Need Help! Does my paralyzed orpington have Marek's or something else?

[MissCluck]

I hope it's not Marek's. My Fannie started out sleepy and depressed with that... it took her about a week to develop other symptoms.

Best wishes for your girl to recover.

 

[chick818]

When you refer to the chicken as being sleepy do you meant actually closing the eyes and falling asleep or do you mean just bein sort of mellow?

 

[PunkinPeep]

How is she today?

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
I hope not too. After Fannie started getting other symptoms, how long did they take? Did it start with one side? Splash (my chicken), has been limping for 4 days now with no other symptoms. Did Fannie's symptoms progress faster than that (once she started limping)?

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
She lays down and does close her eyes, but will open them up when she hears me coming. After a while of nothing important going on, she'll start to doze off again -- it's a light sleep - she'll open her eyes anytime she hears something different, but she definitely sleeps more than the other chickens. She's my only orp, so I don't have any more of that breed to compare her to.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
Today - Her leg is the same. I don't see any new symptoms, but she's not eating her crumbles and I think it's because she's in the house, in a cage, and by herself. She did eat some yogurt I gave her.

Yesterday, before I brought her in, she would gobble her crumbles just like all the other chickens (she's top pullet and always gets to eat first - she won't let the BA eat till she's done).

I'm considering moving her cage outside to the pen and seeing if she will eat then, but then, she'd be back in the heat. Well... it is getting a little cooler here - our high today is supposed to be 92. Keeping her inside does make her rest the leg, but she's either pining for her flock or nervous about being in a cage.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

She seems worse today - more lethargic and her leg has become more useless. The foot is staying curled instead of out flat.

She will eat when I handfeed her, but tends to ignore the dish of crumbles - she will drink also. I held her and tried to give her another exam and she almost went to sleep - her mouth would open every once in a while (as in a silent, short gasp).

Could this be Marek's? If so, wouldn't the rest of the flock show signs? If she injured her leg, would these symptoms she's showing fit?

I'm so afraid I'm going to lose her. She is the first chick I ever hatched from an egg and was the only chick to make it from that hatch. I actually had to bring her inside away from my clumsy broody and let her hatch inside the house and after 6 hours, she came out on her own. She's special and my only 1 of this breed.
We really want her to make it and I'm hoping whatever this is, it is not contagious.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I SO wish i knew enough to help you with this.

Have im-ed Threehorses or someone like that who knows everything?

I really hope she's o.k. Keep keeping me updated, please.!

I'm rooting for you and her!

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

We just noticed a new sypmtom - her left eye is bloodshot.



Edited: Her eye is now normal. We noticed the eye right before I left for an appt - 3 hours later, when I got home, her eye was normal and now 24 hours later, it is still normal.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

It looks like her leg is now paralyzed - she can't stand up at all. The bad leg just hangs and she can't move it. Both wings are perfectly fine - can't tell the difference between the two when she flaps them. She is not eating anymore - maybe a couple bites when I handfeed her, but that is it. Not sure if she is just depressed or has trouble opening her beak. She is still sleepy, but I can still get her to be alert for me.

I read about the possibility of botulism - her feathers are not falling out, but perhaps she has a mild case (not sure where she would have eaten something bad, but she does free-range). We don't use poison in the yard.

Tonight, with a dropper, we fed her a mixture consisting of:
1 T. crushed chicken feed
1/2 T. yogurt
1/8 t. molasses (in case it is botulism)
4 drops of polyvisol
pedialyte (mixed to a consistency that would work with a dropper)

I also gave her extra pedialyte to drink a couple times while feeding her.

Before this, all droppings have been very normal. While feeding her this mixture, she pooped 3 times! All 3 were runny, smelly, & green - not sure if it the poop was like this because of what she was eating at the time?

I put a mixture of 1/2 pedialyte & 1/2 water into her water dish and will make sure to have her drink it before I go to bed tonight and then will throw it out so it doesn't go bad on her.

I also plan to feed her the above mixture again, but am not sure as to how often or how much she should be eating. I can always leave out the molasses if she shouldn't have too much of it. How often per day would you recommend me feeding her?