lose of balance, appetite, open mouth breathing

[chitownhens]

Not that I know of but I hope not! It does seem similar to the acute form minus the rapid breathing. Just gave her another dose of the vitamins but shes going down fast.

Don't lose hope and as long as she is eating and drinking then maybe she just needs time.

I have had that happen where they just wouldn't get up then all of a sudden on day 2 or 3 they finally got up and started acting normal again eating and drinking on their own.

Is that hen part of a flock?

 

[Cellomama2]

Yes, I still have 11 including her. So far so good on the rest. Lost a bantam last week but this just doesn't totally seem like the same thing to me. I wouldn't think contaminated food or water either because I would think I'd be loosing more than one at a time.

 

[Cellomama2]

So I stayed up for quite a while last night making sure to keep her hydrated and fed and she did pull through the night. I was able to find a local vet who happens to keep chickens himself who put in time outside of work looking stuff up and taking to a specialist friend who suggested a vitamin B deficiency, parasite or Merek's which I pray its not. I'm going to run to Tractor Supply and get some kind of parasite treatment and continue the vitamins.

 

[chitownhens]

So I stayed up for quite a while last night making sure to keep her hydrated and fed and she did pull through the night. I was able to find a local vet who happens to keep chickens himself who put in time outside of work looking stuff up and taking to a specialist friend who suggested a vitamin B deficiency, parasite or Merek's which I pray its not. I'm going to run to Tractor Supply and get some kind of parasite treatment and continue the vitamins.

That's sounds like very good news

 

[Cellomama2]

Well she's still going. She has no balance what so ever and has to lean on the side of whatever she is in our she ends up on her back with her legs on the air and can not right herself. She is eating and drinking on her own but I'm still giving some extra electrolytes very slowly with a syringe. I hope she shows some improvement with the valence soon because this is no quality of life. This is definitely not what the blue Wyandotte died of though and now another chicken seems like she may have dislocated her leg! This bad stuff happens in threes right, so we should be done now?

 

[chitownhens]

Well she's still going. She has no balance what so ever and has to lean on the side of whatever she is in our she ends up on her back with her legs on the air and can not right herself. She is eating and drinking on her own but I'm still giving some extra electrolytes very slowly with a syringe. I hope she shows some improvement with the valence soon because this is no quality of life. This is definitely not what the blue Wyandotte died of though and now another chicken seems like she may have dislocated her leg! This bad stuff happens in threes right, so we should be done now?

Still early only about 4 days and as long as she is eating and drinking she still has a good chance of recovering at least that has been my experience.

 

[azygous]

The videos are heart breaking. Did you mention another chick had died after showing similar symptoms? The behavior has all the earmarks of neurotoxin poisoning. If it's Marek's it's not necessarily fatal. But all your birds would be carriers from here on. If this chick dies, a necropsy is a must so you know if this is going to affect your other chicks.

Where did these chicks originate from? Private breeder or hatchery?

Have you seen wild birds eating those berries? You would notice a lot of bird poop underneath the plant. If wild birds are eating it, it's not poisonous.

I believe that plant with the red berries is honey suckle. Though it's on the list for toxic plants to poultry, most folks report no problems with their chickens eating it. However, a chick is another matter. Their small size could prevent their processing any toxins.

If your chick has survived this long, whatever is the cause it's probably not going to be fatal in this instance. I would continue the vitamins. I've seen on these forums chicks with these symptoms survive and the symptoms disappearing for a full recovery. Don't give up.

 

[Cellomama2]

I got the ISA Browns, EE's and Barred Rock from Abendroth's Hatchery in Waterloo and the Blue Wyandotte bantams from an old college roommate that breeds mainly show quality Polish bantams but is starting to get into other breeds. The only reason we got the bantams was because two of them were born on my 2 year old's birthday this year and I thought that would be special as some of our first chickens. Of course as we were leaving she told me they had three more blue chicks that were born a week or two later that they were going to cull if I wasn't interested in them because the rest of that batch died or something. The blue that passed was one of the two born on my daughter's birthday and of course was the friendlier of the five. Her name was Rosie. Rosie stopped eating and drinking and got very weak very quickly. I didn't notice anything odd on Monday morning, I had to bring her in by that afternoon because she was fluffed up and not running from me and I had to euthanize her on Wednesday night because she wouldn't even keep her head up and you could tell she had given up and her breathing was just these long slow big breaths. I always tell any of my sick critters I will fight for them as long as they have fight in them. Sassy never ended up having the breathing issue. I thought it was the same thing at first but theres no way unless it just hit Rosie differently. If I do loose Sassy or she just doesn't regain mobility I will be having a necropsy done for sure.

As for the plant in question the wild birds don't go near the coop yet but I don't particularly notice them going at them anyplace else on the property but we do have them everywhere so I would think the wild birds helped with that. I'm almost always out with my 2 and 4 year olds so we don't usually get to see to much wildlife (other than bugs) since they are so loud.

What would even cause a neurotoxin poisoning?

 

[azygous]

Lots of things cause neurotoxin poisoning. Bad feed gone moldy can cause these symptoms, including respiratory problems. The slightest exposure to any petroleum distillates - I recently had a four-week old chick pick up some contaminated grit under a log splitter and within minutes, it was showing all the symptoms your chick is experiencing. Toxic plants. Marek's. Insecticides.

For some reason I suspect Marek's. The chick is the right age for developing symptoms after exposure soon after hatch. But not all chicks will die. They can recover, though they will still carry the virus.

Since you got the chicks from a private breeder, Marek's is all the more likely. A virus such as Marek's can be present in a flock where most of the chickens are not symptomatic. Flock managers usually won't think the worst when they're only losing a chicken once every few years, thinking it's normal attrition. With these viruses, many chickens can develop resistance and live normal lives, even though they carry a deadly disease.

My flock is infected with such a virus (lymphotic leucosis). Most of them are perfectly normal and healthy, having built a resistance to the virus. I even have a hen who is nine years old, and all the symptoms she shows is a small tumor over one eye. Yet other chickens have taken sick and I've had to euthanize them. The most recent was a week ago. A six-year old hen had developed tumors that were affecting her organs, obvious from her bluish-purple comb and lethargic behavior.

The thing about these viruses is they're extremely contagious and if you have Marek's in your flock, you will need to be very careful about exporting the disease. You will not be able to rehome any chickens, or sell any chicks. I had a BYCer ask me if I would sell them some hatching eggs. I had to turn them down explaining the virus in my flock is transmitted from hen to fertilized egg. Marek's doesn't vertically infect eggs, but it does hitchhike on shoes, dander, even air currents. There is no cure for these viruses. But if you discover Marek's in your flock, there is a vaccination for new chicks you might get in the future so they can develop resistance.

 

[Cellomama2]

I knew this would happen if I got unvaccinated ones.