Vitamin Deficiency - 28 week old hen

[TheFloralChickens]

I have a Wheaton olive egger that started showing vitamin deficiency signs about 2 weeks ago. Started as a limp, I thought she hurt her leg so I separated her to a cage to rest. Then she got worse and she was very wobbly/could only scoot around a tiny bit. Once I realized it could be a vitamin deficiency I started treating with poultry cell (1ml two times a day given by a dropper). A couple days after I started that she got drastically better. Over the next week she was able to fully walk again (only wobbly when moving around too fast). I started letting her back with the other chickens for 15 minutes supervised each day. On Monday of this week I dropped down to only giving poultry cell once a day since she was almost completely better. By Wednesday, she was wobbly again. Today on Friday she’s barely able to move again. I upped the poultry cell back up to 2 times a day when I noticed she was back tracking Wednesday. Is there anything else I can do for her?? She’s still eating her crumbles and drinking plain water as normal (she won’t drink the water with poultry cell in it). She doesn’t seem to like tuna or scrambled eggs - I’m going to try more eggs again today though.

She’s on scratch and peck grower feed.
She’s 28 weeks old and just laid her first egg about 1 month ago. All 20 other chickens in the flock are fine!

 

[Debbie292d]

Awe, she's cute!

Wow, that's a tough one since it seemed she improved on Poultry Cell.

She's continued to lay eggs since she started a month ago?

I would try some B-Complex. She could have half of an adult pill, and I'd just open her beak and put it in. Once a day, for as long as you wanted, but improvement would be noticeable in a few days or a week.

You could try some of her crumbles made into a mash by adding water and a raw egg yolk. Sometimes the raw egg yolk is enticing.

 

[TheFloralChickens]

Awe, she's cute!

Wow, that's a tough one since it seemed she improved on Poultry Cell.

She's continued to lay eggs since she started a month ago?

I would try some B-Complex. She could have half of an adult pill, and I'd just open her beak and put it in. Once a day, for as long as you wanted, but improvement would be noticeable in a few days or a week.

You could try some of her crumbles made into a mash by adding water and a raw egg yolk. Sometimes the raw egg yolk is enticing.

Thank you! She stopped laying when I noticed her starting to get sick 2 weeks ago. I’ll try the b complex!

 

[RoyalChick]

I had a chick who went lame. Got better on B2 supplements. Got bad when I reduced the B2 and got better when I increased it again.
I had her on heavy doses of B2 for at least a month and then suddenly she didn’t need it any more.
Good luck with that little cutie!

 

[Eggcessive]

The b complex or super b complex has a lot of b2 riboflavin, so it would be good. Poultry Cell dosage is 1 ml for every 3 pounds of weight, so she may need 2 ml daily. Discontinue the PC when you start B complex, and it can be crushed into food or water, and dosage is 1/4-1/2 tablet daily. It is hard to overdose on b vitamins. Have you ever suspected Mareks disease or an injury?

 

[TheFloralChickens]

The b complex or super b complex has a lot of b2 riboflavin, so it would be good. Poultry Cell dosage is 1 ml for every 3 pounds of weight, so she may need 2 ml daily. Discontinue the PC when you start B complex, and it can be crushed into food or water, and dosage is 1/4-1/2 tablet daily. It is hard to overdose on b vitamins. Have you ever suspected Mareks disease or an injury?

When this first started happening mareks came to mind and worried me but since she started improving on the poultry cell I feel like it’s probably vitamin related! I haven’t introduced any new chickens and all my chickens are from the same hatchery. No other issues with the rest of the flock either. I also thought she was injured at first because she seemed to be favoring one foot at the beginning but after looking over her and I don’t see any injuries. Nothing is hot, red, or swollen. I don’t feel any eggs from being egg bound. Her comb overall still looks healthy and red too! Im ordering b complex now. Thank you!

 

[TheFloralChickens]

I had a chick who went lame. Got better on B2 supplements. Got bad when I reduced the B2 and got better when I increased it again.
I had her on heavy doses of B2 for at least a month and then suddenly she didn’t need it any more.
Good luck with that little cutie!

Thank you! Definitely going to start this today and hoping for the best!