Sick chicken - Help please!

[reddpepper86]

Hi everyone!

We woke up this morning to one of my hens laying down in the coop. She is a 20 week old sapphire gem and just started laying eggs this week. She won't walk - like her legs don't work. Her wings seem to be a little weak as well. She still has an appetite but can't move. None of the other hens are showing any symptoms of being sick. Any ideas??

 

[Chicken Whisperers]

Maybe Mareks disease. Is she splayed out or laying with her legs tucked in?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Marek's...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Other possibility... maybe and egg pressing on a nerve??

 

[Chicken Whisperers]

Or could you please post a pic?

 

[reddpepper86]

Maybe Mareks disease. Is she splayed out or laying with her legs tucked in?

Her legs are tucked in

 

[reddpepper86]

 

[reddpepper86]

I brought her to the garage and she's just sitting on my lap.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks can be a possibility at this age, but I would look at egg binding with an egg pressing on her sciatic nerve. Get a disposable glove and insert a finger into her vent an inch or two, to feel for a stuck hard shell egg or a soft shell-less egg. If you think that she is egg bound, give her a human calcium tablet which may have vitamin D as well. You can give it whole or crush it into some egg or a treat. A warm shallow bath to relax her enought to help pass the egg would be good. Also you could place her in a warm humid room such as a bathroom after running a shower.

Mareks can cause many different symptoms in each bird, so no cases are identical. I would place her in a basket or dog crate close enought to food and water to reach it. Here is some reading about egg binding and Mareks:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[reddpepper86]

could She be egg bound since she just started laying this week?

 

[poultry person]

could She be egg bound since she just started laying this week?

Possibly but if she was she probably would have died already.