Vivienne can't walk!!! PLEASE HELP US!

[ChookBook]

Hi . Over these past few days and maybe even weeks, our baby Vivienne (about 12-18 weeks old) has been having trouble walking. For more info please read my last thread, which sadly got no responses.

Anyway, she appeared to be getting better; walking around more with less focus on her heavy limp but all of a sudden she started going downhill again. She won't walk at all on her left leg and is trying to hop around her pen. I've made her a comfy bed inside a dog carrier which I've placed inside the coop because my sisters and I are not willing to separate her from her little and only friend Lottie, as our bigger and older hens would probably peck her eyes out.
Her leg isn't paralysed as her chook-toes still wrap around our fingers and she still lifts her leg up to scratch her face; we are 90% sure it's not Mareks.

I've checked over both her legs for anything abnormal but couldn't find anything obvious, asides from her left (injured?) leg being a bit limper and less reactive when touched ((she would hardly kick, whilst her right leg was normal)). We've fed her vitamin supplements and have made sure she is eating and drinking properly and as usual.

A few other notes before I conclude this:
-Her poops are normal but very small.
-She had a heavy limp before this.
-We also had a rooster that we'd caught being 'accidentally' too aggressive with her.
-There are no obvious spots of pain we could find in her leg.
-She isn't tumbling over as she is able to balance herself fairly well but before her condition started getting worse I had to help her up after quite a big tumble over a log in the backyard. This was during they're free ranging.

Asides from her leg, she appears absolutely fine and is still trying to get up and play with Lottie.

Please share all the advice or your experiences below! Everything helps and is greatly appreciated so please don't hesitate to respond!

Thanks in advance .
Annie.

xxxVivienne

 

[ChookBook]

Please help us!

 

[BrumBee]

Hmmm I'm not intierly sure but it sounds like to me she may have been born with a problem in her leg. You may need to take her to a vet but to my noladge vets are expensive and may say put the chicken down. If your willing to spend money to get it checked out then that could help.

 

[Eggcessive]

It may be a bone deformity such as a rotated tibia or a slipped tendon. Some of those are a result of mineral deficiencies in the parent stock. Here are some links to read:
https://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/
http://nhjy.hzau.edu.cn/kech/synkx/dong/2bao/Bone disorders in poultry.pdf

 

[ChookBook]

TThanks for both of your help! Im hoping she will get better asap as she is a gorgeous little girl and everyone loves her very much. Im also worried aboutt sending her to thenvet but we might have to ifnfurther treatment doesnt work.
Thanks again!m

 

[Eggcessive]

TThanks for both of your help! Im hoping she will get better asap as she is a gorgeous little girl and everyone loves her very much. Im also worried aboutt sending her to thenvet but we might have to ifnfurther treatment doesnt work.
Thanks again!m

I had forgotten your other threads, but just went back over them. I still think Mareks disease could be the problem, since you had it a couple of years ago in the flock. Even though she was vaccinated she could still have it because occasionally the vaccine either is not given, or it doesn't work. I'm still hoping she has a leg injury that will heal since there is not a lot the can be done for Mareks at this point. I would go back and read some of the threads on Mareks and bone/tendon problems. Give her supportive care, and continue her vitamins. Here is another thread on Mareks with current BYC members who have Mareks in there flocks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741957/not-an-emergency-mareks-in-the-flock

 

[ChookBook]

(sorry for my bad typing above, I was on my phone! )
Thanks for the thread link, it's encouraging me to keep Mareks in mind still.
I tried out some of the leg stretchy things from the other link, and I noticed whilst taking her right leg; the one I thought wasn't injured/sore and she went a little bit fidgity when I felt around her elbow joint (or hock). Does that mean it's NOT her left leg? She didn't react at all when I stretched her left leg back.
She's still getting around a bit, trying to walk (not limp surprisingly) but is very wobbly and relies on some support from her wings occasionally.
Still eating and drinking as if she is fine. Although she is approx 14-18 weeks, should I put her chick pellets instead of the grower stuff (she likes it better anyway)? I read somewhere that chick food is still good for sick/injured pullets.

