.

How did you administer amoxicillin? Was it a full course? Did you take a picture of the wound? Wounds on the chest are not usually from being picked on, but maybe a frontal fight. Did you actively witness any bullying? Sometimes it can be excess preening from parasites, rubbing from roost or sitting in muck. Plucking to nest doesn't usually cause wounds.. I didn't catch it and thinking not (by color of her face), but is she laying yet?

Are you keeping her in view of the others? Single chickens can be lonely and even get depressed slowing recovery and reintegration can be difficult. Whatever she has others were already exposed.. though for ME personally, less exposure is still less exposure.

Consider the blood serum test linked in the first post.

I wonder if a vet can do test to check vitamin, mineral content to SEE if a bird is deficient in something? Seems like they should, but not sure about cost efficacy... I have a hard time paying for my own labs but it may be an option for some folks. No supplement should be given more than 10 days in a row unless recommended by a veterinarian. Have you contacted a vet or are you able to see one?

A necropsy should tell the whole truth.. if the intestines experienced necrosis during coccidiosis... the chicken *may* literally be unable to absorb certain nutrients that get absorbed only in certain portions of the track. It would also show Marek's or exclude it. Your state lab contact is in the link I posted previously. You could at least contact them and ask how prolific it has been in your area.

Just brainstorming possibilities according to the information and experience I have. I am no expert or avian veterinarian. I wish I could be more help. The only thing I can add is that patience and diligence will be needed to see any improvement... maybe even some physical therapy since muscle strength will be diminishing from lack of use in the legs. Even then, it's a shot in the dark.

 

[Aristocat123]

Good morning and thank you for the kind words.
She is not laying yet.
I did witness the bullying a little before all this started happening. I have a picture of the wound and I’ll attach it.
I gave her 1/2 of a tablet of Amoxicillin twice a day mixed in water.
They get Flock Raiser as food, oyster shells and once a day close to bed time they get treats ( kale, romaine, carrots, BOSS, cucumbers, meal worms, flax seed, tomatoes, watermelon, strawberries, whatever I have in the fridge that is good for them). I also give them scratch as a treat,
but never as source of nourishment.
I have my other D’uccle with her to keep her company. I definitely believe that she should be outdoors in fresh air and so I’ve been putting them on the deck in a dog crate.
The reason I’m so frustrated is because while I am working very hard on providing a clean environment for them to be healthy and avoid disease, they’ve got Mycoplasma, Fowl Pox,Sudden Death Syndrome, mites and now this starting November. I never had chickens before this is my first time. The oldest ones are 10 months old. I’m a city “girl”.I’ve read all sorts of books, blogs, asked questions and keep myself informed as much as possible and yet all this is happening.
I have neighbors 6 house down that had chickens for a very long time and never experienced anything with their birds, don’t provide a clean environment like me and yet
their birds are healthy.
She is alert ,aware of her environment and looks to me as a little fighter which gave me hope that she might pull through.
They’re my pets and I’m a softie.
Thank you so much for reading this as I lay out my despair and frustration in you.
I’ll do the best I can to help her and make sure she’s not suffering. Vitamin E is my last hope. If it doesn’t work and she’s not getting better I’ll have to make the dreadful decision.