Not so "happy feet"

[yoie]

1) What type of bird , age and weight. Golden Campine, 3 months, and not sure?
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Very wobbly on her feet, walks to the left and when she stops she rolls
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? about 2 months
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. Nothing that I know of
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Been eating Flock Raiser by Purina since the day I got her along with the rest of the flock, has a healthy appitite too
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Seperated her from rest of flock, she was having a hard time out in the coop
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Not sure if treatable
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use Currently indoors in a critter cage with soft shavings and easy access bowls for food/water. Was outside with flock and was holding her own till we had a really bad rain and thought it best to bring her inside

I am just not sure if she is having a quality of life. She stumbles and falls, she loved being out with the rest of the flock but they are now starting to ignore her. They used to stay with her till I could put her in the coop and they now leave her out alone. From the rain we had yesterday she tried to be out in the flock but just got covered in mud and had a hard time. I bathed her and placed her inside now, but she doesn't seem to happy. I was just afraid she would get to wet and sick out in the run because of her disability. She doesn't seem to be getting any better and she seems to be having a harder time walking as time goes on. To eat she lays in front of the food bowl and pecks. It takes all her concentration to stand up only to loose her balance and start running to the left until she crashes. Was just wondering if it is time to let her go, I just don't want an animal to suffer, but at the same time she has so much life in her and she seems to keep on going everyday. What would you all do if she was your bird?

 

[TeamChaos]

Have you inspected her for a physical cause? Checked the range of motion in her legs, hips etc? Made sure there's no abscess on her foot or even a grass seed in her ear? I definitely see why you'd be wondering how much "kindness" is cruel when her quality of life is so impacted, but could you give a little more backstory on her condition? Thanks so much. best of luck to you and your chicken.

 

[yoie]

She is back out with her flock this morning, she did not like being inside and let me know it! She is so much happier with the flock. While bathing her yesterday I looked over every inch of her body there seems to be no damage of any kind. While moving and flexing her legs she seems to have complete motion but when you set her on her feet she just can't seem to keep them under her. If she concentrates she can get her feet under her and start to run/walk but seems to have trouble stopping. She loves being outside in the sunshine and really tries to be a normal chicken. She protests when you pick her and she has great control over her wings, most of the time she flies in and out of the coop instead of using the ramp. She eats, drinks, poops, preens, etc fine its just her mobility. I think it might be a neurological (sp?) problem since she has a slight head bob to her, though that could also be her trying to keep her balance. Any input to what it might be or if she could be suffering and I just don't know it?

 

[TeamChaos]

A quick google search yielded results suggesting a vitamin deficiency. Some cited vitamin B, others a protein deficiency. I've heard of people giving baby vitamins (poly visol without iron) to chickens, might be worth a shot! I had one little chick who was wobbly and "star gazing" but that was a result of a bonk on the head and I gave prednisone for brain swelling as I found on a site http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html That site has a lot of good articles, might be worth checking out to see if something seems like it might work for your friend!