Sadly we had to have little Peaches put to sleep at the vets this morning. The Vets were pretty sure it was Mareks, now I am hoping my other chickens don't get it. It's very heartbreaking for myself and my son, I have never seen him cry like that. Thanks for your response Shayna. She was the best little chicken ever. Today is her birthday, she was 8 weeks old.
So about a week ago I noticed my little buff brahma Peaches started to get a little wobbly, but I thought she might just be getting used to her new feet feathers, well, it suddenly got much worse after a couple of days, which made me think she fell off the big girl roost in the coop (it's about 18" high). She is the only one of my 4 who can't get up there, although I saw her up there once, and she fell off. So on Friday I took her to the one vet in the next town over that treats avians. He did some xrays which showed NOTHING!! No breaks, nothing out of the ordinary. She is also eating well, pooping normally and drinking. Except it has gotten worse, and she can barely keep her balance. I have her isolated indoors, where she seems fairly content. The vet gave her a shot of antibiotics, and one of an anti-inflammatory, plus sent some liquid meds home with us. She goes back on Monday. I am just sooo concerned because it seems like a nerve thing, like she is paralyzed in that leg, her toes are curled and at this point she is not getting around at all. I've been reading all the info about Mareks and it really scares me, although she was vaccinated for it at the hatchery (My Pet Chicken). She has been much slower than her flockmates to develop and is still not fully feathered, Even as a tiny chick, she would eat and eat, but her crop never filled up. I think she may have something genetically wrong with her, but I don't know, her legs were fine before this....she has been on medicated Purina start and grow since the beginning, plus eggs/yogurt/bit of fruit and veggies. I use ACV in the water, and I've been giving her electrolytes since friday and 3 drops daily by mouth of PolyViSol no iron. Plus the vet did a fecal...negative for internal parasites. She only weighs 1.40lbs at 7.5 weeks. She is just the sweetest thing.......
So about a week ago I noticed my little buff brahma Peaches started to get a little wobbly, but I thought she might just be getting used to her new feet feathers, well, it suddenly got much worse after a couple of days, which made me think she fell off the big girl roost in the coop (it's about 18" high). She is the only one of my 4 who can't get up there, although I saw her up there once, and she fell off. So on Friday I took her to the one vet in the next town over that treats avians. He did some xrays which showed NOTHING!! No breaks, nothing out of the ordinary. She is also eating well, pooping normally and drinking. Except it has gotten worse, and she can barely keep her balance. I have her isolated indoors, where she seems fairly content. The vet gave her a shot of antibiotics, and one of an anti-inflammatory, plus sent some liquid meds home with us. She goes back on Monday. I am just sooo concerned because it seems like a nerve thing, like she is paralyzed in that leg, her toes are curled and at this point she is not getting around at all. I've been reading all the info about Mareks and it really scares me, although she was vaccinated for it at the hatchery (My Pet Chicken). She has been much slower than her flockmates to develop and is still not fully feathered, Even as a tiny chick, she would eat and eat, but her crop never filled up. I think she may have something genetically wrong with her, but I don't know, her legs were fine before this....she has been on medicated Purina start and grow since the beginning, plus eggs/yogurt/bit of fruit and veggies. I use ACV in the water, and I've been giving her electrolytes since friday and 3 drops daily by mouth of PolyViSol no iron. Plus the vet did a fecal...negative for internal parasites. She only weighs 1.40lbs at 7.5 weeks. She is just the sweetest thing.......
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