My poor little Barred Rock

[meggers32]

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that my little BR pullet was limping on her right foot. I kept an eye on her and somehow she got better, and was putting weight on hit, and eventually walking like normal. Well, I went into the coop tonight and she was laying on her side, unable to get up. Her legs were trembling, like a tremor. She never let me get close enough to pick her up before, but now she had to. I picked her up and she is just skin and bones. I grabbed some food to hand feed her and she just about inhaled it. So, I put her in a animal carrier to care for her and went online to see what it could possibly be. The two that I found matching symptoms for is Mareks and botulism. As far as botulism, they have not fed off of anything that could give them this, so it must be Mareks, right? I was just a little confused that she had problems a couple of weeks ago and now it has come back. Doesn't Mareks come fast and end fast? Also, just to mention, they have been exposed to mold in their coop, would that cause this? I recently got these chickens and had no where to put them, so we put them in an older coop, old but stable. I just found mold in the nesting boxes and on the wall, so I will have to move all of them asap and find alternate housing, somehow.

Any thoughts would be good, I looked at the previous posts and found a little, but the tremors had me thinking it is something else.

Thanks!!!

 

[JennsPeeps]

Meighan,

I have no idea but wanted to write to say how sorry I am! BR are such neat little birds.

Consider this a bump...

 

[Minx]

Sounds like it could be Mycotoxicosis due to the mold.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/100/mycotoxicosis

 

[meggers32]

Thanks to you both for replying, it certainly helps! I hope that it is the mold, that seems to be easier to treat than Mareks. she certainly seems to have all of those symptoms.

We ended up putting them in this old coop because we had nowhere else to put them and someone kind of just dropped them off at our house. It seemed fine until the rain started up again and up came the mold. There is no electric down there, so not much to dry up the moisture. I knew that I had to fix up this coop, I just needed a little more time. So, now I have to find a place for 8 chickens to live asap! Right now, my chicken is in our bathroom in a comfy cage. I have given her some water, feed and fresh corn. Is there anything I can do to help with the paralysis? She seems to be fine otherwise.

Thanks again, I love this forum!!!

 

[pwand]

I wonder if vitamins would help with the high protein.

 

[meggers32]

Pwand, I am still pretty new at this, do you mean vitamins that would help the paralysis? I can do some research to find out which ones. I have never encountered this before, so it's news to me. Have you had this before? She seems to be doing fine besides not using her legs, she is alert and really wanting to eat! She is also trying to get up and move around, and flapping around too.

 

[meggers32]

Hi everyone,

Well, she is still doing pretty good, but now she has some nasty diarrhea. My bathroom smells to high heaven right now!!! Is this something that can be treated with something? Also, what particular vitamin or treatment can be given for mycotocicosis? We have discovered mold in our old coop and believe her illness is because of that. She is still not able to use her legs this morning, and they are still trembling, but is definately wanting to eat like crazy. Any advice?

 

[crtrlovr]

If she is hungry, let her eat until she is satisfied and her crop is full. Try some scrambled eggs, yogurt, or higher protein chicken or game bird food. Do a search on here for PolyViSol vitamins for the dosage; sometimes a vitamin deficiency or absorption problem can cause what you seem to be describing. Hope your chicken recovers.

 

[pwand]

Quote:
I'm not to knowledgeable when it comes to chickens getting sick. From the link that a member posted it sounds like once she is moved out of the mold area, she should come around with the vitamins and high protein. You can get the vitamins at a feed store. Her having a good appetite and wanting to eat is really good, it may take her a few days to start coming around. I never had a chicken with the paralysis before. Keep us posted on how she is doing.

 

[meggers32]

Hi there,

Well I posted a couple of days ago about my poor girl, she has not been able to use her legs at all. Since I brought her inside she has not stood up on her legs, but she will move them around and try. I noticed that she is only paralyzed on the left side. She is still eating and looking alert for the most part, although she started "panting" a little, like heavy breathing. Ugh. Her diarrhea has stopped and she just basically sits there, content, eating and pooping up a storm. I feel really bad, because when they can't move, they are just sitting in their own poo. Chicken or not, that is gross. So, my question is for those who have experienced this, how long does it go on? I am willing to stick it out, but I am just curious how long the recovery is? Should I give her anything else besides food, yogurt, water and vitamins? I also discovered that the mold problem in the coop was not as I thought, just in one area. I had to clear the whole thing our and scrub, so hopefully she is the only one effected.

Thanks!