Loss of All Strength in legs

erose15658

Hatching
Jul 27, 2020
7
2
9
Yesterday we found one of our 9 month old Easter Eggers laying on the ground jerking a bit and pecked bloody! All of our 21 chickens have been happily together in 3 runs and a coop big enough for 30 birds since July! Some sleep on perches in the runs but the Easter Eggers have always gone in at sunset! Late yesterday we noticed one of our Rhode Island Reds - unable to walk not yet pecked at. We separated her from the rest. Both of these chickens as well as all the rest have been happy - laying eggs - etc. we put vitamin B in their fresh water daily ! Any ideas of what went wrong?
 
Can you post pictures of the birds in question?
Marek's disease comes to mind, with paralysis of the legs. Other things can cause those symptoms also.
I would check their feed for any signs of spoilage or mold, and make sure that they could not possibly have gotten access to anything toxic (spilled chemicals, leaking machinery, a plant, something rotting, etc). If you keep your feed in the original bag, I would dump it into another container to check it all. I always do this, I have bought bags that seemed Ok at the top and it was going bad at the bottom.
The birds that are having symptoms I would give 1/2 a B complex tablet or capsule (human ones) daily, see if that helps. Thiamine and riboflavin are usually the most important and if it's a deficiency then higher doses are often needed to get it reversed. Sick or weak birds will often be attacked by their flock mates, it's survival instinct to drive them away so that they don't attract a predator.
If you lose one of them it would be a good idea to have them necropsied so you know for sure what the cause is.
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
 

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