Marek's or Vitamin Deficiency: 10 day chick can't walk, falling over, sitting on haunches!

[centrarchid]

I was correcting freshness / quality of feed used. My grammar is the real problem.

 

[lcwmt]

MVie, there are some differences in your chick's history but some profound similarities.
Our chicks came home April 4, at 2-3 days old. They all seemed at about the same pace of development, with the exception of the poor scruffy Bantam ("she's free, she needs a good home....". She caught up fast though.

At about 2-3 weeks we started noticing some differences with one of the Buff Orpingtons. She was not as mobile, nor very energetic. Did not like getting up in the morning. Ate well, drank well, was alert and clear eyed. Hustled for her place in the pile.
Several weeks later we noticed she was not standing but sitting back on her hocks. She would climb up into the roost but would not sleep on the bars, choosing to be on the floor instead.
We thought she was perhaps a prima dona.

More time went by and her "issues " intensified as she got larger. We began to wonder if she'd hurt herself. No changes for the better with time. She continued to act normal in all other ways. Sometimes a little crabby though.

After a couple of weeks with no improvement I found a Vet who would look at her. Our local Vet does not deal with chickens. This clinic is 45 miles away.
Took her in, described the progression and our concerns there was an issue with her feet or perhaps an injury.
It took him 2 questions (sudden onset? no. Respiratory issues with her or the flock? no.) and less than 5 minutes to determine it is a neurological issue.

She has little feeling in her feet. This was determined by rubbing the bottom of the feet: no clasping response, no registration at all until he applied a lot of pressure, then she protested. There is no correction or treatment and the rest of the flock is not in danger.

SO: not an infection, illness or an injury, just one of those thing that happens before the egg hatches, and nobody's fault! major sigh of relief. We take responsibility for these creatures, it's awful when something we do or do not do causes distress)

She does not like to walk because she can't really feel the ground. Her wings help her navigate when she wants to move.
He said he would not euthanize at this point - she's healthy, reasonably happy, in no pain, safe.
We are accommodating her as best we can. She'll do well until she doesn't.

{should all this be cross posted to "Special Needs Chickens" We have a special needs dog, all of our four leggeds are rescues... but a special needs chicken? I was not prepared for this!. We'll all be ok though.}|

 

[MVie]

Well just to update anyone that reads this thread: max didn't make it.
I'm not sure what happened. It was 8 days of her being separated from the others and although she wasn't getting worse, she wasn't really getting better. We move them all every night into the bathroom so our house cat doesn't get them. She was put to bed per usual, with fresh water and food, at around 11pm. Her eyes were clear, she made her normal bedtime contented sounds. I had no reason to be alarmed. But at 3 am I went in and she was stretched out on her side and she was dead. I have no idea what happened but I'm sorry I couldn't do more for her. My other 3 are growing like weeds and don't appear to have any problems thus far. Thanks to everyone who responded.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Sorry for your loss.

I'm in Hilo, had a 3wk chick (out of 38) come down with the same symptoms. I still kept it under light, in the house with a stuffed animal & feather duster for comfort. I used PolyViSol without iron, 3 drops daily which was messy cause he didn't like it. Fed boiled egg yolk mixed with its feed & wet with a bit of water. There were days I didn't think he'd make it but after a LONG 2wk he turned out to be the cockiest Cock ever.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for you loss

You did everything you could, unfortunately some chicks may have
developmental/genetic disorders that are difficult to overcome and just fail to thrive.

 

[Pots]

this is my first time with chicks. On 7/13 I brought home 4, 2 day old chicks from a local farm store-don't know where chicks came from. I set up a brooder in an oversized clear plastic storage container, with pine shaving, water, and food (just chick starter they gave me in unmarked bag at farm store) changed every day. Has a vented screened top and heat lamp. We are keeping them inside and give them about 20 minutes outside to explore everyday as their brooder is being cleaned. I have been very pleased with their progress and have enjoyed watching them grow. However, I noticed on Thursday morning, exactly a week after bringing them home, our Plymouth Rock chick Max, kept getting toppled over by the 3 other girls. She looked alert and awake but she wasn't walking around. I took her out and quickly noticed she was trembling, and her feet kept retracting in a curled ball. I tried to get her to walk but she kept falling over. I felt her over gently and she didn't seem to be bothered by my touch so she didn't seem injured-it seems more like a nerve problem. Almost like she was having a seizure. I separated her from the other girls. I googled and at first thought she had Mareks, then thought maybe a vitamin deficiency. It's now almost 3 days later and she is still alert, eating when I practically hand feed her, drinking when I do the same, but isn't getting any better! When outside to explore, she try's to keep up with the others but can't when walking. She has to fly a little to catch up. She will fall over on her side and have to kick and flap around to right herself. She barely stands up on her feet but sits back on her haunches.
I live in the middle of nowhere in Hawaii and have two small children under 3 so I have limited time and budget to just go out and buy random things to treat her. I want her to thrive but I also don't want to waste my limited time. I have been crushing the b complex vitamins we have on hand and rolling a little shred of cheese in it, with sand, and giving it to her once a day but it doesn't seem to be helping. If I put it in her water, she won't drink it. Is she too young for Mareks? My other 3 girls are growing like weeds and seem healthy. If it is Mareks, do they always have to be separated, max is so Isolated!
Please advise! Thank you!

LOL He is a bit cryptic at times - that scientific mind of his.....

He can probably explain his response better, but I think he was questioning the freshness and/or quality of the feed you received from the feed store. You mentioned in your first post "just chick starter they gave me in unmarked bag at farm store" It is best, if possible, to get feed that has a date, a label with the ingredients and if possible a nutritional analysis on the bag, this way you know what you are getting. There's no harm in getting feed from a mill or farm store, but they should be able to give you an idea of the ingredients.

I had a young chicken that had a problem walking, seemed to be having seizures, couldn't eat, drink etc. I had several quotes from this forum that she may have a vitamin deficiency and all kind of different diseases. Nothing worked but someone quoted that I try giving the chick real maple syrup. So I gave her about one half teaspoon once at her bedtime and then again in the morning. The chicken went from seizure like symptoms to a normal chick. She is about ready to lay eggs now. Sounds foolish but the syrup must have something that worked for her problem! Her problem I believe was stress related.