Sick guinea can't walk.

[Ryestraw]

Hello, we have 3 surviving pearl guineas from the 11 we got this spring. The others were wiped out at sunset before I could get home to put them away. The guinea in question has always acted oddly and I assumed it was a runt of some sort. 1) What type of bird , age and weight
Pearl guinea, 7 months, about 3.5 lbs I'd guess. She feels very thin.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Has had a lump on her throat, thought it would be her crop but after catching her it just felt like thick skin. Next day I found her calling out on our lawn separate from the flock. When I went over to see what was wrong she was not using her legs but she still flaps her wings.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Throat lump 8 days ago was noticed, leg paralysis 3 days.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
None that I could find.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Perhaps her legs were injured when I caught her to check her crop?
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Eating and drinking slightly less than normal.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal, maybe excessively dry?
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolation and food/water. Put nutridrench in her water starting today and plan to start orally dosing her with fenbenzadole tonight and for the next 5 days.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment?
Want to treat 100% at home.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
They have been kept in a wire hoop house that is moved around, perhaps not frequently enough? At the moment she is in a small cage with towels changed daily.
It's head is darker than the others and it's waddles are grey have never turned red. Her legs are floppy and her right one seems slightly more so, it feels looser than the left anyhow. Initially I though it could be gapeworm but now I don't know because of the paralysis. Her toes etc dont seem to respond to any stimuli. Anyone have any ideas? I'm a first time poultry owner.

 

[guineapeeps]

Hello, we have 3 surviving pearl guineas from the 11 we got this spring. The others were wiped out at sunset before I could get home to put them away. The guinea in question has always acted oddly and I assumed it was a runt of some sort. 1) What type of bird , age and weight
Pearl guinea, 7 months, about 3.5 lbs I'd guess. She feels very thin.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Has had a lump on her throat, thought it would be her crop but after catching her it just felt like thick skin. Next day I found her calling out on our lawn separate from the flock. When I went over to see what was wrong she was not using her legs but she still flaps her wings.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Throat lump 8 days ago was noticed, leg paralysis 3 days.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
None that I could find.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Perhaps her legs were injured when I caught her to check her crop?
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Eating and drinking slightly less than normal.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal, maybe excessively dry?
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolation and food/water. Put nutridrench in her water starting today and plan to start orally dosing her with fenbenzadole tonight and for the next 5 days.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment?
Want to treat 100% at home.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
They have been kept in a wire hoop house that is moved around, perhaps not frequently enough? At the moment she is in a small cage with towels changed daily.
It's head is darker than the others and it's waddles are grey have never turned red. Her legs are floppy and her right one seems slightly more so, it feels looser than the left anyhow. Initially I though it could be gapeworm but now I don't know because of the paralysis. Her toes etc dont seem to respond to any stimuli. Anyone have any ideas? I'm a first time poultry owner.

What are you feeding the guineas? They need to,be on a high protein game bird food. If she is not getting that, then she may be suffering from a nutritional deficiency. She also needs to have oyster shell available to her for proper shell formation during egg laying. Has she layed any eggs prior to getting these symptoms? I saw that someone had posted a similar complaint on the guineafowl international website. It looks like there are some good responses to it. I would read the posted responses and see if any of it helps. Here is a link to the site/post:
http://guineas.com/forum/index.php?id=3643

 

[Ryestraw]

What are you feeding the guineas? They need to,be on a high protein game bird food. If she is not getting that, then she may be suffering from a nutritional deficiency. She also needs to have oyster shell available to her for proper shell formation during egg laying. Has she layed any eggs prior to getting these symptoms? I saw that someone had posted a similar complaint on the guineafowl international website. It looks like there are some good responses to it. I would read the posted responses and see if any of it helps. Here is a link to the site/post:
http://guineas.com/forum/index.php?id=3643

I was feeding the flock 16%I think, but I am feeding her 24% now. We live on 30acres wooded with an acre grass so I figured there all would be able to forage for the remaining protein. They probably range about 3 acres typically. She is only 7 months old so she can't be working on eggs yet, can she? Also would the nutrition drench in her water be a workable substitute for oyster shell? Thank you for the link!

