Unable to walk

[Rooslover]

Hi all,
I posted a few days ago. I had a series of symptoms and im not sure if they are connected and what it might be.
My teen rooster Rodger was bullied by hens (4 moths old) so i separated him waiting for him to become a big boy. He was introduced into my coop and bullied which was def a stress factor. I placed him in a cage in the coop having eye contact with the hens where he couldnt get hurt. After a month he started to pick up, growing and seeming more relaxed. We got very attached to him and he became more a pet for us than a farm animal. Absolute sweetie!
I noticed he started to have a diarhea (watery and light brown, no blood). I thought it could be a change in diet as i started feeding ferment. He drank a lot of water.
Two weeks ago i found him with a droopy wing. I thought - injury. Bandaged his wing for a support. He looked lethargic, tail down and puffed up. He became weaker, started losing his balance. I treated his diarhea with meds for coccidiosis but saw no improvement. His butt was dirty with poop and it was very smelly. Gave him electrolites. He got weaker and sad-looking, ate and drank but just stood still. Gave him some antibiotics thinking it could be a bacterial infection. Still he didnt get better.
He became wobbly and slowly started to lose the ability to walk, leaning to the side. He lost interest in boiled egg - his favourite treat. It's cold outside and i kept him in a coop, maybe it wasnt warm enough. I tried to bring him home but he got stressed and wouldnt eat or drink. Two days ago I found him lying on one side unable to stand. We had to put an end to his suffering which was extremely painful for the family.
I wonder... Was it Marek's? Any ideas?
No chicken vet around to help me find the cause. He was our beloved coop creature! Feels like i failed him.

 

[dannyd21]

Hi all,
I posted a few days ago. I had a series of symptoms and im not sure if they are connected and what it might be.
My teen rooster Rodger was bullied by hens (4 moths old) so i separated him waiting for him to become a big boy. He was introduced into my coop and bullied which was def a stress factor. I placed him in a cage in the coop having eye contact with the hens where he couldnt get hurt. After a month he started to pick up, growing and seeming more relaxed. We got very attached to him and he became more a pet for us than a farm animal. Absolute sweetie!
I noticed he started to have a diarhea (watery and light brown, no blood). I thought it could be a change in diet as i started feeding ferment. He drank a lot of water.
Two weeks ago i found him with a droopy wing. I thought - injury. Bandaged his wing for a support. He looked lethargic, tail down and puffed up. He became weaker, started losing his balance. I treated his diarhea with meds for coccidiosis but saw no improvement. His butt was dirty with poop and it was very smelly. Gave him electrolites. He got weaker and sad-looking, ate and drank but just stood still. Gave him some antibiotics thinking it could be a bacterial infection. Still he didnt get better.
He became wobbly and slowly started to lose the ability to walk, leaning to the side. He lost interest in boiled egg - his favourite treat. It's cold outside and i kept him in a coop, maybe it wasnt warm enough. I tried to bring him home but he got stressed and wouldnt eat or drink. Two days ago I found him lying on one side unable to stand. We had to put an end to his suffering which was extremely painful for the family.
I wonder... Was it Marek's? Any ideas?
No chicken vet around to help me find the cause. He was our beloved coop creature! Feels like i failed him.

Don't know how much help this is since you had a young rooster but my original flock went through the same issue. They were production bred hens and it obviously caught up to them and they all displayed the same exact symptoms your rooster did but for my case when I checked with the vet it was cancer causing internal inflammation that can really stress and cause pain to the internal organs which ultimately leads to them being unable to walk from pain. The last hen of the original flock had anti-inflammatory meds prescribed to her and her symptoms all but reversed and lived pretty healthy before she sadly had a bad dose of de-wormers and passed. Probably the same issue with your rooster where he was having some internal inflammation.

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

It sounds like you did all you could. I’m sorry for your loss.

If you are in the US, next time you have a sick or dead chicken you can call the State Vet, often they are connected to the state’s land grant University if you have trouble finding it. Sometimes they know of bird vets or can connect you to the NPIP program who can test your flock for diseases. The state can do a necropsy to find the cause of death as long as you refrigerate the body, don’t freeze it. Sometimes it costs money and sometimes it’s free, depending on the state.

 

[Rooslover]

Thanks for your reply and support. I live in Spain, vets only seem to treat cats and dogs. Sadly there is one expert on birds in the whole province, i couldn't do the autopsy and im worried it might be contagious.
I have a question. Danny, did all your flock die of cancer and internal inflammation? That sounds like Marek's. I got my flock from a hatchery and they are all vaccinated. If not Marek's, what else could it be?