Rapidly Declining Bird -- Paralysis?

[Dixie0831]

Hello,

First of all, thanks for any help.

What type of bird, age and weight.
She's a buff orpington 12 weeks old, and weighs around 1.5 lbs. Question of FTT due to small size since birth.

What is the behavior, exactly.
Yesterday afternoon she was behaving normally. I went to bring her into the coop and she was sitting on her haunches. I has seen her up and moving around not two hours earlier. This morning she can't even sit up, her wings are splayed slightly, her feet are scissored out and curled. Please see pictures.

How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
It has been less than 16 hours since onset.

Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No symptoms to the current members of the flock.

Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones, or other sign of trauma.
None that I can identify (She seems to be fine externally).

What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Before getting sick she was eating grower feed and boiled egg yolk due to some issues with sour crop that I had just begun to resolve.

How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Her poop looks runny, with a green tinge. It has for a week or so but as mentioned she was dealing with some crop issues. No blood.

What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
About 4 weeks ago she had a run of CORID for suspected coccidiosis. After this she did well for about a week then started exhibiting signs of sour crop. I treated her for that with probiotics, Greek yogurt, boiled egg yolk, grower feed, and one dose of stool softener. Three days age she showed marked improvement. Yesterday her symptoms began as described.

What is your intent as far as treatment?
My local vet does not treat chickens so if there's anything I can do it'll probably be at home.

If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.


Don't hesitate to ask if you need more information.

Thank you for any insights or solutions.

 

[GodofPecking]

I do not know, but if it was my own bird, I would generally suspect mareks
disease, which causes paralysis and is made worse by vaccines. The vaccines give the birds the disease, does not protect them from getting it again and relapses, and is the first time 'in the wild' that scientists have seen a particular way in which vaccines make a disease much worse. Until Mareks, they had only hypothesized about it.

The symptoms and history make it difficult to know. the poop makes me worry about poison, had a neighbor who liked to poison peoples pets. Mareks arrives repeatedly by wild birds and lives within the flock in carriers, and perhaps because of the rough time the bird has been having, it's encouraged mareks to recur or take hold.

The cure for that is there is no cure. You have to put the poor chook next to water and next to food so it can reach them while it is on the floor sprawled out for a few days and they either fully recover or they die. You can help check them every few hours and move things about to suit.


hope the bird recovers.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would prop her up with rolled towels and hold a small cup of water with electrolytes up to her beak and get her to drink. Make a watery mush of chicken feed and offer that as well. Cooked egg is also good. Dehydration could be a problem, or she could have other sickness, such as more coccidiosis, failure to thrive, injury, or Mareks disease. First, get her drinking, then eating. Something like Poultry Cell or NutriDrench 1 ml given orally as a boost can help quickly.

Try making her a chicken sling with a piece of material and 3 holes cut for legs and a back poop hole. It hangs from something, as in the link here—especially in posts 5, 11, and the video in 12:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Eggcessive]

Slings can be made simply out of a blanket or throw, and hung from a dog crate or other item. Food and water can be placed in front of them. They can be removed for periods of rest and to sleep. This sling is the basic design, but simple things are also used:

 

[Dixie0831]

Thank you all for your contribution. Within a matter of hours this morning she began to struggle to breathe and unfortunately passed away. I appreciate all the help and support.

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss. If you wrap her in 2 garbage bags, keep the body cold in a refrigerator or in a cooler with ice, you could send the body in to your state vet for a necropsy on Monday. That could find the cause of death.