Someone please help me asap.

[TwoCrows]

Mareks Disease does come to mind here, however not eating usually comes later when the bird's system is going paralyzed. Many times you can look into their eyes and see signs of Mareks...the pupils will be out of round. Classic sign of Mareks.

There are a few other things that can cause a bird to go lame:

He could have sprained something internally and isn't something you can feel for...(heat or swelling) or even fractured a bone somewhere in his leg. Does he roost up high in the coop or tend to fly down from high tree branches or the roof? If so, it is possible something is sprained or fractured. Possibly a torn ligament. If he is in enough pain, this will keep him from eating.

Vitamin Deficiencies will definitely cause lameness. Especially if they are lacking in Vitamins B or E. A lack of A and D can also cause issues.

Botulism will cause lameness. Food borne, Airborne or from a puncture wound. This bacteria will cause nerve action to become blocked and the bird will go lame.

Internal tumors such as liver or kidney tumors can press on the nerves leading to the legs and cause lameness too.

Head injuries are classic to cause lameness and lack of appetite. Many times you can look into their eyes with this one and see the pupils very dilated, almost black.

Other bacteria such as Mycoplasma's can cause lameness as well, but usually the continue to eat until they are quite sick and lame.

And you already said he doesn't have bumblefoot so we can rule this out.

What EXACTLY does his poop look like? Comb color? And look into his eyes and see if you see out of round pupils or very dilated pupils??

 

[lydiagirl99]

Jeez.. that's a lot of things it could be. Glad you think it;s not Mereks, though. I wish I could send you a video. he isn't limping really but rather very off balance. I am going out right now to take pictures of poop, comb and pupils to give you a better look.

 

[TwoCrows]

Lose of balance will happen with Mareks, a head injury, vitamin deficiencies and possibly the early stages of Botulism.

 

[TwoCrows]

Ataxia or losing ones balance can definitely be caused by a lack of Vitamin E.

What kind of food do you have him on?

 

[TwoCrows]

Aflatoxicosis which can come from moldy or fungus in the feed will cause a loss of balance. They will ruffle their feathers, lose interest in eating and can go completely lame.

 

[TwoCrows]

Even a stroke can have them go completely lame. It starts with a lot of weakness until the bird can no longer stand.

 

[lydiagirl99]

I am now uploading pictures.

 

[lydiagirl99]

I have all of my 16 chickens in the same pen so he usually eats layer crumbs with cracked corn about 3 times a week and then they get goodies like watermelon and cucumber often.

This is what his foot looks like. He seems out of touch with his right leg which is why his back toe is folded in.

This is what his pupils and comb look like. The first picture is the one I just took and the second is of him when normal. The lighting is different. He is in the barn right now.

Now, I had to lay him down to get a picture of his face and he could not get back up after, he just laid there like this. I, of course helped him up after the picture.

In this picture you can see that he will and is capable of standing and putting weight on his right leg. It is when he tries to walk that he almost immediately tips over.

And this is his poop. Hard to see because it's been squished by him wobbling away from me but it's this lighter brown color with the little white spot on it.


Any new thoughts from the pictures ?

 

[lydiagirl99]

Also, may just be bad timing but he seems to have lost tail feathers, but this was happening days before something went really wrong.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hmm....his poop doesn't look bad, His eyes look good. I am thinking the loss of tail feathers is molting? I have a few losing their tail feathers as well right now due to early molting.

I had a male quail with toes that looked like your boy's toe and then he later in life developed Gout in his toes and feet. But Gout can also cause tumors in and around the Kidneys and they will press on nerves in the feet. My quail got so bad after a couple of years he walked on his hocks. He had great nerve damage in his hips, foot joints and toes and all of them eventually turned, curled and got a bit gnarly over the years after he developed it badly.

Males that eat layer feed can sometimes develop Gout from the high protein and high levels of calcium,either and both of these will cause Gout, however most roosters have learned over generations to tolerate layer feed.

I am really not sure here but I am going to guess Gout? Again, I am not sure. Usually Gout effects both feet however, but not always. But I don't like the looks of the toe turning inward on that first picture and that is exactly how my male quail's toes started. He doesn't look like he has any bacterial infections, I suppose there are some viral infections that could cause weakness however there isn't much you can do about them.

If he were mine I might try some tart cherry on him. These are used by humans with Gout and are supposed to really help remove the uric acid from the body. Also, ACV. This really helped my male quail. Relieved his pain and allowed him to stand. ACV is a wonderful tonic to remove uric acid and remove inflamation. 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water. Change and make a new batch daily. A few times a week on ACV will help him.

He has so little symptoms other than this toe. So I am really not 100% sure and maybe someone else will chime in here. It is still possible it's Mareks, but the eyes usually do give Mareks away.

I wish I could have been of more help to you here. Please do keep us posted and I hope you can come to some conclusion. The things I suggested certainly won't hurt him to offer up, but I don't know if this is the answer.