 

[guineapeeps]

I was feeding the flock 16%I think, but I am feeding her 24% now. We live on 30acres wooded with an acre grass so I figured there all would be able to forage for the remaining protein. They probably range about 3 acres typically. She is only 7 months old so she can't be working on eggs yet, can she? Also would the nutrition drench in her water be a workable substitute for oyster shell? Thank you for the link!

That should be adequate protein with the 24% protein and the addition of free ranging for bugs. I'm not familiar with nutrition drench, so I can't answer if that is adequate. I would always leave oyster shell out alongside the grit for my hens, especially during laying season (spring through fall). I would say it is possible for guineas to lay at 7 months of age. Although most of mine wouldn't lay until the spring following their hatch, I think that guineas can start to lay eggs at around 6 months old.

 

[guineapeeps]

Hello, we have 3 surviving pearl guineas from the 11 we got this spring. The others were wiped out at sunset before I could get home to put them away. The guinea in question has always acted oddly and I assumed it was a runt of some sort. 1) What type of bird , age and weight
Pearl guinea, 7 months, about 3.5 lbs I'd guess. She feels very thin.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Has had a lump on her throat, thought it would be her crop but after catching her it just felt like thick skin. Next day I found her calling out on our lawn separate from the flock. When I went over to see what was wrong she was not using her legs but she still flaps her wings.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Throat lump 8 days ago was noticed, leg paralysis 3 days.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
None that I could find.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Perhaps her legs were injured when I caught her to check her crop?
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Eating and drinking slightly less than normal.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal, maybe excessively dry?
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolation and food/water. Put nutridrench in her water starting today and plan to start orally dosing her with fenbenzadole tonight and for the next 5 days.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment?
Want to treat 100% at home.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
They have been kept in a wire hoop house that is moved around, perhaps not frequently enough? At the moment she is in a small cage with towels changed daily.
It's head is darker than the others and it's waddles are grey have never turned red. Her legs are floppy and her right one seems slightly more so, it feels looser than the left anyhow. Initially I though it could be gapeworm but now I don't know because of the paralysis. Her toes etc dont seem to respond to any stimuli. Anyone have any ideas? I'm a first time poultry owner.

Also, I forgot to ask if she has any other symptoms. Have you noticed any trouble breathing or respiratory problems/symptoms? Any weakness or paralysis in her wings, neck, or elsewhere? You mentioned that her poop was normal. Is that still the same and have you noticed any diarrhea or watery/bad smelling poop?

 

[Ryestraw]

Also, I forgot to ask if she has any other symptoms. Have you noticed any trouble breathing or respiratory problems/symptoms? Any weakness or paralysis in her wings, neck, or elsewhere? You mentioned that her poop was normal. Is that still the same and have you noticed any diarrhea or watery/bad smelling poop?

Thank you so much for that link, it's giving me hope! She has been alert and has no paralysis except for the legs/feet. However yesterday when I was changing her towel I was able to feel her leg muscles tense and move, day one they were completely soft/limp. So that's improvement!

Also her voice has been quieter lately and when I found her in the grass the first day she was panting. That may have been from panic though. I haven't seen her craning her neck and shaking ive heard happens with gapeworm but she has that lump around her throat and she can't call out with her usual gusto.

Her poop smells different than normal, and her poops have been drier than normal. However that may be just due to the towel adsorbing the additional liquid. Also since she is not getting her free range treats I imagine that would change the smell.

Also I'll put up the nutridrench info.

I am going to treat her for gapeworm.

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Ryestraw]

Here's the nutridrench nutrition label.

 

[guineapeeps]

Thank you so much for that link, it's giving me hope! She has been alert and has no paralysis except for the legs/feet. However yesterday when I was changing her towel I was able to feel her leg muscles tense and move, day one they were completely soft/limp. So that's improvement!

Glad to hear she has not gotten worse and has maybe even improved a little. Hopefully she will continue to improve. Keep us up to date on how she does!

 

[guineapeeps]

Here's the nutridrench nutrition label.

Thanks for the picture of the nutridrech label I wish I could answer whether that is adequate in place of oyster shell, but I just don't have enough knowledge in this area and don't want to give you the wrong information. I would suggest posting about your guinea hen on either the guineafowl 101 thread or the guinea talk thread here on BYC. There are a lot of really knowledgeable people who can hopefully give you more info than me. Here are the links to them:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/guinea-talk.1105889/page-163#post-18901770

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/raising-guinea-fowl-101.312682/page-275#post-18902403