Walking/leg issues. Injury? Merek's?

[aliciaFarmer]

She may be extending her wing to help herself balance. If you cull her, I would refrigerate her body (don’t freeze) in a plastic garbage bag. To send it to the state vet, call for the best way to ship or take it in. Since it is Friday, it might be better to wait a few days. Some use foam cololers with ice packs to ship, but check with the state vet. Contact Fedex or UPS about overnight shipping, since that is the only way it should be done. She still might get better with support in case it is an injury. I have been treating a hen for 2 months with imbalance, thinking that she may have had Mareks. But after a month she was able to stand and walk around pretty well, although a little wobbly at times. She has some unknown problem, possibly a reproductive problem or an injury that affected her legs.

I was thinking about that too, it being Friday and being able to ship it overnight would be imperative. I'm going to wait until Monday, just in case. Plus I don't have a cooler or anything. I know they prefer it in a styrofoam cooler like you said with ice packs, refrigerated if necessary but definitely not frozen. I'm sorry to hear about your girl but that makes me feel so hopeful! My girl still has all her sweetness. Every time she sees me coming she tries to stand up to greet me. Or she was this morning. The last few times she's just laid there but she still looks at me with those sweet little orangy yellow eyes. You could be totally right about balance too. So I will wait a couple of days. I've been obsessively checking on everyone else and everybody's perfect, healthy and well. So to me that's a good sign. I can't imagine a flock of 24 only having one get sick with Marek's, especially with five of those only being just over a month old. (That doesn't include all night inside babies getting ready to go outside for the first time.)

 

[aliciaFarmer]

I forgot to mention that she's also having weird poop now. It was pretty normal this morning but now it's green with white streaks and bubbly. Kind of mucousy as well which I have not seen any of my chickens ever have but I'm also not a poop inspector other than cursory glance for abnormality while cleaning the coop a couple times a week. I took a picture but it doesn't show very well due to Sun reflection. Plus I wasn't sure if anyone really wanted to see a glimmering pile of chicken poop without being forewarned.

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh, we enjoy poop pictures. But they can vary throughout the day depending on if it is a cecal poop, or what they have been eating, how much they drink, etc. This link has it’s critics about accuracy, but I have found it useful to highlight some of the common types and reasons for certain droppings:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive/

 

[rebrascora]

The green poop can be a dign of the digestive system shutting down but if she is still actively eating then more likely due to her getting some spring grass which will do her the world of good. I agree that the wind extension is probably to help her balance. You might try making a sling or propping her up between two rolled up towels to support her in a more comfortable upright position.
Chicken slings can easily be made from everyday items....

The cloth needs to be adjusted so that their feet just touch the bottom otherwise they may panic. Another hole can be cut under their vent for poop to drop through and if necessary a second piece of fabric can be placed over their back and clipped either side to keep them secure.... Food and water pots in the form of empty yoghurt pots can be clipped to the front of the box (you can even use an old drawer) so that they can easily reach them..... sometimes it is best to just give them mushy food (regular food soaked in water with egg/yoghurt etc added) so that if they do tip anything they are not likely to get soaked and end up cold and wet. Some birds are quite happy in a sling like this whilst others panic. If she is in the latter group, make some adjustments to see if she will settle but do not persevere if she is blatantly unhappy as that will make her worse and even if she is settled, give her time out of the sling to exercise and even encourage her to move towards a special treat etc.

She could go on like this for weeks or months if you have the time and patience to support her, so don't be too keen to cull. As long as she is eating and alert and bright eyed there is hope. Please feel free to post poop photos as they can sometimes be helpful is assessing what is going on.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is another version and a video:

 

[aliciaFarmer]

@Eggcessive @rebrascora
Thank you both so much! I will file all of this valuable information away for the future. Unfortunately my little sweet Pickle passed yesterday after she stopped eating and drinking over the weekend .I had changed my mind and thought she was showing signs of egg perintitus but now I'm second guessing that too.

My friend got a bunch of chickens from me and was concerned my girl may have had a disease so wanted to do a chicken autopsy. First I wanted to assess everything. As it turns out we're 99% positive Miss P had somehow eaten a piece of glass! There was a glass bowl in their run that I feed them oyster shell in and I didn't realize it had broken with some of the falling trees in our recent massive storm (100s of downed trees and limbs). We couldn't find all of the pieces and it was Pickle's favorite spot to hang out in the run in the evenings after a long day of freeranging. I feel just awful, like a horrible person. The bowl wasn't visible to a big human but easily found in a little nook below the branch pile. I'm going to keep looking for the two little missing pieces but for now, that's my assumption.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
I am so very sorry you lost her. Did you find some glass inside her? I have done quite a few necropsies on chickens and would be interested to see photos of what you found if you have any?
I would very much doubt that the symptoms she was experiencing with her leg and balance would be caused by eating glass. Can you explain why you are so sure that was the cause of her illness? Was there something that you found inside her which indicated that?

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss. It would be good to still get a necropsy if you kept the body cold. A professional necropsy would be the best way to get testing to rule out Mareks.

 

[aliciaFarmer]

Hi
I am so very sorry you lost her. Did you find some glass inside her? I have done quite a few necropsies on chickens and would be interested to see photos of what you found if you have any?
I would very much doubt that the symptoms she was experiencing with her leg and balance would be caused by eating glass. Can you explain why you are so sure that was the cause of her illness? Was there something that you found inside her which indicated that?

We found a broken glass bowl with two missing pieces so I thought it was a possibility. My friend who has a farm close to us wanted to see if that's what it was because she's gotten birds from me recently. She has done lots of necropsies on hers (used to be a vet tech). She didn't provide photos but said that yes, she has a small piece of glass in her crop and another bigger triangular piece in an intestine and it looked like she had "internal damage". She said that she didn't think that was the whole issue but she found no evidence of Mareks either. Nothing wrong with her eyes, no tumors, etc. She gave her vet a tissue sample and I'm still waiting to hear back but he didn't think Mareks either but more likely parasites or internal damage. Still no other sick chickens so I take that as a good sign. Everyone is super happy and healthy.

That's my long winded way of saying I don't know yet. But yes, she had glass inside her. And yes, I feel like crap.

 

[aliciaFarmer]

So sorry for your loss. It would be good to still get a necropsy if you kept the body cold. A professional necropsy would be the best way to get testing to rule out Mareks.

I totally agree and it's in the works. I hope to know soon.