Leg Paralysis

[ElaineS]

Hi guys,

I hope I'm posting in the right section.

Yesterday I heard a lot of noise out the back garden and looked out of the window to see my 3 hens attacking my very small, ex battery hen. She was lying on the ground, not moving.

I ran out and got her, they had drew blood from her comb, but she was unable to stand at all.

I put her in a large cat carrier with bedding, food and water.

Later that night I gave her a warm bath, assuming it was an egg possibly putting pressure on her leg nerves, causing the leg paralysis. After a while she laid an egg much larger than what she normally lays. I was hoping her legs would begin to function better after this egg passed.

This morning she's still the same, I gave her another warm bath, but no more eggs.

She's alert and eating, but not moving much, unable to stand, not going to the toilet much, and I've seen her with her mouth wide open quite a few times.

Is there any hope for her? I'm going to call the vet in the morning, but I'd really appreciate any advice in the meantime.

Thanks.

 

[lazy gardener]

Photo? Do a thread search for Marek's disease.

 

[ElaineS]

I searched the disease, her matching symptoms are not being able to stand, opening her mouth to breath occasionally, and earlier her poo had some green bits in it, but the whole poo wasn't green, so maybe that was just some vegetables or grass in it?

She's tried to stand a few times now but just can't. No obvious injuries. She's a rescued ex battery hens I just got a little while ago, so she should have been vaccinated.

The picture isn't great, I didn't want to disturb or stress her more. The blue on her comb is an antiseptic spray I put on after the other hens had pecked at her comb.



Thanks

 

[lazy gardener]

I lifted this sentence from the article linked below:

If you choose to vaccinate, you may still have losses. Some flock owners have had chicks vaccinated at the hatcheries only to have them die later from a different strain. The vaccine does not guarantee immunity.

http://www.thehappychickencoop.com/mareks-disease/

 

[ElaineS]

Thanks, that was really helpful.

She's barely moved an inch in the past 8 hours, still eating, but she did a poo a little while ago and it was all bright green. She's definitely deteriorating though. I'll be calling the vet first thing and doing what is best for her. I just hope if it is Mareks disease, that my other 3 hens will be okay.

 

[XanderWiFi]

Good luck with the chickie. I continue to be amazed at how resilient these little creatures can be, but turn around to find them dropping out from the strangest things...

 

[ElaineS]

Thank you!

I brought her to the vets yesterday. He gave her a really thorough examination, and said she had a viral infection. He gave her a steroid shot and she's on Baytril for the next 5 days. He said it's not too likely she'll pull through but it's worth trying.

Today she's a little more energetic, she can stand for short periods, then gets wobbly and sits back down, but definitely a little improvement from yesterday.