Sick chicken! Please help!

[Liv's chickens]

Hello, I recently found out the one of my chickens has become sick. He was staying in a different location where roosters are aloud. He was brought back to my house because he was having trouble balancing. He was very hungry and thirsty when I gave him food and water, and ate almost a whole small bowl of food a day. I put electrolytes for chickens in his water.

I read that it could be that he was being bullied away from the food/water, which would make sense so I was hoping that was it, but in the past few days he has gotten worse. Today I went to go check on him in his coop and he was stuck upside down. So I put him in a small box with paper towels and some food and water. I noticed one of his eyes were shut. Now his wings are out and his legs are out in front of him, he opens his mouth when he breathes. One important thing I should say is that I checked him and he has lice. I'm not sure if they would cause this but I'm sure it must cause some problems. I have been having chicken lice problems for a few months now and i can't seem to get rid of them. I have DE that, but I don't want to try to treat him with is when he is like this, I'm worried the dust will make him even worse. He is a bantam and I got him this year in the spring. He has been very healthy till now and I'm not sure how long he will last and I don't want him to suffer.

Any suggestions about treating lice, and his sickness, is much appreciated!! Thanks for taking the time to read!

 

[azygous]

I took the liberty of requesting your thread be moved over to the Emergencies Forum where it will receive more attention, so pretty soon you'll need to follow it over there.

Your rooster likely has a neurological issue that's causing balance and coordination problems. The thing is, it's not that easy to figure out what could be causing it. For the time being, you can treat it with vitamin E 400iu and selenium (just a sliver) and B complex and see if that helps him improve.

One cause of this is exposure to neurotoxins. He could have eaten some grit that was contaminated by transmission fluid or motor oil or other petroleum distillates. Or he could have drunk some water from a puddle that was contaminated by insecticides. He could have eaten some lead paint chips that had fallen off some siding. You need to ask the people where you were boarding him about the possibility of those things.

There's also a chance that an avian virus is making him sick. Find out if any other chickens have been sick where you had him.

The lice isn't making him sick, and it's easily treated with permethrin poultry dust. DE won't really do much to get rid of them. You'll need to dust him again in a week to get the nits that have hatched.

I hope the vitamins help. Please let us know how he does on them. I'm sure others will be along shortly to offer advice I haven't been able to come up with. Stick around.

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Liv’s chickens Welcome!

I am sorry that the circumstances under which you join us are not the best and hope that the folks on the Emergencies and Diseases Forum are able to help you out.

I also hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

 

[Eggcessive]

Azygous may well be right. I am leaning more toward the virus possibility-- Mareks disease. There is a good BYC thread to read called "The Great Big Giant Mareks Faq," if you Google that. The neurotoxin possibility could be possible also. Make sure that he can reach food and water. Look up "chicken slings" for pictures of homemade ways to get him upright and in front of food and water while you are treating him. Take him out frequently to let him lie down or sleep. If you should lose him soon, your state vet could do a necropsy to look for Mareks or other diseases. Give him chicken vitamins with electrolytes from your feed store--some go in water, some can be fed directly.

 

[Liv's chickens]

Ok, thanks for such quick advise! I will try that and give updates.

 

[Liv's chickens]

Hello, I recently found out the one of my chickens has become sick. He was staying in a different location where roosters are aloud. He was brought back to my house because he was having trouble balancing. He was very hungry and thirsty when I gave him food and water, and ate almost a whole small bowl of food a day. I put electrolytes for chickens in his water.

I read that it could be that he was being bullied away from the food/water, which would make sense so I was hoping that was it, but in the past few days he has gotten worse. Today I went to go check on him in his coop and he was stuck upside down. So I put him in a small box with paper towels and some food and water. I noticed one of his eyes were shut. Now his wings are out and his legs are out in front of him, he opens his mouth when he breathes. One important thing I should say is that I checked him and he has lice. I'm not sure if they would cause this but I'm sure it must cause some problems. I have been having chicken lice problems for a few months now and i can't seem to get rid of them. I have DE that, but I don't want to try to treat him with is when he is like this, I'm worried the dust will make him even worse. He is a bantam and I got him this year in the spring. He has been very healthy till now and I'm not sure how long he will last and I don't want him to suffer.

Any suggestions about treating lice, and his sickness, is much appreciated!! Thanks for taking the time to read!

 

[Liv's chickens]

It is possible that he got some old paint or something into his system. My family owns the land that he has been staying on and the chickens that already live there came with the house when we bought it. They are getting pretty old and I believe he must have gotten the lice from them. I’m not quiet sure of their health records but for the most part, besides the lice, seem to be healthy. I will keep thinking about those ideas and see if I can think of any possibilities. I can also send pictures of him if that may help.

 

[micstrachan]

Hello and welcome. I am leaning toward Marek’s disease, too. When did he move to the new location? He coukd have been exposed to something the rest of them have built up an immunity to, but not sure what that woukd be. Please do keep us posted. I hope the vitamins help!

 

[Eggcessive]

I live on a very old farm where things are always mysteriously coming to the surface of the soil in freezing weather. My house is 115 years old, and old lead paint chips, old lead shot, and other things found in my soil can be harmful to chickens. Mareks is pretty common, but it is always a good practice to get a necropsy if you ever lose a chicken to find a cause of death.

 

[Liv's chickens]

Hello everyone, thank you for the great advise. Unfortunately, my rooster passed away this morning. It may have been Marek's disease. This will be helpful in the future if I have problems.