Need assistance with a lethargic ill chicken. Possibly respiratory problems, Wry Neck or something else?

[Persony Person]

it would be rare but it could be a parasite issue, do they free range?

You can see most of their living space in the Day 4 video shown above. They are by definition... Well... Backyard chickens. They used to have a space roughly 3 times as large but most of that has been sectioned off and made way for a garden.

There is nothing that I can think of that we gave them recently that could account for possible toxicity. So I am just going to have to hope it is a vitamin deficiency, which is strange considering we give them a very balanced diet.

We have a cat cage which we will put her in tomorrow if she survives tonight and bring her inside, giving her electrolyte water and feeding her.

Weighing her is not an easy task either. Too resistant. It is difficult enough trying to pick her up for feeding, always reacting like her world is about to end every time. Our resources are limited anyway I don't even know if we have scales large enough for her. Because such an event for one of our chickens has not happened to us before, we are not prepared for every possible contingency.

I will tell you guys how tomorrow goes.

 

[casportpony]

giving her electrolyte water and feeding her.

She needs lots of fluids before feed. Forcing her to eat when she is dehydrated will do more harm than good.

We have a cat cage which we will put her in tomorrow if she survives tonight

Cant you bring her in tonight?

 

[aart]

giving her electrolyte water

Don't over do the EL, plain water should also be available.

 

[Persony Person]

I think I have finally figured out what is wrong with her. A condition known as Botulism. It explains the neck drooping, loss of balance and control, blurred vision explaining why she was missing the water drinker, the green poo and now unfortunately paralysis. We brought her inside during the early hours of the morning and she is now totally unresponsive. The only thing moving from her now is her neck spazzing out. It will seem any attempt to save her is now futile as I don't have the means to acquire the anti-toxin. I am pretty sure she has a few hours at most. I will make a post when she passes.

We are very careful upon what we feed our chickens. I am puzzled into how she could have contracted it. Perhaps from one of the canned foods we give all our chickens, which considering the food standards of the UK, is extremely rare for a case like this to happen. A freak event. Especially since she is the only chicken of ours to get the condition.

Just want to thank everyone for their inputs and advice in trying to manage her condition, but there is nothing more I can do. I figured out the cause too late.

 

[casportpony]

So sorry she is getting worse. It's almost certainly not botulism since botulism usually kills the in a day or two. Given all of the symptoms she has, her rate of decline, this sounds more like Marek's to me.

 

[jolenesdad]

So sorry she is getting worse. It's almost certainly not botulism since botulism usually kills the in a day or two. Given all of the symptoms she has, her rate of decline, this sounds more like Marek's to me.

I was going to ask the same, but I’m not too familiar with the progression of Mareks.

 

[Persony Person]

I am not convinced that it is Marek's from what I have been reading. Isn't Marek's contagious? All the other chickens are perfectly fine. Her eye colour has always been brown apparently would be grey if she had it. Her breathing is not the issue, even though she is in all this pain, her respiratory pattern is normal. If it was something bad like Newcastle's, then again the other chickens should be showing at least some symptoms by now.

The only thing I can think of that one of the other chickens experienced was a rooster sneezing a couple of weeks ago. Stupid Head 4 was not sneezing at all. She has been pecked a few times since her illness became apparent and the ones who pecked her are still healthy (which would have been the transmission point). In fact her closest companion (Stupid Head 3) has been the most lively I have ever seen her who was one of the chickens who pecked her.

If it is none of those conditions then it could be a genetic issue? They are hybrids from several different breeds. We had one who looked somewhat similar to her who died a year ago (Stupid Head 1) after being lethargic for several days (We never knew what was wrong with her but her symptoms were not like this).

 

[jolenesdad]

The only way to know will be a necropsy. I know funds are tight, so I would say if another bird gets sick after this one, you really need to get a necropsy done.

 

[LaFleche]

If all the oral vitamin B + E supplements and other qualified suggestions did not help to improve her condition, she might be suffering from some kind of brain tumor.

But I would still give it a last try and inject 1.500 Vitamin B12 directly in the breast muscle. This will only cost very little and might save her.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I am not convinced that it is Marek's from what I have been reading. Isn't Marek's contagious? All the other chickens are perfectly fine. Her eye colour has always been brown apparently would be grey if she had it. Her breathing is not the issue, even though she is in all this pain, her respiratory pattern is normal. If it was something bad like Newcastle's, then again the other chickens should be showing at least some symptoms by now.

The only thing I can think of that one of the other chickens experienced was a rooster sneezing a couple of weeks ago. Stupid Head 4 was not sneezing at all. She has been pecked a few times since her illness became apparent and the ones who pecked her are still healthy (which would have been the transmission point). In fact her closest companion (Stupid Head 3) has been the most lively I have ever seen her who was one of the chickens who pecked her.

If it is none of those conditions then it could be a genetic issue? They are hybrids from several different breeds. We had one who looked somewhat similar to her who died a year ago (Stupid Head 1) after being lethargic for several days (We never knew what was wrong with her but her symptoms were not like this).

Marek’s disease can present itself in various ways. Sometimes only one chicken gets sick at a time, though they all carry it. There are different forms of Marek’s, and only one of them involves gray eyes. Here’s a thread about a rooster I had with suspected Marek’s, he had similar symptoms to your hen https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rooster-losing-balance.1332429/.