Very sick Wyandote and meran chick

[Flutterby]

Back in August my mother and I got seven chickens. 1 full blood Americuna, 1 Americuna mixed with another large breed that we do not know, 1 Red Laced Wyandote, 3 Cucu Meran chicks, and 1 splash Meran chick. Since then, we lost our splash meran to Cocci, and our Cucu Meran rooster to worms. We have been taking good care of our chickens, giving them lost of treats and vitamins, trying our best not to lose anymore, as they are pets and we love them dearly.

Recently, we have noticed that our Wyandote was acting rather strange. She was off balance and falling over while trying to eat, drink, or even jump into the nesting box. She was the first of all our chickens to start laying eggs and would lay one every other day. She was a productive little layer. Well we brought her into the house to separate her from the other chickens in case she had something really bad. We did not want to rest of the flock to get it as well. Since then, she has stopped walking, using her wings, clucking and even eating and drinking. We have to tube feed her and give her water that way as well, giving her lots of vitamins, wormer, and even had to treat her for bird louse. Here are all of her symptoms, so far:

-Lethargy
-Lack of appetite-
-Wont drink on her own, unless otherwise promted
-Peralisys in legs and wings
-Gasping, as if in respiratory distress or from gape worm
-Very watery poo mixed with a lot blood

We are at a loss as to what more we can do. We have been trying everything that we can think of, and afford, to try and save her life. We are realistic to think that she may be too far gone for us to save, but another one of our chickens, one of our last remaining merans chicks, is also starting to show the same signs, along with signs of an impacted crop. We have been giving her olive oil to help clear it, but it still seems like she is having trouble with it. We grind her food to make it smaller and easier to eat and give her lots of water and the crop will empty and she will poop, but it seems that every time she eats she has the same problem, even drooling out some of the water she drinks because she just can't seem to swallow it.

I realize that I am a very new member and this is a lot of information to take in, but my mom and I are at a loss. We are trying to save our little flock from what could be a deadly situation, even trying to build a new coop, as the one they are in was not cared for beforwe moved in. So if anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated! Thank you!

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm sorry that you're having such trouble with your chickens.

It sounds like there could be more than one thing going on. If you can, answer the questions below; they should give me a better idea of what could be wrong:

1. Do you know if any of the birds were vaccinated for Marek's disease as a chick?
2. Where did you get the chicks from? (hatchery, breeder, random person, etc.)
3. Look closely at the dizzy Wyandotte's head. Is there any discharge, swelling, or bad smell?
4. What type/brand of feed are you feeding these birds?
5. Have you tried treating the Wyandotte for Coccidiosis?

Without having more information, I would suspect Marek's disease. That would explain the paralysis/wing problems in the Wyandotte, with internal tumors possibly causing obstruction of the crop in the other bird. Either that, or some sort of internal infection that is irritating the intestines and affecting other systems of the body. Have you tried treating either bird with an antibiotic, like oxytetracycline or Tylan50?

 

[Flutterby]

We do not know if they were vaccinated for Merrik's, and we have considered the possibility that it could be the reason that at least the Wyandotte is sick. We got our chickens from a breeder that we have since lost contact with. My mother found her through an add and then her phone stopped working. My mother lost all sorts of numbers because of it. There is no discharge from the Wyandotte's head, aside from the scabs where one of the other chickens pecked her. But those are all but healed, and her head is other wise perfectly fine. We are feeding them Blue Seal Layer formula. We switched it because our chicks are close to laying and the Blue Seal brand has a higher protein. We needed the higher protein because our chickens stay in their run. We live on a mountain farm that has a lot of predictors. We love our chickens and are not willing to lose them that way. So we give them lots of snacks, but we were afraid that they were not getting everything they needed, since they have eaten all of the grass in their run.

We believe that they are getting all of the sicknesses from the coop. It should have only been a temporary coop as it only has outside walls and no insulation, leaving the wooden walls exposed to the poo. It's not treated wood either. so the walls are covered in older poo that was never cleaned.