Not sure what's wrong with the chicken?

[EastCoastchickenlover]

I don't have a vet near me that will treat chickens so I'm hoping someone here can help?

Basically I got a flock of chicks and now they are about six months old..maybe seven. Anyways..I'm not sure if they've had any type of vaccinations.

Everyone looked healthy until about a week ago or so and then i noticed one of the chickens walking what looked like crooked..I wasn't sure what to think about it..the next day I checked on her again and she had gotten a little worse where she couldn't make it up to the house so i fed her by hand..in which she ate a lot and ordered some vitamins for her..the next day she had separated herself from the rest of the flock..she was laying on the other end of the house alone. So i got her up and put the vitamins in a dropper and she didn't want to eat much at all but I've been trying to give her water from the dropper and feed her little pieces of strawberries and eggs..she wouldn't really eat or drink at all until yesterday and then she started being more alert and she ate some strawberries out of my hand..some grass..some egg etc

I've been giving her vitamins from a dropper(Poly Vi Sol) each day. Only 4-5 drops though. Today I went out expecting her to be just as good if not a little better than yesterday because she was showing some improvement..yet she didn't look like she had moved at all since last night and today she's refusing to drink or eat anything. She also had yellow-ish diarrhea today. I'm not sure what to think of it now? When I pick her up she can use her legs to make like a paddling motion but she can't stand on them. Her neck was floppy a few days ago and had to be supported but the next day she seemed to be able to support it herself.

Now that I think about it even as a chick she was really skittish..or so i thought..she would go up into the house and sit by herself when she heard a noise or one of the other chickens would pick on her...is this a sign of her being sick? I noticed the past three or four weeks before this that she was making friends easier so I didn't think anymore of it.


Any help would be greatly appreciated..I've also separated her into another coop to prevent possible bullying because of her being sick

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Sorry about your pullet. It is good that you started the vitamins to see if she might have a roboflavin deficiency. It can be hard to tell what is wrong. Has she laid eggs? Can you insert a finger inside her vent 1-2 inches to feel for a stuck egg? At this age Mareks disease can be something that can make them lame, imbalanced, not eat, but it can cause a lot of different symptoms that may not be the same in each chicken.

Coccidiosis can be something that affects young chickens, and can be a problem when there is a problem with immunity. It would be good if you could get a fecal test performed locally, or by sending one off to a lab. Here is amail order fecal test that you can get from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Reptiles-Rabbits-Turtles-Collect-Sample/dp/B000J5SOZ4
An injury or an infection might also be a problem. Has she been bullied or pecked by the other chickens? Is she separated now? I would keep trying to get her to eat and drink, and some good things to try would be wet chick feed, scrambled egg bits, tuna, or canned cat food in a small amount. Hopefully, it is something other than Mareks. If you could take a short video of her standing, walking, or trying to walk, and then upload it to YouTube with a link posted here, that could be helpful. Here is some reading about Mareks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[dawg53]

Rehydrate her with electrolytes or Avian Super Pack after flushing her, some folks use Gatorade to temporarily rehydrate their birds.

 

[casportpony]

What kind of gatorade or does it matter?

Any flavor is good, just don't use the G2 stuff. Can you get Pedialyte, that would be better.

 

[Eggcessive]

You could try learning to tube feed if that is something you would like to do. As long as her crop is emptying, that could be done 2-3 times a day to see if she will get better. If she has Mareks it may not help. But if she has something else going on, it might keep her nutrition and hydration up where she could fight.

Has she laid any eggs so far? I just saw that you posted that. It could be that she has a reproductive disorder. Do you other chickens the same age lay eggs? Can you post a picture of her droppings? Have you had any chickens with coccidiosis before? Do you have any Corid?

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a good thread with videos of how to tube feed:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/go-team-tube-feeding-updated-12-29-2019.805728/

 

[Eggcessive]

How is she doing this morning? Will she drink anything? Since this has been going on for at least a week now, and with her age of 7 months, it just seems more like possible Mareks. With her symptoms, we always worry about Mareks, botulism, eating a toxin such as lead, automotive spills, or poisons, or eating mold in spoiled feed. Can you try to get her droppings checked by your regular vet today? If you have an interest in tube feeding, you could get a length of aquarium air tubing and a 35 ml syringe from you feed store, and tube some liquids.

 

[Eggcessive]

Coccidiosis has been known to affect walking, but it would be less common in an older pullets. That is why it would be good to rule that out with a fecal test locally. Most vets can do it the same day. But many won’t see chickens or won’t do the fecal without seeing them. I can ask my regular dog vet to do a favor like that for me. If you treat with Corid, you will have to stop the vitamins, since thiamine is not given with Corid.

Tomorrow can you feel of her lower belly to see if it is enlarged, spongy, or tight? Look and feel for any weight loss. Feel of her crop to see if it is empty in the morning. I think this might be more likely a reproductive disorder, but it would be good to rule out parasites in her droppings. I would just offer water and food up to her beak, but not force her to eat or drink.

 

[dawg53]

I suspect she may have ingested something to cause botulism. A epsom salt or molasses flush might help. Scroll down to LAXATIVE SOLUTIONS in this link:
http://extension.msstate.edu/content/solutions-and-treatments

 

[Eggcessive]

I hope your hen is doing better today. An easy way to get a rough weight on her is to hold her and weigh yourself, then check your weight, and subtract the difference. A kitchen scale gives a much more accurate weight, but knowing how many pounds is good enough to know how much fluid and medication to give.