no depth perception, cant eat

[seminolewind]

I did everything I could to help her, she was my friend. She would eat from my hand , I think mostly for me. It took about two weeks, then one day she just would not take anymore food or water and was just sitting with eyes closed and head down. But like yours, one day fine next day could not find her food but could fine the water. Does your roo have diarrhea? my hen had very watery diarrhea. Vet says all birds are exposed to the Marke's virus, some survive, some live until another stress comes along and then they get sick. Looking back, I think one got exposed to it about a year and a half ago, she had some leg paralysis, which got better, but I wonder if that is when it all happened. they had a bad molt this fall and I figure it may have weaken them and now the winter.

Tammye , I agree. I was thinking Marek;s but wasn;t sure I wanted to say so . But 12 of mine had that, where they couldn;t aim and peck. And some with other Marek symptoms. Marek;s can have a varying set of symptoms, OR none at all! Some of mine ate but wasted away.

I cried alot last year.

 

[zoeandbenaus]

We are having the same trouble with our one of our girls at the moment. When we got her 5 weeks ago she was approx 15weeks old. In the first 2.5/3 weeks no problems at all. Then she started to lose feathers, lose weight and had runny poo. We rulled out worms, mites and still couldn't figure it out. She ate and drank normally, was interested when I can around with food. We bit the bullet and took her to the vet to find out thats shes healthy (?!) And we were told that we had her on the.wrong food so we switched.from layer back to grower.
Well, since doing that 2 weeks ago we noticed.today that her depth perception is all over the place amd she can't seem to eat properly because she keeps missing it.
I have no clue what's going on! Shes still incredibly thin, but feathers are regrowing. I'm contacting the breeder to ask if she was vaccinated against mareks so I will just have to wait and see. Its very distressing to us and her though!

 

[seminolewind]

That missing depth perception is usually the sign I see with mine. I hope you get a better diagnosis.

 

[sugarbitsaustin]

This has happened to a couple of my girls throughout the years. I have had all recover with a lot of care. I thought I would share how I get them back to good health. Some girls it has taken a few days and others weeks. I still never 100% knew what was causing the wobble weak legs, lose of balance, and depth perception problems. Here is what has helped.

If the chicken can't seem to get food due to depth perception issues; they tend to still be able to get to their water and drink it ok. If this is the case:

- Get fresh or frozen wheatgrass. Blend it with water. Use this instead of just plain water in their water dish. It has added calories and wonderful nutrition.

- Since they can't get food on their own, you have 2 options. Mix Nutrical gel (for dogs, cats, etc.) with a little water, and feed it to ten through a dropper on the tip of their beak. It is high in calories.
OR, I have found that holding with your fingers longer food items like grass and live mealworms a little bit to their side about 4" in front of them works. They seem to be able to grasp it and eat it then. It is a very slow process, feeding 1 pc at a time, but it works.

- Also added vitamins that help the nervous system (Vitamin E, B1, & B2), either mixed with water and feed through a dropper by hand, or into their water dish if they can still drink on their own. You will have to crush them if they are in pill form and blend them with water until dissolved. Vitamin E, B1, and B2 are water soluble, which means you can't overdose them on these. Their system just flushes out whatever they don't use. But try getting around 100-300iu of E in them a day. And around 10-30 mg of B1 & B2 a day.