Okay...help...chicken found laying on ground

[geebs]

Walked like it had a broken hip... put it in a cage immediatly. poop is green it eats however it is important how it lays down... She pushes her feet forward and frequently turns neck backward... very alert... peeping sounds ... beak clacking... I was medicating with Sulmet...no improvment... giving tetracycline... so far no improvement.. if anything she is going downhill... Her poop looked normal until today.. now green a little red strip to it... we fed her bananas for potassium eggs with bread soaked in it. I gave her vitamin D 200 in case it was a spinal injury... which I doubt...Malnutrition is affecting her vision at this point.... She isn't very hungry but I am getting her to eat some. No respiratory discharge noted. No eye color change. Just her inability to stand and function.... She can move but stays in a position with feet forward or two the side and is very upset when you move her.... She needs to be in that position to be comfortable.. Cannot eat food unless it is soaked or very soft.

 

[<3<3 I <3 Chickens <3<3]

OMG, I have no idea what is happining here. If itwere me, I would take that chicken straight to the vet if you really care about her. She may die if you arn't careful. Make sure the other chickens (if any) anrn't pecking her.

Also: GET THAT CHICKEN TO THE VET!!!!!!!!!!!! (If you can)

 

[geebs]

Yeah... that was my instinct... so i called. The only vet in this area that does chickens said "yep that chicken is sick.... I recommend Euthanasia".... That is exactly what i was told... She wouldn't even see the bird. I thought maybe someone on here had a similarly sick chicken experience... I will give her the end of the day and then I will put her out of her misery... so sad... She is such a nice looking young bird... only 4 months old... It is a shame... I just don't know what to do for her...

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Did the 'broken hip' issue happen immediately? Are there high roosts? How long ago was that?

How long have you been giving tetracycline and, honestly, why? Tetracycline doesn't do anything for joints. It's for bacterial issues, and few at that.

When she turns her neck backwards, is it on purpose of not? ZThe beak clacking - is that her moving her beak to clack it, or are her nostrils congested? Can you hear wheezing (listen to ribs and back, where her lungs are). Vitamin D is easily overdosed. It's not really recommended for injuries at all. How old is she again?

Can she move her feet? Do they have any strength? If you prick the top of a toe gently with a pin, does she flinch? Does she ever move her own legs, even if she can't stand? Does she drink on her own? What was she eating before this happened - exactly: brand name, protein level, label (grower, etc)? Is there any swelling or extra heat anywhere? If you feel her legs, are they rubbery? If you look at them, are they bent? Is her beak at all soft? Not hard like a very hard fingernail?

Did she have access to free ranging? Any access to any feed that was wet, damp, mildew? Any wet corn? Any algae water, ponds, puddles, mud?

First thing I would do would be change the vitamin plan. She needs a more broad vitamin, and E for neurological issues (not D - that's for rickets). Depending on her age and diet, B for possible B deficiency. (Unless her bones/beak are softer than normal or bowed).

Is she a broiler cross? If so, was she fed free-choice?

She should be on an age appropriate feed crumble. 9-16 or 20 weeks (or comb just starts to redden) grower. Comb reddening and growing (in pullets), laying feed with oyster shell.

You can dampen that crumble with water to make a meal. It should not stay in front of her for more than 15 minutes. If so, it goes bad and sometimes birds can be paralyzed from mold exposure. So make a damp mash, then offer free choice dry. How often can you wet-feed her?

The vitamins I would do as follows:

3 drops of PolyViSol in the beak daily, once a day.
Yogurt daily (1 tablespoon in her wet food) daily, once a day.
B-complex tablet, crushed, in her wet food once a day.
E oil capsule vitamin, slit and the contents put into her mouth, once a day.

REASONING:
B vitamins; to eliminate possibility of B vitamin deficiencies (which there are many)
PolyViSol: takes care of the A, D, and some E as well as a little B; given by beak is effective, won't overdose if given as described above.
E vitamin: neurological healing (takes a while - not a miracle cure). 400-700 IU oil capsule for humans. Slit the end, put drops in beak (how many depends on age).
Yogurt: full of live bacteria; helps keep her gut healthy while her diet is 'off'.

Do this for a week at least. Reevaluate. These types of problems, if fixable, take a long while. If you have to buy any of the above, I'd possibly wait til you reply and then I reply back. I'd hate for you to spend on something and then me say "no we have to change that...."

I look forward to your reply and hope that I can help.

p.s. Was she vaccinated for Marek's?

