Pullet is throwing head back, doesn't get up and stretches legs out.

[Lobzi]

Is there any change in the inflamed/swollen oil gland on her tail?

 

[sleepyt]

No change in the oil gland yet. I have used the epsom salt compress for about 10 minutes six times in the last two days. I apply the compress about 4 hours apart. For the compress I added the epsom salt to the hot water and dipped the cloth in it and then put some extra salt (made into a paste) onto the gland. I'm not sure if this is the best way...any ideas?
Should I have seen some results by now?

 

[Lobzi]

I wish I could advise you but I dont know...... I cant help but believe that the swollen gland is affecting her over-all health though. Antibiotics should take care of it if it is an infection. I wonder if it is blocked perhaps. Now what to do for that? The compresses are all I can think of other than having a doctor lance it; but that would be pretty drastic measures.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
I would probably add salts to the hot water, yes. We do something very similar for horses when they have an abcessed hoof - it draws out the 'stuff'. I wouldn't use a ton of epsoms, personally. Maybe just a pinch to a cup of water. Not burning hot but hot enough to be comfortable on your lips. Sometimes the glands get blocked and if it is, we want to try to get it to unclog. And yes- swollen glands can effect their health.

If you do antibiotics, do penicillin - it's the applicable antibiotic (injectable) for wounds. And I don't think lancing would really be applicable as it's an oil gland and there's a bit of "wick" there if I"m correct that helps draw the oil to the surface for preening. Maybe try a little hydrogen peroxide on the bump where the hole opening is- the tip - to see if it bubbles out blocked oils. Better yet instead of salt or h202, try a little apple cider vinegar in the hot water you use for the compress. Heating the area first should help unsolidify the gunk. Sometimes dirt gets in there and makes a plug with the oil, just like on human skin but a really really big pore.

Sometimes uropygial glands have issues because of vitamin A deficiency, too - though more often in caged birds than chickens. But her vitamin regimine should help that.

 

[ChickensRuleMe]

Sleepy, sounds like mareks disease. My chicken did the same thing as yours, and she passed away monday night. Theres really nothing you can do, just pray that she will make it. Keep her strong and perhaps stretch her legs. She might make it. Hopefully she doesnt end up like my baby did. Good luck.

 

[sleepyt]

I read the symptoms of Marek's and I didn't think it sounds like what Abby has. She has the use of her legs...she stretches them out on her own and grips my fingers with her toes but just doesn't have any balance. Does anyone else think it is Marek's disease?

 

[chickenzoo]

Mareks usually progresses from loss of one leg, to loss of total motor skills and loss of head and neck as the last stages. There are many things that can cause these symptoms, hoping hers will cure itself.

 

[threehorses]

I suppose it could be Marek's, but it doesn't seem like the textbook "range paralysis" version of it. But there are other ways Marek's can manifest itself and then sometimes the bird recovers. I'd check her pupils weekly and see if you see any changes in their reactivity or shape/size as one way of looking for a certain type of Marek's. I've read somewhere that ocular Marek's sometimes occurs when a bird has had some form of Marek's and recovered. Ocular is where the eye greys over, or the pupil ceases to open and close and freezes in one position (dilated or constricted) or simply loses shape (wobbly rather than perfectly round pupil, unreactive).

In the mean time, it's not really possibly to absolutely diagnose non-ocular Marek's without a necropsy - and we sure don't want to go there. So we're shot-gun treating other neuro things. That way if it is a recoverable form of Marek's, she's more likely to recover.

 

[sleepyt]

I didn't have any natural apple cider vinegar so I used the hydrogen peroxide on her swollen oil gland but I didn't see any bubbling...I guess I will continue to use the compress and hopefully it will get better.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Do you see anything coming out? Does it look like the tip, the "wick" is at all clogged or waxy?