sick hen + legs wont hold her up 2nd post!

[ikatiemay]

I posted yesterday with my problem and was told I probably didnt give enough info. My hen is 11 mo old, started laying a month ago. For the last 2 days I have had her in the cage inside. She cant support herself on her legs and just rolls onto her side. Her feet seem to curl up. She has Diarrhea that is really stinky. I have checked and find no worms in her poops. Her eyes are clear, she doesnt pant so I dont think its respitory. Does anyone know what would cause her not to be able to stand on her legs. She has been a good layer for the last month but hasnt laid in about 3-4 days. I felt her crop ,it feels small and hard. The other chickens range from puffy and soft to larger and hard. I really need some help. I am at a loss and she shows no sigh of improvement. I keep looking at other posts for a clue but havent seen anything that turns the light bulb on!

 

[thndrdancr]

I am not sure about your hen, but personally I would suspect botulism. I am dealing with botulism with two of my birds right now. Exact same symptoms, sudden onset of leg paralysis, sometmes shaking, trembling, cant hold their head up if its really bad but mine werent quite that bad.

Mine are basically just down with leg paralysis. I have read and read and still havent found much info other than if they live past the first two days, they stand a good chance of recovery as long as they have access to clean food, water, and are safe from other birds pecking at them, etc.

Also molasses in their drinking water provides a flush that helps flush the toxins out as well. I am not sure the amounts, maybe someone can chime in? I just basically drizzled some in their water since they had the mix for quart per how many gallons, etc.

Also, I got some alpha lipoic acid and sprinkled some in some scrambled eggs. Alpha Lipoid is a wonder enzyme that helps the nerves, especially in the legs. I take it for neuropathy for m diabetes, so thought since botulism affects the nerves, couldnt hurt, right?

Well after feeding them some this morning, my peacock is finally standing up. I have to tempt them with goodies to get them to eat tho, thus the scrambled eggs.

Also I read antibiotics, I have been putting duramycin in their water but not sure they have been drinking that either, think it must taste bitter, so I started mixing a lil of that with the scrambled eggs as well, then putting a lil cheese to kill the bitterness.

I guess its a bit of a slow process nursing them back to health but she should be ok if you can just get her to eat and drink and get some vitamins in her.

 

[ikatiemay]

thanks thndrdancr I really appreciate your help. My girls have been coop bound because of the snow but they did get out and eat some boss that was on the ground under the deck. she is the only one sick so I wonder. Its so wierd that she cant use her legs. Im going to make her an egg now and see if she will eat it.

 

[thndrdancr]

Good luck with her, its been about 10 days that my peacock wouldnt/couldnt stand up, so I am glad to see improvement. I have 6 birds that kind of run together, and 2 came down with it, so maybe some birds kind of know when somethings bad and some dont? I just dont know. Weird mine didnt all get it. My two most stressed birds did. I had just let the pea outside for first time and he got lost, the dog went after him, he was out all night and it was cold. He was thankful to just be in a box by time he collapsed. Poor baby.

But yea, food left on the ground for a bit can do it too. This time of year is bad as the snow melts and they discover stuff they really shouldnt get into. Not to mention usually spring is pretty wet. Incidentally, mine were under a deck area too.

I do hope she gets better for you, just make sure she is eating and drinking. Thats the main thing. Its always fatal in wild birds as they cant get to water/feed and cant get away from predators.

 

[ikatiemay]

tonight not much improvement. I did get her to drink some water with vinegar and eat some yogurt and scrambled egg. She was so stinky I put her in a tub and cleaned her butt, and gave her a blow dry. I put my finger in her vent and didnt feel an egg I wasnt sure how far to go so hopefully I did it ok and now egg is there. She still cant stand and her tail is down. I did see a poop that looked more solid but she also still has runny stuff. I tried to massage her abs and she hosed me with liquid

AHHHhhh for the love of chickens. I am headed for the shower myself after the ordeal!!!

 

[Caitlin342]

This EXACT same thing happened to me.. what kind of chicken is it? I had a cornish... she was my best layer sweet as can be. The first couple days she would take food normally so I hand fed her for about 5 days but by the fifth day she started breathing really heavy and closing her eyes so eventually we had to put her down. From reading online I had decided that she had Mareks (look up how to give st. john's wort because apparently it can reverse sudden paralysis for some birds) but looking back none of my other chickens have come down with this illness (knock on wood) and it has been a few months and Mareks is supposed to be highly contagious. Although I do not think that my bird had marek's the symptoms are the same so you should try doing to st john's wort (it has to be a particular kind in distilled water so google that to find the correct way to administer). Like one person said it sounds like botulism... which i believe will wear off but I also found it highly unlikely because there was really no damp space at the time for her to eat from. Keep updating this because I am very curious to see what happens... so bizziare that they come down with this all of a sudden. Oh Ps... we had a vet friend look at the chicken so xrays were taken and everything internally looks perfect so it definitely wasn't that she had broken a leg or something....also in the case of my chicken she could kick with her legs and even grasp some with her toes but when it came to standing up she just couldnt do it. so weird

hope yours gets better have read really good results with the st john's wort so we will hope!

 

[thndrdancr]

Well, let my Pea out in the sun yesterday since its so nice (75 temps and sun). He just laid there basically and I sat and watched him to make sure he didnt get picked on. His friend was so happy and thrilled to see him, they fell asleep in the sun together and Mohawk (the sick guy) just put his head on Cherokee's back and they both went to sleep. It brought tears to my eyes to see how close they were.

I was watching to see if he pooped any and I didnt see any at all. He did get up a few times as my older male peacock scared him a bit, but all he did was get close, and Mohawk actually got up and limped a few feet, and they kept doing that. I didnt stop it, as I figured it was good to get some circulation going in his legs.

Since I didnt see poop, I felt under him. Yup, big mass of horrid smelling ball of dried poo, probably stopping him up. Poor guy was so patient, I had him in the sink for 20 minutes rinsing and rinsing. But he did go three times and now he is pooing. He still feels awful, mostly lays around, but he is recovering. Oh and for the record, cleaning a chicken of pasty butt is a LOT easier than a peacock. Heaven help me if I ever have to do a full grown one, eeeks.

Rooster that is down is still paralyzed, not much progress there but he is about 4 to 5 days behind my Pea in going down.

I sure hope your hen recovers, Ikatie, keep me posted. You did the right thing by getting that gunk off her bottom, just make sure she is warm and dry. I am sure they feel pretty miserable. Also try to get some kind of antibiotics, that is recommended as well. Like I said, I scrambled eggs and put cheese in it to hide the bitterness if she likes that kind of thing. Or whatever you feel u can get her to eat.

She is not a cornish cross is she? Caitlin, I really hate to tell you this, but Cornish cross were bred to be meat birds and after a certain age they usually they develop leg problems. Its horrid, and the fault of selective breeding just for meat, I hate it. You probably knew this and had her on a diet, but even on a diet most of the time their lifespan is woefully short.

Poor things. They usually have the sweetest personalities too.

In my case, I am 100% sure I am dealing with botulism. First the mucky greenish black foul smelling greasy poo. Yuck! Second, very sudden onset, like hours. Third, legs just the ability to stand or walk, paralysis, but didnt have the usual typical one leg out one leg forward. They just laid down and have their feet under them and the pea exibited extreme trembling to begin with, I didnt see the rooster as he went down overnight. The pea I witnessed, it happened over a matter of almost minutes and had been under the deck pecking around. So not really Mareks symptoms at all. There sure doesnt seem to be much on here about botulism and how to treat it.