 

[geebs]

Hip thing was symptom... That is what she moved like... It wasnt her hip....I knew that... It is how the presentation was... Yes access to brackish... I was thinking possible Botulism. Treating with tetracycline for possible respirtory...(clacking beak). Vitamin A and D for pain... E for possible spinal damage. Just doing whatever I can... right wrong or indiferent I couldn't and didn't get any aid. So I am doing what I can do to try... without a vet I am kinda just flying by the seat of my pants. I have done yogurt and bananas.... Also boiled eggs. Her poo is as normal as it has been. It now is NOT tinged with blood as it was before. I think I may have two issues but I can't be sure... I think Cocci is at play but not to blame for everything... It could be Mareks or Botulism... Feathers do NOT pull out easy so it may be mareks and no to the vaccine on that. Nasal is now slightly red. She is very uncomfortable and I hurt her stomach/gut/internals moving very loudly. She has pangs of pain. I doubt she will live through the night like this....As long as she stays still she seems comfortable enough... She has bouts of very altert appetite.

Yes legs move.... She is curled in a ball with legs position forward and on her side. No discharge. Poo is smelly... very strong.

This came on very quickly and has deteriorated quickly... She has been in the same shape for 12 hours without going any further "downhill"

Tell me what you are thinking please. I had a chicken do this the same way one other time in my life. I would like to know what it is so I can best avoid this in the future if possible.

What are your thoughts?

 

[threehorses]

The very smelly droppings and sudden onset of basically paralysis as well as having access to brackish 'stuff' make me think of botulism, also. I just asked the questions to rule it out honestly - but hearing how fast this is, that makes me wonder. When was her dropping tinged with blood?

In the case of an extremely bad digestive infection or toxin, it is still useful to flush as that helps move bad bacteria (or toxins - or bad bacteria that make toxins, or overages of fungi) out - and then you give them good bacteria (yogurt) to let the good bacteria get the advantage.

Sadly, there's another post on the board that sounds like it could be botulism but trickier on that one. Even this one we're both flying by the seat of our pants. If we had a vet (and microscope) we could possible tell if there were gram positive bacteria (Clostridium) that cause botulism.

Here's what I posted on the other post, flushes that you can use to flush out excess bacteria and toxins:

--------------
Molasses Solution
Add one pint of molasses to 5 gallons of water
(or) 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) to one gallon of water
(or) 1.5 tablespoons to a quart of water.

Use that as the only source of water for four hours. If the bird cannot drink, you can dribble some in the beak. After four hours, the bird must have electrolyte treated water.

Alternative:

1 teaspoon of Epsom Salt in 1 fl oz water - dribble in the beak

(or) 0.5 ounce (1 tablespoon) of castor oil.

Thereafter dampen crumbles with water and yogurt and feed that to him. Use electrolytes in the water. He will have diarrhea as this cleanses out toxins. Take up and throw away the droppings as you see them. Disallow anyone from being near this bird and use gloves to remove the droppings.
----------------------

With botulism, there is often a limber loss of use of wings, limbs, neck. The diarrhea is very smell (as are all of the Clostridium - they will literally run you out of the room if the infection is strong enough). A few other bacteria are similar.

I would consider the molasses flush - make a quart and give her by beak. The epsom salt, if you think this is a life or death matter, is supposed to be given into the crop. That's why I prefer molasses. It has saved my birds from botulism, actual botulism, if you get them early enough.

Replacement of bacteria and electrolytes are very important after the four hour treatment. Someone else who had some sort of toxin bird (likely botulism as the neck hung limply acutely and then the bird couldn't stand, flushing 'fixed' it - same nasty droppings, etc) gave the molasses alternating with the electrolytes. l Honestly don't know of any reason that you couldn't mix the electrolytes with the molasses and cover both bases.

I would follow up tomorrow with very strong nutrition. An oil vitamin combination in case this was extreme acute mycotoxins (fungi) as they tend to deplete oil vitamins as well as selenium. Selenium therapy is a bit tricky. We can talk about that tomorrow if she makes it (and I hope she does).

Did she show any symptoms at all before 12 hours?

I really hate to recommend flushes as they're very hard on the system. But the molasses flush isn't the worst and could help at least flush that bad bacteria out. If the bad bacteria happen to be botulism Clostridium, it will also flush the toxins out. You should see some results in a day - though don't expect a miracle cure by any means. But something - if you can get her to eat.

I'd be a little reluctant to give her protein (eggs) because of the possibility of cocci still there - or protazoa. Perhaps along with her dampened crumbles, a little cooked oatmeal if she'll take it to sooth her digestive tract.

I might be going to bed. I hate to. I trust your instincts on this. I think the noise is her gut inflammed and reacting to the thing causing the extreme smell (if that wasn't a cecal poop).

I'd use that appetite to your advantage. If she'll eat while on the flush, then by all means let her. Also as you're doing keep it to easily dissolved foods.

Boy - I'm going to be looking for updates on this and I'm almost afraid to, but if she has any hope at all it's in you. You are doing wonderful things for her. I'll put in a prayer for good measure and are sending all the well-wishes I can.

I might not be in bed. Please do let me know how she is as I'm certain I'll lose a bit of sleep tonight over her.

Thanks, and bless you for trying!