URGENT HELP - Chicken can't walk today

[rwgrout]

One of my girls who was limping yesterday, can't even walk today. She can flap her wings and is otherwise alert and eating. Any ideas? Not bumble foot. No signs of swelling nor injury to any parts of her body. One of her feet feels a little cool. I can move her legs around and she doesn't try to pull them away from me. Is there hope for her?

 

[JohnHenry]

I found this on another site.
There are a few possible reasons for the lameness but first we need to eliminate rickets. It is possible your bird has a dietary deficiency. It is fairly common for young birds around this age to develop leg problems if they are not on a good diet. Sometimes people mistaken think they are giving their birds a good diet by giving lots of kitchen scraps. This just dilutes the nutrients that they need and can become a problem if overdone. Also young birds have trouble with big grains. Also a layer mix is not an appropriate feed for a young bird. It has too much calcium in it, not enough protein, and the wrong proportion of vitamins and other minerals. You need to start feeding it the rickets diet. Here it is:
A sick bird can often be helped by the Rickets diet. Feed the birds once a day for three days or until you feel the bird is looking and acting better - usually 3 weeks.

This amount feeds one bird. Each serving consists of:

½ to 1 x cooked egg yolk… crumbled into mixture
1 teaspoon of cod liver oil..
1 very small drizzle of honey
2 x tablespoons natural yoghurt - no sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons rolled oats or Baby rice
1 dessertspoon of beef tin cat food…… Not dog food
A few grains of multi vitamin powder
2 tablespoons of grated apple..
Mix to make a crumble mixture not runny, if you have to roll into pellets and force feed, and then gently massage the neck in a downward motion to get it down into the crop, then do it, the bird may be too weak to eat or have lost the desire to eat….

Always have fresh clean water available at all time for the bird and good quality food
Feed the rickets diet in the morning. Also have her ordinary feed and fresh clean water available at all times: if it has not been fully eaten with in 12 hours throw it out... make another one the next morning.. don't add to it.. clean out the dish it was in also before adding the new mixture.

 

[FrancesR]

Over the weekend I had two hens out of my oldest coop that suddenly couldn't walk or stand....within 2 days of each other. They were alert, but acted partially paralyzed. My guess was possible neurotoxin from a few moldy pellets at the bottom of the feeder.

One that was down Friday on seemed to improve overnight, but by then the second was down. I made up a solution of 1 cc liquid fortified B complex, 1 tsp Karo syrup, 1/2 c water and syringed it down their throats. Actually, I ended up offering the cup and they both willingly dipped their beaks and drank. I suspect the bright yellow from the B complex made it attractive. Other than that, the stronger one stayed in the coop and slowly made her way around to eat, but mostly sits all day....she is slowly improving. I continue to dose her with B complex water for now. Her comb is brighter and she does walk, albeit slowly.

The weaker of the two I segregated into a large dog kennel filled with straw and gave her two small bowls, one with the vitamin water and the other with a mix of bird seed, sunflower seeds and lay pellets. She has been also steadily improving, in fact, she has laid an egg yesterday and today. Not bad, considering that on Saturday she could only prop herself up with one wing periodically. She now stands up and walks a bit, but I notice that her feet are still not as strong as normal.

I chose to dose with B complex because it supports nerve health and I suspected the paralysis was from mold, rather than a disease. There are no respiratory symptoms, just the weakness. I hope this helps you. I bought my B Complex online from a livestock supply store, but I think that on the mainland you can find it more easily than I did. Don't worry about overdosing, B vitamins are water soluble and whatever isn't needed just evacuates with normal waste.

 

[rwgrout]

Thank you both, I will baby her and give these solutions a try as long as she staying strong. I didn't want to even start considering culling as she is alert, has an appetite and even wants to walk, she just can't.

 

[rwgrout]

Wanted to come back and say that the rickets diet worked very well. After just a few days she regained complete use of 1 leg and was 75% on the other. Sadly, she didn't make it. When I left in the morning she was just as perky as always and eagerly eating her new "diet" and drinking her "vitamin water" when we came home she has passed. Very sad, just laying there in the corner of the coop. My other 2 girls seem completely unaffected but I miss her every day.

 

[JohnHenry]

Sorry for your loss. I've had a couple die for unexplained reasons and I also miss them, they become like family.