Thanks for all your help Eggcessive! It means a lot to my sisters and I!

Viv xxxx

 

[Eggcessive]

Chick feed is fine for all ages, but when they are at laying age they need to have extra calcium, so put some crushed oyster shell in a container for her to get as she needs it (when she starts to lay.) Chick feed has 20 % protein, grower about 18% and layer feed 16%, but the layer has the extra calcium.

 

[mightymax]

About a month ago, Marek's was confirmed in my flock thanks to a necropsy. I was (and sometimes still am) totally devastated. Snowy was a white bearded silkie about a year or so old. She had the neurological form of Marek's and ended up with both her legs completely paralyzed, wasting syndrome and a couple of tumors surrounding her keel bone. In the end, I made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize her as her quality of life had become completely nill. I mention this because Snowy had what the doctor who did the necropsy referred to as an 'interesting form' of the disease. 'Interesting' in that her symptoms would come and go. She would be bad off for several days (showing paralysis, balancing herself with her wings, slight wasting of her body even though her appetite never wavered, lethargy, and eventually, the dubious 'hunt and peck' head movements whilst trying to eat as if she could not see the food directly in front of her), and then she'd 'recover' and return to 'normal' for many days, and sometimes even weeks, before the disease would come to haunt her again. This went on for several long and tearful months. I had suspected Marek's from the very beginning and so I set about researching the disease to the umpteenth degree. I discovered a lot of information...and much conflicting and downright misleading misinformation. So please don't totally dismiss Marek's as the culprit, but also please try not to focus exclusively on it as the cause and miss enjoying your time with your little darling. If it is Marek's, well, there's not a whole lot you can do about it now that it's in your flock. It's all invasive, carried by the wind, on shoes, in clothes, on equipment, feed bowls, vermin, other animals' beings, and let's not forget the biggest carrier of all...your very own land. It can remain 'dormant' for years to come and while I strongly support vaccination, it is NO GUARANTEE of immunity, and chickens CAN AND DO 'come down with it' in spite of being vaccinated (mine did). It can be a real chicken kill joy to say the very least!!! I had to completely, and honestly, reassess my reasons for keeping chickens in the first place, for I could no longer just pick up a new and alluring breed that caught my eye nor could I ever again sell, give or even loan, my chickens out to others. It just wouldn't be responsible of me to 'spread the wealth' so to speak, by dumping on to others that which was mine. Your birds will be carriers for life and therefore may no longer be profitable for you to keep (if that was your goal). Fortunately for me (and my chickens, I suppose), they are my pets first and foremost, so the decision to carry on with the remainder of my little flock was a no brain-er. Of course I would be there for them in the long run, they are my sweet little babies, don't you know. It saddens me to unknown ends to think that perhaps with a little more knowledge and a little less compulsion, I might have escaped this dreaded disease altogether. Such is life! Thanks for reading this very loonngg post. When I started it I had no intention of delivering a sermon, but I guess I finally just had to let my feelings out. Just venting, I guess. And also to let you know that, contrary to some people's opinions, Marek's doesn't have to become the 'be all, end all' of your harmonious little chicken world. There is life after Marek's. It's just...different, that's all. Sorry about the hijack. I'll keep your little one in my thoughts and pray for her speedy and thorough recovery. Thanks for being here!

 

[ChookBook]

I think I'll put her on chick feed; just because she likes it more and it might keep her stronger. Thanks for the info again!!!!

Thankyou heaps and heaps and HEAPS for your post mightymax! I'm sorry to hear about mareks in your flock- it's truly devastating when a little chook goes down like that.

My mum, sisters and I have decided to keep her with her amazing little friend (I'am honestly so surprised over how sweet she is to little Viv) as long as she is happy and is able to get around a bit; which she is at the moment.
We all love her very much and can't bear the thought of losing her, thanks ago for all your support!