Paralyzed 16wk old cockerel!!!

[Betsy000]

Hello y’all!
About 3 days ago my cockerel was as his usual energetic self but it seems that something caused him to lose sense in his feet and wings. On day 1 he would have limp, on day 2 he would fall down several times, day 3 he couldn’t stand up or fly no matter how much he tried. This is a first for me and I can’t figure out what went wrong. We’re afraid he might not make it tomorrow, so we separated him from the flock so he wouldn’t get a stampede of chickens running all over him on his last days. Though he’s currently drinking water and eating quite well, his appetite has surely not backed down. He has also had normal bowel movements and his crop is emptying as it should. I was reading about possible paralysis causes in chickens and came upon curled toe paralysis but in the pictures attached his toes are not curled and rather just straight limp looking.

Anybody have an idea of what could be causing this?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Oh, no! Sorry about your cockerel! Is he vaccinated against Marek's disease? Is there a possibility that he has eaten anything that he wasn't supposed to? Is he in pain at all? Run your fingers down his spine, legs, and wings. Is there any injuries or anything out of place? Does he act like he's in pain when you do that? Feel his skull, searching for injuries there. (Particularly on the top of his skull.)

Tagging @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

I too hope that it isn’t Mareks, but it can look like that. How old is he, and was he vaccinated? Oh yes, 16 weeks. Have you added any new birds in recent months? If you lose him, your state vet can do a necropsy to look for Mareks, and that would be good to do, since it could affect other birds. Be sure that he can reach food and water. A chicken sling chair may help.

 

[Tonyroo]

What are you feeding him? The contents in his plate is not appropriate for a growing chick.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

Just curious, is the food in his tray the only kind that they’re fed? If so it could be a nutritional deficiency since birdseed and corn don’t provide optimal nutrition.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, hopefully that was just a treat, but he needs to be a on a balanced chick or grower feed.

 

[Betsy000]

What are you feeding him? The contents in his plate is not appropriate for a growing chick.

We feed the pullets and cockerels the purina start and grow crumbles, but he wouldn’t eat them so we gave him some scratch gains and he did in fact begin eating the corn. He took a few pecks at the crumbles, but I’m guessing the crumbles are too small for him too consume compared to the corn pieces.

 

[Eggcessive]

I feed adult chickens crumbles much of the time, although I use pellets too. You can take some of the crumbles and add water to a small bowl to make a wet mash that he might be attracted to. Here is some reading about Mareks disease:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[LaFleche]

Try feeding him scrambled eggs with millet, they hardly ever can resist.
Did you already check the inside of his mouth and throat? Is his crop emptying over night?

And what about mites and lice?