Need help with sick chicken

[wnancy]

I am hoping to get some ideas about what my be wrong with my chicken. I found her on the floor of her coop this morning laying on her back................eyes look normal, no signs of injury. She is unable to walk. It is like she is uncoordinated and when she does try to move she flops wings and then looks very tired like she is going to sleep. She can hold her head up but she will close her eyes and it slowly sinks down.

She is a young chicken around 5 mo old. Not laying yet. I am feeding grower feed yet as all my flock is young. Of course it is Sunday, so finding a vet is hard. Was wondering if anyone had any ideas.


Thanks for any info.

 

[Judy]

If you put her in a sitting or standing position, does she look flufffed up as if cold? Is she refusing to eat and drink? I would try treating her for cocci, I believe. with Corid.

The frst link is for a "home remedy" that will not cure cocci but may slow down the illness ong enough to get the right medicine. The second tells how to give Corid.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/186479/milk-flush-for-coccidiosis/0_20

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/775739/blood-in-older-chicks-stool/0_20#post_11087272

 

[wnancy]

I can really get her to stand. She feels warm to touch, but sometimes looks like she is shivering. I have been giving her warm sugar water with a syringe. A drop at a time on her beak. I put her in a dog crate for warmth and protection. No, she wont take water or food at all.

 

[birdlady79]

I would treat with Corid ASAP, like Judy said... TSC carries it.... . Also has she been dewormed? If not and the corid doesn't seem to help I would worm her with Safegaurd .... Have you seen messy or bloody stools? Also check for mites and lice while your at it... They can make a chicken become very anemic which can lead to death....I hope she gets better soon!

 

[Eggcessive]

She sounds a little like she could have some neurological issue--possibly Mareks disease or botulism. Mareks can affect one leg or wing, or both. Botulism causes paralysis of feet and legs, and will progress up the spinal cord to wings, neck, and then eyelids. Both can cause difficulty holding up the head. Separation in a box or laundry basket, close to feed and water. Put vitamins in the water--poultry vitamins are best, but temporarily PolyVisol without iron 3 drops daily or a B-Complex tablet dissolved in her water would work. Mareks is a strange disease, different in every case with differing symptoms. Botulism is caused by eating a toxin produced by rotting animal flesh or vegetation out in the ranging area, or maggots that have been on them.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/search/disease/502
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[Eggcessive]

Put a heat lamp over her with a thermometer on the floor under it--keep it at 80 degrees F. Do you have any Save-A-Chick electrolytes or Poultry Nutri-Drench to give her with a dropper?

 

[wnancy]

Put a heat lamp over her with a thermometer on the floor under it--keep it at 80 degrees F. Do you have any Save-A-Chick electrolytes or Poultry Nutri-Drench to give her with a dropper?

No I don't have the electrolytes, but can go get some. That's why I was using the sugar water. Trying to treat symptoms while trying to figure out cause. I don't see blood from her. The rest of my flock seem ok, but worried about them also.

I am new to chickens, so on a big learning curve here. Thank you all for your help. You are great people.

 

[wnancy]

I found this on one of the links you sent me.

• Nervous signs, weakness, progressive flaccid paralysis of legs, wings then neck, then sudden death.
• Affected broilers tend to settle with eyes closed when not disturbed.
• A soiled beak, because it rests on the litter, is also quite typical

Botulism

This sounds a lot like what she is doing. If it is this...........should I do anything to the rest of the flock to prevent sickness?

thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

I would look around to try to find what she ate or got into, and remove it. Chickens will dig up vegetation in compost beds, and there can be dead animals or fish in their ranging area. I hope she gets better, but if she dies, you would want to dispose of her body where the others couldn't accidentally dig it up. Just to add that there can be toxins in plants or from lead that can cause similar symptoms. Sorry about your hen.

 

[wnancy]

Thank you all for your help. She is still alive, but really don't think she will make it. If she does die I will make sure the others cant get to her...cremation probably. She is separated now also. I just had a bad coon attach a few weeks ago. So it has been a hard learning road with my chickens. I am going to do some coop upgrading.

I give scraps to them sometime. Left overs from table. They love grapes and watermelon. So if it is botulism, there may have been something from the scraps. I have never fed anything rotten. the coons took the chickens that they got out of the run to eat them. I have never found remains inside the run and I don't let them free range.

I just wonder if I shouldn't treat the rest of the flock with something just incase. Mites, lice, worms.