Paralyzed chicken

[shewhit]

I have a cream legbar pullet who became lame three weeks ago. Both legs and wings seem paralyzed. The right side is weaker than the left. Up until the last few days she has been eating but now she isnt eating much and seems to be stretching out her neck to gasp for breath. Kinda looks like she is yawning. We saw a vet last week and he believes it to be encephalitis from mosquito bite like West Nile virus and hopes she will improve in 4-6 weeks. This breathing problem has me worried and our vet is out of the office until after Labor Day. We have made a memory foam bed with a cutout for the poop to fall through. She can reach her food and water. She enjoyed some watermelon today. I think she is losing weight. I hope the paralysis isnt affecting her diaphragm or whatever muscles chickens use to breathe. Anyone dealt with this before and have any suggestions?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a cream legbar pullet who became lame three weeks ago. Both legs and wings seem paralyzed. The right side is weaker than the left. Up until the last few days she has been eating but now she isnt eating much and seems to be stretching out her neck to gasp for breath. Kinda looks like she is yawning. We saw a vet last week and he believes it to be encephalitis from mosquito bite like West Nile virus and hopes she will improve in 4-6 weeks. This breathing problem has me worried and our vet is out of the office until after Labor Day. We have made a memory foam bed with a cutout for the poop to fall through. She can reach her food and water. She enjoyed some watermelon today. I think she is losing weight. I hope the paralysis isnt affecting her diaphragm or whatever muscles chickens use to breathe. Anyone dealt with this before and have any suggestions?

Welcome to BYC.

How old is your pullet?
Was she vaccinated for Mareks?

It could be the diagnosis the vet gave you.
Other possibilities could be Marek's, paralysis of the legs and wings as well as going off feed are some of the symptoms.
Neither one really has a course of treatment.

The difficulty breathing is most likely due to the paralysis.


MAREKS INFO
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/90/mareks-disease/


AVIAN ENCEPHALITIS:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/55/equine-encephalitis-eee-wee-vee/
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...itis/overview_of_avian_encephalomyelitis.html

LIST OF COMMON POULTRY DISEASES:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044