Leg 'paralysis' - anyone know the details on Marek's or Newcastle paralysis?

[FandangoRanch]

I am struggling with a 7 week old chick who suddenly went from normal one day to unable to walk or stand the next day. It has been 6 days now with no change. She is able to contract and extend her legs and feet and I can feel there is some strength to them but when I put her in a standing position, her feet tend to tow in and cross over one another and she cannot support her weight at all. To me this isn't really paralysis per se but could be neurological damage I guess. Has anyone had experience with this type of thing?

 

[dowgirl71]

I am struggling with a 7 week old chick who suddenly went from normal one day to unable to walk or stand the next day. It has been 6 days now with no change. She is able to contract and extend her legs and feet and I can feel there is some strength to them but when I put her in a standing position, her feet tend to tow in and cross over one another and she cannot support her weight at all. To me this isn't really paralysis per se but could be neurological damage I guess. Has anyone had experience with this type of thing?

I am experiencing this same thing with one of my chicks. She is about the same age. Yesterday, I noticed that she had a slight limp and today, she can't walk. She pushes herself around on her chest/belly, will try to eat and chirps normally. Same thing with her legs. I contacted the man that I got her from and he seemed to think it was due to an injury, but it just doesn't seem like that. This chick came from a batch of eggs purchased through a hatchery. It is a SLW and is the 3rd one I got from this man. The first 2 only lived one day. He figured it was due to too much inbreeding and they just didn't have the stamina to survive a move. Now, this has happened with this one who I received about a month ago. We thought she'd be strong enough at a month old. I'm so discouraged.

 

[chiqita]

Both of those diseases can cause the chicks to loose control of their limbs. Merak's has some classic poses so to speak, can you post a picture?

 

[FandangoRanch]

I'm sorry but posting pics for me means taking the card out and putting it into the.....and slow connection.....I could for sure do it but it would take a while. She doesn't do the classic leg front, other leg back but she does do the lay on the side with the legs sticking out. Today she has been able to do a sitting position all by herself more or less, normally she would just fall over to the side.

 

[seminolewind]

It could be Marek's. But I would try some multi B vitamins , because it could be a deficiency.
Maybe you should buy your chicks from somewhere else.