Standard leghorns unable to walk - low stamina - ideas?

[WildWalker]

I have two chickens like this that were given to us as chicks by a family member who worked at Tyson's, these guys were rescued from the "not gonna make it" bucket and with some TLC, have been raised to near-adulthood. We've tried to make sure they have all the amenities, but they are still unable to walk or fly and I'm wondering what can be done to treat it, if anything.

At this point, we have a rooster and a hen - the rooster appears to have perked up a bit and has been trying to master his crow for the past two weeks, but is still unable to fly or walk/stand for long periods of time. The hen is the one I'm most worried about, who does little more then sit, eat and drink - walking only when she must. Her poo is extremely runny most of the time, to the point where you simply can't walk behind her unless you plan on getting um..."hosed".

Both chickens have difficulty breathing, the rooster being the better of the two.

If they aren't able to heal, my gma intends to send the roo to freezer camp and see if the hen will lay, but in her current condition I highly doubt she's unstressed enough to even think of laying.

I'm sorry if this isn't enough information to work with, but I've not been at my Gma's long enough to know what all was done to them. I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.

What should I do?

 

[artsyrobin]

a couple ideas, what are they being fed? are you supplimenting their diets at all?? say will vitamins- i have a pullet similiar situation- i added gamebird feed to her chickstarter, vitamins to the water- in the week i've had her she has begun walking, though initially it was related to a dog attack and stress

 

[WildWalker]

IIRC, these guys were fed Nature Wise medicated chick starter for 3-5 months - Gma told me to start giving them the Nature Wise chicken grower she bought maybe a month ago. It was a 50lb bag of feed (I should know, being the one who lugged it into storage), and we just dished up the last of it tonight. They share a pen with 7 EE's, a BO and 7 bantams - all in their 3-4 month age range. But despite being outnumbered, they certainly have run of the place - they usually camp out by one feeder and chase everyone else off - I had to put down another feeder on the opposite side of the pen so the babies could share.

EDIT: And unfortunately no, we've not been supplementing their diets with anything - for lack of knowledge of what to get mostly. We do toss them our left over eggshells and vegetable trimmings though.

 

[phoneman40]

just a shot in the dark kinda but I am treating some of my "girls" right now for Coccidia and have heard they get immune to whatever strain is in their home but when moved to a new home they could get a different strain...I think there's like nine that affect chickens...I've been treating my whole flock with Cordid 20% for the past 48 hours now and both the ones that were acting drunk when they walked,huddling,etc are now back on their feet-a little shaky but definitely better...maybe a different strain is hitting them and they have no resistance to it? especially since they're no longer on the medicated feed? just a thought...feel free to tell me if I'm an idiot...PM's if you like...just trying to help

here's a very good link......very descriptive and informative.....

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/poultry-health/coccidiosis.html

also you can call mypetchicken.com and i think it's option #3 and it will route you to one of their resident experts...not sure what their hours are though....let us know what's up if you would....

 

[artsyrobin]

if it were me, i'd separate them from the flock and really watch them, their actions, behavior etc. I would add polyvisol liquid infant vitamins without iron to their diet, drop a few drops morning and nite on their beak- i am guessing there are some vitamin deficiencies going on- can you post pictures?

 

[sourland]

If they came from Tyson, I doubt that they are leghorns. They are most likely cornishX and were bred for rapid growth and a relatively short life span. Cut back on their feed and try to take some weight off of them. I doubt that this is a contagious disease situation. Keep them comfortable, but don't expect much in the way of longevity. "Camping out by the feeder" is typical of cornish X. They will literally eat themselves to death.