Lethargic, can't stand up well, drooping

[louieloui]

My favorite chicken, Maple, is not acting herself. She's lethargic--although she did get excited when I brought some oatmeal to her--her body appears droopy, she alternates holding one leg up while letting her wing drop down (though it's completely different than the normal stretching), she's fluffed up, seems to not be able to stand as much, and generally appears not to feel good. She's 14 1/2 wks. old and has not laid yet. Any ideas what it could be?

Here are some pics to help:

Her head is not droopy, she was just picking at the dirt

 

[louieloui]

And I should add that she's already had cocci as a chick. I almost lost her then and really don't want to lose her now.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'll throw out some possibilities for you to think about - and maybe someone with a better idea will chime in.

In the pictures, it looks like she's favoring that right foot. Have you checked it for injuries? Bumblefoot?

As far as general droopiness, that can be caused by a number of discomforts. I wouldn't suspect cocci at this age (it's possible but not likely). I would see if she has an impacted crop and check her all over for signs of distress, mites, lice, worms. I would also isolate her and see about what she's pooping.

Maybe that'll get you started.

 

[Nohoka]

We have lost three birds the same way, an Americauna rooster, a Cuckoo Maran rooster and a Cuckoo Maran pullet. They were perfectly healthy one day, the next they were puffed up and lethargic and eventually went off their feet and died. We have no idea what happened to them. I am anxious to see any responses you get.

We assumed maybe it was bad genetics. We bought the eggs from a local breeder but are questioning whether or not they are rotating their flocks enough to keep new blood in the gene pool. We have talked to others who bought chicks from this area and they died also. We now source our hatching eggs from outside the province.

I sure hope Maple pulls through. We get so attached. Alaster, Chester and Grace didn't make it

 

[louieloui]

Quote:
She alternates feet--earlier she did the same thing w/her left--but seems to bear weight just fine. Could that still be Bumblefoot? I'm new to chickens and am learning as I go, sadly. Her crop appeared full last I checked, but she had just scarfed down a lot of oatmeal. Should I wait to check her later and see if it's gone down?

I know we hate mites here as we live in the country, but I do check the birds everyday for signs of them (eggs on the feather shafts, right?) and (knock on wood) nothing so far. I've dusted the heck out of the coop w/DE and wood ash since we built it and provided a pan for the chickens to dustbathe in DE and wood ash as well. Still, I know that isn't 100%. They haven't been wormed yet--up until last night I didn't know you needed to worm chickens--but I will be doing it this weekend.

In the meantime I'll have to figure out where to put Maple as the only "brooder" I have that will fit her is currently housing chicks.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Well, it sounds like it probably isn't bumble foot, but you can check easily enough just by looking at the bottom of her feet and seeing if there is a sore in the middle.

A cardboard box or a rubbermaid bin work just fine as a chicken hospital on the fly. I have put sick chickens in a rubbermaid in my bathroom several times. Just put a little bit of pine shavings in the bottom to soak up the mess - and change it out every day or two to keep down the smell in the house. This way, you can also check on her often to see what she's doing.

I'm sorry that i don't have any other ideas. It's possible that she's just having a rough day and will snap out of it tomorrow. You never know.

 

[louieloui]

I've separated her from the flock and brought her in to our basement and have been keeping an eye on her. She's drinking and eating well, poops look normal, but...she's having problems standing. When she does stand she'll lift her leg up, wing dropped, wait a bit, and then crumple w/the leg to the back. Both of her feet/legs look completely normal, no sores, etc. She's also a bit wobbly, has lost weight, and when I gave her some superworms she had trouble picking them up--which she didn't when I gave them to the chickens earlier this week (she was pretty quick about nabbing them). Could this be Marek's?