Weak chicken-neurological disorder?

[Laylashens]

My chicken Jazzy has always had problems-she’s the slowest, sits around during free range time, and did this weird thing where she opened and closed one eye while lifting her head backward and walking backward on her haunches. Recently, she’s been very weak and is walking on her haunches if she is walking at all. She struggles to take a step and is very lightweight, and is not eating or drinking much. It seems like she has some sort of neurological disorder that is causing weakness or paralysis in her legs—I don’t know if there’s much I can do about it, but it would be nice to have some sort of diagnosis and any tips to make her feel better. Thanks

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old is she?

 

[Laylashens]

She is about two years old—not that old at all, but we definitely expected her to degrade faster than the rest. She has been acting off most of her life. She snapped out of it for about two months not that long ago, but now she is back to her weird behavior and is worse than ever. We think that her vision isn’t so great, and her legs are losing strength. The rest of her is still pretty strong.

 

[Laylashens]

I gave her an epsom salt soak yesterday, and examined her. Under her wing I found clusters of what looked like mite eggs, which makes sense since she hasn’t been cleaning herself. When I tried to pick them off they were stuck to her feather like glue. I also mixed food and electrolytes in water and dipped her beak in so that she would drink it. She took a couple of sips but isn’t looking anymore energized this morning.

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you post a video/picture of her laying down?

 

[Laylashens]

Video
Here is a video.

 

[Laylashens]

Ok so I isolated her in one of the coops with food, water, and an electrolyte solution with ground mealworms. She is eating food, and seems more relaxed. I’m wondering if this is an issue with her legs, or more of a balance issue now after seeing the video. Her legs still seem like the point of weakness, though.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Are those bald spots on her head? Does she get picked on?

@Wyorp Rock any ideas?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

slowest, sits around during free range time, and did this weird thing where she opened and closed one eye while lifting her head backward and walking backward on her haunches. Recently, she’s been very weak and is walking on her haunches if she is walking at all

not eating or drinking

seems like she has some sort of neurological disorder that is causing weakness or paralysis in her legs

two years old—not that old at all, but we definitely expected her to degrade faster than the rest. She has been acting off most of her life.

snapped out of it for about two months not that long ago, but now she is back to her weird behavior and is worse than ever. We think that her vision isn’t so great, and her legs are losing strength

I found clusters of what looked like mite eggs, which makes sense since she hasn’t been cleaning herself. When I tried to pick them off they were stuck to her feather like glue

Can you gather her up and get some photos of both eyes?

She's acted off most of her life - so, that would include the legs issues, inactivity, etc.?
Does she lay eggs at all?

Clusters of parasite eggs in the feathers may be lice, but regardless, get rid of them. Treat her with a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust. Look over the other birds too and treat your housing as well. Re-treat housing and birds in 7 day intervals.

She does have an odd walk. Hard to tell if it's partially due to leg deformity or disease. Since she's been like this most of her life - it could be either I suppose.

Walking backwards is generally a neurological symptom. You can try 400IU Vitamin E along with 1/2 tablet B-Complex daily for a week to see if that makes a difference. Giver her some egg or tuna to help with the uptake of E.

 

[Laylashens]

@oldhenlikesdogs yes, those are the spots where the other chickens have pecked feathers off. They also bully her away from the food, which is why I isolated her last night so that she could eat and drink.
@Wyorp Rock In terms of what I mean by acting “off”, Jazzy has always been slow and at the bottom of the pecking order. It was commonplace to see her doing the blinky-backwards-walking thing, and also spinning in circles as if chasing her tail. However, this leg weakness is new. She had a case of scaly leg mites a while ago but I treated the entire flock for it once and treated her for it twice. I don’t see any signs of the mites anymore so I don’t think that that’s a problem. I think that she laid an egg once or twice, but has always been a weird chicken.