Sick hen with odd symptoms. Help!

[Wyorp Rock]

Egg bound will cause off balance problems and cause overuse of wing to support. Now it looks like leg is stepping in to help. Have you tried calcium? In your case, I would forgo free fed and buy calcium tablets, desolve and put in her water. Smallest dose in pill. Really feel between pelvic bone for egg(s). Extra calcium in water will actually go to bounded egg and make it softer, start dissolving it so they can pass. You can also feed charcoal to her .. pharmacy carries.

Do you have an article/more information that Calcium in water will make the egg softer?

What is the charcoal for?

 

[BLRanch]

Egg bound will cause off balance problems and cause overuse of wing to support. Now it looks like leg is stepping in to help. Have you tried calcium? In your case, I would forgo free fed and buy calcium tablets, desolve and put in her water. Smallest dose in pill. Really feel between pelvic bone for egg(s). Extra calcium in water will actually go to bounded egg and make it softer, start dissolving it so they can pass. You can also feed charcoal to her .. pharmacy carries.

I bathed her 3 times and felt her abdomen for and egg. I also, palpate her. There was no egg in there. They have free choice oyster shells. I cooked this hen up some eggs too. She was laying well up until this crippleness set in.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I bathed her 3 times and felt her abdomen for and egg. I also, palpate her. There was no egg in there. They have free choice oyster shells. I cooked this hen up some eggs too. She was laying well up until this crippleness set in.

I'm very sorry, but from what I see in the video, your hen is suffering from Neurological symptoms - very likely Marek's disease.

 

[casportpony]

Poor girl.
I would say that she is likely suffering from Marek's.
You can try vitamin B therapy to see if there's any improvement. For her I would give 1/2 tablet B-Complex daily for 5 days.

Sadly, I agree.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would have to agree that it looks like the neurological type of Mareks symptoms. If you lose her, it would be good to have your state vet or poultry lab do testing with a necropsy to confirm the diagnosis. I would try to see if she would tolerate a chicken chair or sling. That way she could have food and water right in front of her. You can let them have periods out of the sling to stretch and sleep. Here is a good link for ideas and well as the video below:

 

[BLRanch]

Poor girl.
I would say that she is likely suffering from Marek's.
You can try vitamin B therapy to see if there's any improvement. For her I would give 1/2 tablet B-Complex daily for 5 days.

Is there any information on vitamin B? I have some complex. Do I just crush it and put it in her food? They are big pills!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes, you can crush it up and mix it in her food. They are fairly big pills. For her age, 1/2 tablet for 5 days is fine. Excess B vitamins are excreted in the urine, it would be very hard to overdose a chicken.
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/importance-of-vitamins-in-poultry-production

 

[BLRanch]

I wanted to thank everyone for their support. Sadly, we put Thelma down today. Even with 5 days of vitamin B therapy, her mobility continued to get worse. She lost most use of her other leg this week and was becoming stressed because she couldn't move on her own.

Thank you to everyone who read and replied to my comments. I have learnt so much about Chicken first aid through you. I feel like I did everything I could for my sweet girl because of the information you shared.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss. If you still have her body and want to get a necropsy to see if she had Mareks, you can contact a state vet.