New EE pullet acting strange, please help!

[thriftyplants]

I lost one of my sweet girls last week in a freak incident. I only had two left, so I found a EE pullet around 13 weeks to take her place. She came from a small homestead that had very healthy chickens. She was supposedly raised by a broody silkie. I have been monitoring her and she seemed very healhy at first, although way calmer than my two crazies. She was handled a lot by her previous owner and her 3 kids, so she is very calm and goes limp in your arms when you hold her. She is a lot more chill than my chickens but I just attributed it to that.

She has been foraging and eating like normal, but lays down a lot more than my olive eggers of the same age. She ate and drank like crazy when I first brought her home like she was starving and although she is the same age she is a bit smaller than my two.

Its been a week and just yesterday I noticed odd behaviour. She has been walking strangely with her legs reaching out far in front of her before putting them down, and moving slowly. She has been laying down a bit more than usual, but I am in Florida and it is getting to summer with temps around 90°. My other two don't seem to be as bothered by it although they do lay down more in the afternoon.

I have noticed her wings are hanging low, not out like being hot, but just drooping more. She also walks a few feet and then sits over and over.

I checked her wings, crop, and feet. Everything looks normal. Her eyes are alert and bright, no change in comb color, she is young so it is reddish pink. When I come outside my other two girls run up to me, she did at first but today she has been just laying down.

I am very worried as I took it hard losing my last girl. Am I overreacting as I am rather new to this?

I contacted her previous owner with my concerns. She said maybe she likes to sit a lot a she was raised with silkies, and that she may not be used to walking on the dried leaves and acorns as she was mostly in sand before. I'm not sure what to think. This woman is very kind and does not run a huge operation and backs her birds.

I have attached some pictures of her and her most recent poop.

abnormally low wing?

 

[thriftyplants]

Here is a link to a video of her walking

 

[Dephora]

I have seen chickens do this when they get bumblefoot, have you looked her feet over?

 

[micstrachan]

That looks like it could be neurological to me. A few things come to mind, including a nutritional problem or Marek’s. The lethargy could be coccidiosis. Is she getting enough to eat? I might try giving her a little bit of vitamin supplement for starters. I have to admit, I’m feeling a little stumped on this one.

 

[thriftyplants]

Thank you all for your replies. I'm happy to say she made ot through the night. She's usually the first out of the roost to forage, but I checked on her around sunrise and she was still roosting while the other two were out foraging. Definitely not feeling well.

It is cool this morning, and she drank a lot yesterday evening, so I'm ruling out heat and dehydration. I took her from the roost and inspected her again. Her crop felt full(ish). I'm not 100% on what sour crop feels like, but I did notice upon bringing her home that her crop hung rather unusually low. She was acting fine but eating a ton. I am just now learning about sour crop and pendulous crop. Her previous owner said she used sand as bedding, and I have read this can actually lead to impacted crop. I'm not sure how to treat this, it didnt feel absolutely stuffed and I don't smell anything, but I massaged her crop a bit. It is the size of a golf ball, slightly squishy but I can feel grain and seeds in there among probably other things. My chickens are used to various fresh treats like chopped grapes, blueberries, and oats throughout the day. Perhaps this has upset her digestion?

She is also a few weeks older but noticeably smaller than my girls, I'm wondering if her crop issue (if she has one) has lead to malnutrition.

Currently I have her isolated in a large dog crate in my screen tent. I have decided to withhold food and the crate has a hard bottom and a blanket in it. I've provided her with diluted Apple Cider Vinegar.

I also checked her droppings from where she roosted last night and all look normal to me. She still doesn't want to walk much so I'm unsure if that has changed at all, but she is drinking a lot and peeping to me.

Thoughts? Anything else I can do?

 

[thriftyplants]

That looks like it could be neurological to me. A few things come to mind, including a nutritional problem or Marek’s. The lethargy could be coccidiosis. Is she getting enough to eat? I might try giving her a little bit of vitamin supplement for starters. I have to admit, I’m feeling a little stumped on this one.

I was very worried about Mareks at first, but aside from the strange walk and lethargy, I can't recognize other symptoms in her. I'm in contact with her breeder, she said they don't vaccinate but have only had one death in 3 years due to a heart attack and no sign of Mareks in their flock. I believe her to be truthful. Since Mareks is highly contagious, wouldn't her flock also have contracted it?

Do you have any supplements (brands and such) you recommend?

 

[thriftyplants]

I have seen chickens do this when they get bumblefoot, have you looked her feet over?

I've looked her feet over and can't see a possible issue

 

[LaFleche]

I would thoroughly deworm her as young pullets often contract capillaria which unattended lead to underdevelopment and neurological as well as inflammatory issues.

In addition to the deworming you could supply her with nutri-drench added to her water. And feed her some scrambled egg with oatmeal.

Edit: Link http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/capillaria-worms

 

[thriftyplants]

I would thoroughly deworm her as young pullets often contract capillaria which unattended lead to underdevelopment and neurological as well as inflammatory issues.

In addition to the deworming you could supply her with nutri-drench added to her water. And feed her some scrambled egg with oatmeal.

Edit: Link http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/capillaria-worms

Thank you for your reply.

I will look into deworming her asap. I picked up some Nutri Drench and gave the diluted mix to her. She drank it right away. I also brought out a small amount of scrambled eggs, as soon as she saw me with the dish she got up quickly and walked to the front of the crate, she began eating it immediately. Seeing her eating and drinking and getting up quickly is making me feel some hope ♡ I'm going to try to only feed her very small amounts of soft, easily digestible foods for now.

 

[micstrachan]

Poultry Cell or Poultry Nutri-Drench. I think one has riboflavin and the other does not. I should really know this, as it’s been on the forums over and over again, but let’s ask a few friends to weigh in on both the supplements and your pullet’s condition.
@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @casportpony @azygous

I just think we might be able to catch something that might progress to something more serious. It might not be a big deal, either.