Hi All, Im new to Backyard Chickens and just wanted to say hi and share a recent experience. About three weeks ago I had noticed my chicken stumbling when trying to walk. She was have a very hard time standing and when she did stand she stayed on her elbows, not fully up on her feet. Also her tail stayed in a drooped position. She would tire seconds after standing and would plop down to rest after only a few seconds. I also noticed that when I put food in front of her she she would peck at the food but she was having a hard time locating it. As if she lost her eyesight. At first I thought she was having neurological issues and would feed her and give her water three times a day. Finally I found a tread where someones chickeken was experiencing the same thing. They said there chicken had a stroke and it all made sence. I then contacted my vet and found out that the vet I use for my cats also did exotic animals which i did not know beofre this. My vet gave me four doses of steroids to give to my chicken over an eight day period. Before long my Jenny starting to show improvement. She is back on her feet and out of the coop hanging with her sister. She still has difficulty locating food but has improved 80%. She is walking much better. She has not attempted to jump on her perch but I am not pushing the issue as I am afraid of her falling off and hurting herself. She is still having trouble climbing the ramp to her coop so I have to make sure to put her in the coop every night. I have been been feeding her a scrambled egg for protein along with greens and laying feed for nutrition as reccomended by the vet. He tail is not drooping anymore either. I am hoping she continues to improve. I could have given up on her but she has been a pet for about 3 years now (no egg laying) and I at least wanted to try and help.
Welcome to Backyard Chickens. This is a great place with lots of assume information and great support. I am glad to hear she is improving.
By any chance is your hen a silkie? I ask because silkies tend to have neurological problems, if they get pecked in the head, or hit their heads. Ones with very vaulted skulls - sometimes have an opening, soft spot on their head so are highly vulnerable to injury in this fashion. Some have been helped with steroids directed by a vet. I would imagine polish with big poufy crests may have the same problem.
No she is a red. Myself and my vet thought stroke. She has all the symtoms but I guess that could also be a head injury. Anyway I just wanted to post so that others would know that there is hope when something like this happens. It's a slow recovery but moving in the right direction.
