Sick Polish Pullet

[Lil_timmy]

Hi,

I have a aprox 7 week old Polish pullet. She is the youngest and smallest in my flock of 6 pullets (one is turning out to be a cockerel). She is half the size of the other ladies yet only 2 weeks younger. Very timid, she will never go down the plank from the coop to the run. If I put her down in the run she usually goes back up in the coop on her own within a hour or so. When I let them out to free range I always take her out of the coop to run around. She didn't move around at all so I gave her a small pile of crumble which was happily eaten. She drank water too so I didn't worry about it. Last night when I went to pull up the plank to the coop I noticed she was still downstairs. I helped her up into the coop but she seemed a little weaker than normal to me. I figured it was maybe just growing pains or something like that. After all she was eating and drinking right?

Today she does not look very good at all. Her poop is squirty diarrhea clearish/whitish with a little brown and no blood. She doesn't move around much. When I put her down to walk around she seems like she is drunk using one wing or the other for balance. One of her feet seems to curl in but it is hard to tell. Her eyes seem droopy like she is sleepy. Good news is her feathers are solid and she is eating yogurt and food. She is separated from the rest of the flock now. I'm going to give her a molasses flush as recommended for treatment for botulism however I'm not sure that is what she has. Going to co-op for electrolyte solution and possibly some medicated feed.

Any ideas or advice is very welcome!

Thanks!!!!

Here are her pictures from a few days ago. Still pretty much the same.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

I remember on an earlier thread the toe curling thing, and that being due to a vitamin deficiency. I hope someone knowledgeable posts on here soon.

Quarantine her till you know.
And good luck...

See if you can post photos, too...

 

[Lil_timmy]

no ideas??? I'll try to get some pictures. I have electrolyte now and I'll let you guys know how the molasses works out.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

My Polish hen has always been sickly. Ever since she was younger, she'd have a day every once in a while where she didn't eat, drink, and huddled up. After a few hours, she'd perk up and continue on normally.

A few days ago she died, for no apparent reason. She was my favorite hen, only 2 and a half years old.

Let your pullet sleep. Her body is trying to regain energy that she has lost. For general health, when my birds act like this, I put some VetRX in their water, food, mouth, and beak near the nostrils. My sickly birds get beter within a few hours, some of them minutes! I know it's not the correct treatment but I use the stuff as a general medication. Maybe make her some eggs (wait until it's cool before serving). And I'm wondering, why are you using molasses?

 

[Lil_timmy]

Update:

Ester is still alive and still sick. She eats and drinks on her own. One of her feet/legs is no longer paralyzed. The other foot is curled up and worthless right now. Her feathers DO NOT come off easily like it says one would notice with Botulism. Paralysis of her legs and droopy eyes was her only real sign of symptoms in all this. Any idea of other things that will cause leg paralysis? We have some Terramycin however I'm reluctant to apply antibiotics on a whim. After all I'm trying to minimize the amount of things her system has to deal with right now. If someone has evidence that the antibiotic will help please let me know right away.

To answer the question from PolishPrincess I gave her the Molasses to help flush toxins out of her system. I've also read that if it is botulism that a flush is worthless once the signs of the posioning are present. Maybe it was just because it was what I had on hand and it made me feel like i was helping. Anyway, since she is still hangin in there I don't think the molasses did any harm. You may be right that I got a weakling pullet. She has always seemed more sickly than the rest.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Paralysis isn't normal at all. None of my sickly birds have ever had paralysis.

Have you thought of Marek's? I'm really not very good with illness, so I'm just grabbing the thought out of the air. Was she vaccinated for it? Here's a good thread, though.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=135247

 

[Lil_timmy]

I called the place where I got the pullets and the person I spoke with felt that the chickens are not vaccinated against Marek's disease. After reading some of the symptoms online it sounds like this is a possibility. The only difference with my girl is that she is only about 2 months old. It does say that Acute Marek's can develop in birds 4 to 8 weeks old.

I'll try the Hypericum and see what happens. Thanks for finding that link for me!!

My other 5 birds seem to be doing very well right now. Should I vaccinate them against Marek's? If so what other vaccines should they typically have?

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

I was just reading a new thread and found that it could possibly be a deficiency of vitamin B12, maybe something else. Read this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=216914&p=3

I'm sorry about getting back to you so late. We were out of town yesterday.

I know very little about Marek's. I think it might be a bit too late to vaccinate at this point. I'd look up some hatchery websites, possibly McMurray, and see what they say about Marek's. I guess that's one of the better things about hatcheries. They offer to vaccinate against certain diseases.

I never vaccinate any birds, though. I usually go with the general rule, "Let my birds build up an immunity." But I should stop not getting them when I get Polish. As I said before, Polish are a weak breed. They don't fight illness well. Once again, look at different hatcheries and maybe vaccinate against anything and everything you can. It's not very expencive at all. Usually a few cents per bird, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Lil_timmy]

Just wanted to let you all know that Ester passed away on Monday. I will miss her dearly but I'm just happy that her suffering is over. She is now buried under a big leaf maple sapling. She passed on the same day I had decided to cull her.

A huge thanks to PolishPrincess for all your help! Your replies to my questions made me feel like some support was out there. I'm pretty sure it was Merek's. The other girls are on the same feed she was. Since they are doing great I don't think it was a vitamin deficiency issue. They are older than she was so hopefully they have some immunity to the disease at this point.

 

[obe10]

i am so sorry about your loss. i have 4 golden polish and there crests are half the size esters was! she would have made a beautiful chicken. again i am sorry.