My gut says botulism, but could use some help

[Shadrach]

Pleased to read there is some progress.

 

[Nksg75]

I'm so sorry to hear about your lovely hen doing so badly

That is amazing I'm guessing ours won't be like that! I'll have to ask my friend who has sheep what he charges!

Yes, well they are the only bird/ small animal clinic around.
It also doesn't help when your daughter is next to you begging you to save her guinea pig. Then the doctor sees this, and suggests X-rays to rule out stones!! Ahhh...

 

[Nksg75]

Pleased to read there is some progress.

Yes, to me there is. I just thought with possible botulism, that once that 48 hour was up then the improvement would be more obvious.
Mabye I am naive but I thought once the poison was out of the system, they would be back to semi normal.
She still can't walk, she is able to lift her head slightly, but it still is bent.
I guess I am frustrated because as the time goes on, I am wondering if I made the wrong assumption about what she had.
After looking at the area where the others are freeranging, and doing research online as what could be the cause, I figured it was indeed the amount of rain we have had, and the river around here was very high, and flooding some areas of the pasture they are in. Then after it went down, she got ill.
So it stood to reason that the river had caused possible rotten vegetation. All the other chickens are fine, no issues so far.

 

[Nksg75]

I kind of doubt that the vet would know more about what is causing the wry neck and her being unable to hold herself up. Wry neck is more typical of Mareks, and not botulism. Botulism is more of a flaccid or limp neck, not the twisting we see in wry neck. Wry neck is a neurological symptom, seen in many different conditions, such as head or neck injury, vitamin E or B1 (thiamine) deficiency, and is often seen in Mareks, fowl cholera, Newcastles disease, and others. Newcastles is rarely found in the US, but there was an outbreak in S. California earlier this year, the first in over 25 years. I still think it is more than likely Mareks, but glad you are exploring the other possibilities. I don’t know if you would like to try some vitamin E (400 IU) and some B1 thiamine daily with a tiny bit of egg for selenium to nelp with E uptake.

How do I determine if it's more wry neck, than flaccid, or limp neck?

 

[Shadrach]

How do I determine if it's more wry neck, than flaccid, or limp neck?

With great difficulty.
Wry neck covers a multitude of medical conditions.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most of us have never dealt with botulism, but it can be found if there has been flooding that has receded when there have been dead fish that were trapped on land. Even the mud or maggots can be infectious. It is more common in ducks. But I think if her neck is limp, the rest of her body would be as well. Only time will tell what she had, but Mareks is much more common. If you lose her, a necropsy could identify the cause, but hopefully, it won’t come to that. I am glad that she is brighter and tolerating food. In this article on Mareks, there is a section on lookalike diseases:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[micstrachan]

I, too, am glad to read of some progress and 100% agree tube feed I g her is the way to go right nuw. (I either didn’t realize or forgot you were doing that.) Keep up the good work. I hope Mrs. Lee conti yes to inprove.

 

[Nksg75]

Ok, here she is just now. I’d say a big improvement for sure!!

 

[Shadrach]

Ok, here she is just now. I’d say a big improvement for sure!!

Could I ask you to keep an accurate record of how you've treated her, including the videos and make an article of it so it doesn't get lost?

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh, so good to see her moving some and holding her head up!