Sudden paralysis

[Eggcessive]

I need help. My chicken is very sick. Can't open her eyes nor lift her head. Just lying there breathing. After all day, she has finally relieved herself. Wet and poo. What can I do?

I need help. My chicken is very sick. Can't open her eyes nor lift her head. Just lying there breathing. After all day, she has finally relieved herself. Wet and poo. What can I do?

She can barely open an eye when I drip water down her beak.

Welcome to BYC. It's always best to have your own thread when you need help to get more attentions to you and more help. Does your chicken free range, or is she only in a coop and run most of the time? Botulism can be a problem if she gets out where she could have eaten a toxin produced by decayed animal, fish, or vegetation. It causes paralysis of the legs, then wings, and then neck. Can she move her legs or wings at all? Poisoning could also be a problem with lead from old buckshot or paint chips, or from chemicals. Mareks disease can also cause paralysis and limberneck, and is caused by a virus. Lastly dehydration or even coccidiosis leading to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance could also be a possible cause. Epsom salt or molasses flushes can be used if (and only if) you think it is botulism. This will cause the toxin to be expelled quicker through the body, but it also causes diarrhea and dehydration which may add to her illness if it is not botulism. Here is some info about botulism: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism

 

[Eggcessive]

Kohl, here are some links to read about Mareks disease:
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/#/disease/Marek's_Disease
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a link for the epsom salt flush and molasses flushes, but use with caution: http://books.google.com/books?id=Gx...m salt flush for botulism in chickens&f=false

 

[SuburbanChix1]

I'm still not certain if it was botulism or poisoning. I did the Epsom salt flush and my girl was near death for a week or more. She has since sort of recovered. But is still partly paralyzed and I have to keep her separated or some others would kill her.

Best of luck to you Kohl. If you can, keep her with you tonight.

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm still not certain if it was botulism or poisoning. I did the Epsom salt flush and my girl was near death for a week or more. She has since sort of recovered. But is still partly paralyzed and I have to keep her separated or some others would kill her.

Best of luck to you Kohl. If you can, keep her with you tonight.

. I'm glad that Sweetie is better, but it is sad that she is still paralyzed. Could you describe her paralysis? I think this would be a good idea for a new thread to find out about people with birds who have recovered from possible botulism poisoning, and any lingering paralysis or problems they suffer.

 

[SuburbanChix1]

I meant to document Sweetie's progress/recovery here as so many posts have been very helpful to me in the past.

Sweetie is still getting better week by week. When I look back at my original post I can't believe it was over 3 months ago!

At this point, she can eat and drink by herself. She walks forward slowly and is constantly catching her balance. She appears to have weakness in her upper left leg. She uses her wings to help with her balance. She can't scratch and peck, but sits down to forage. She is back to laying eggs for a few weeks now and is happy and alert. She's been taking dust baths in the past week too. She will try to get away from her attackers (4 healthy hens she grew up with) and sometimes will stand up to them. I don't leave her alone with them; I'm certain they would kill her.

She does have a friend though. We had gotten a month old chick (Goldy) a few weeks before this happened who was in quarantine and after awhile it was hard for me to maintain 2 separate quarantines and I started keeping them together. They appreciate each other's company and the older hens have not accepted Goldy yet. Goldy just laid her first egg at 5 months old yesterday. Goldy gets agitated when the other hens try to pick on Sweetie, but is still too young and small to take them on.

Recovery has been slow. Initially Sweetie drank some water with Epsom salt. After quite a bit of diarrhea and inflammation I switched to water with ACV. She refused to eat. She lingered near death for several days. Whether chemical poisoning or botulism I believe this was key to getting rid of the toxins as quickly as possible.

Eventually she began to pick at some favorite foods. It required time, a lot of time. She was not able to support her weight at that time and I had to hold her up to drink and poop. I started a brand new full time job the week after this happened and I'm surprised she lived. I made sure she are/drank/pooped in the AM and PM and I also did some leg excercises with her and had her flap her wings but pretty sure she did nothing else while I was gone ALL day.

When she started walking, it was backwards for quite awhile. She learned how to guage where she needed to end up in order to be where she wanted (food/water). It was hard to watch her struggle but she seemed to respond to my encouragement.

She is getting stronger every day and learning how to make adjustments in order to get around. I do need to bathe her occasionally as she can't keep herself clean, stepping and sitting in her own waste.

I did not bring her to a vet as they are much too expensive around here. Ultimately I think it was her will to live that kept her alive.

 

[SuburbanChix1]

Can I post a video here? I was taking footage of Sweetie's progress today.

 

[Toddrick]

Neat story, you've really done a lot for her. Keep us updated, and a video would be great.