Wobbly Hen-Injury or Mareks (or ?)

[16 and me]

I would say give her 6-8 weeks for a recovery. In September I had a hen succcumb to full paralysis of both legs and wings. It took about 2 months for a full recovery. She still had appetite, and drank when food and water were placed in front of her, so I decided to try to save her. I gave her an egg every day, B100, B2, B3 & B12 - daily but not all daily, also yogurt and probiotics along with wet crumble. She had to stay inside with me for the first 6-8 weeks and I would carry her out to the yard and lay her in the loose dirt to dustbathe, or place her on the grass to see if she would graze. The dustbath involved me moving her legs and wings for her, mimicking their movements as best I could. I also bathed her in water because she couldn't move from her own stool. When drying her with the blowdryer, I would massage her legs and feet and wrap her toes around my finger holding them there while gently pulsing my grip. I would spread her wings and retract them frequently.
Each of these seemed to increase her mobility and strength as time went on, but some days there would appear to be setbacks in her progress. She is now 100% mobile, back in her flock and laying eggs.
I hope any of this helps you with your hen, and I hope shhe makes a full recovery.

 

[Closing Time]

Thank you @16 and me. I appreciate your input and support!

We ended up building her a separate run inside the coop tonight, with a tall ex pen and a wood panel cover. She had been acting better today so I let her out to lie in the sun with her friends and eliminate some confinement stress. Things were fine until our cockerel misinterpreted her wobble stance as an invitation. So I separated her again. Since this is a long haul recovery, I think this space is large enough and will give her the ability to exercise her legs if she wants to, still be in the coop with the flock, but also stay safe from Nigel while he figures his stuff out too.

 

[Closing Time]

Just an update and it’s not where I’d hoped we would be at this point. She has been confined in a separate run inside the coop and over the last two weeks has decompensated where she can’t get herself up or stand on her own. She’s not paralyzed but very weak on her left side. If I steady her and then let her walk on her own, she runs forward and then falls over and can’t kick herself back up. So we just don’t do that.

I have been taking her out twice a day for “PT”, help steady her on her feet at the feeder and waterer. She has her own in the run but she eats more when I let her lean on me and she’s in a standing position. She puts her feet down but she can’t stay standing on her own without one hand on her left side for support. I try to help her work her legs too and do some supportive walking just to keep the mechanics there.

I know the vet said she didn’t have lice or mites but she actually was infested with lice. I noticed them on me during her PT session and then found small ones in her ears and larger ones on her body. I treated her that day (this past Saturday), and stripped and treated the entire coop. It was insane how many came to the surface while they were dying. She’s had a pale comb for the last couple weeks. Could she be so weak now from the parasites that she is no longer able to stand? Or is it all circumstantial at this point? It’s all just a WAG at this point.

Like I said, still has a voracious appetite and drinks well most of the time. I’ve been supplementing her all flock pellets with cucumber or soaked quinoa a few times a week to keep her hydration up. She will not eat an egg to save her life but she loves cucumber and cooked quinoa. She was not a fan of canned cat food either.

If she is still eating and drinking and doesn’t appear in pain, I’ll keep this up and see if this turns itself around. At this point, I’m not sure it will though.

 

[Closing Time]

This morning when I brought her out for her PT and medication, she was breathing open mouthed. She was eating and drinking inside her coop but wasn’t interested in eating once I brought her out. Maybe she had eaten her fill before I got her out…

Her feathers under her chin were wet. Like she’s been laying in her waterer for a bit. Eyes a little watery. While I was holding her, she had some pretty gnarly diarrhea. It looks green but be did have some Chinese skullcap and blueberries in her evening quinoa last night. This is the first time she’s had diarrhea since she

If you’ve seen my other post, you’ll know I brought home 3 new pullets yesterday afternoon with something going on, possibly respiratory illness. They are quarantined about 150 feet away from my coop with my barn in between, and I have done complete costume and shoe changes between each. I don’t think I cross contaminated and not sure she would be showing symptoms this quickly if that.

Or she slept in her waterer and now is ill.

Honestly, I’m feeling super defeated here. I know it’s a 50/50 whether she was going to get better. And now with the new birds sick and needing to go back, I’m about ready to throw in the towel and stick to horses at this point. More expensive to treat but I’ve got 45 years of experience in that realm so less stressful. Apologies, just emotional this morning.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/img_1517-mov.7968117/

 

[2ndTink]

This morning when I brought her out for her PT and medication, she was breathing open mouthed. She was eating and drinking inside her coop but wasn’t interested in eating once I brought her out. Maybe she had eaten her fill before I got her out…

Her feathers under her chin were wet. Like she’s been laying in her waterer for a bit. Eyes a little watery. While I was holding her, she had some pretty gnarly diarrhea. It looks green but be did have some Chinese skullcap and blueberries in her evening quinoa last night. This is the first time she’s had diarrhea since she

If you’ve seen my other post, you’ll know I brought home 3 new pullets yesterday afternoon with something going on, possibly respiratory illness. They are quarantined about 150 feet away from my coop with my barn in between, and I have done complete costume and shoe changes between each. I don’t think I cross contaminated and not sure she would be showing symptoms this quickly if that.

Or she slept in her waterer and now is ill.

Honestly, I’m feeling super defeated here. I know it’s a 50/50 whether she was going to get better. And now with the new birds sick and needing to go back, I’m about ready to throw in the towel and stick to horses at this point. More expensive to treat but I’ve got 45 years of experience in that realm so less stressful. Apologies, just emotional this morning.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/img_1517-mov.7968117/

chickens can be very emotionally draining, they are either super hardy and live through anything or they like to randomly get sicknesses and / or die. My first three years with chickens were great, then I bought some chicks and brought home Mareks with them.

Are you able to return the sick pullets?

My best advice is to practice strict biosecurity, only bring sanitized hatching eggs or vaccinated day olds, nothing comes home from a poultry swap or auction to my flock. I do have 2 friends that I'll bring birds from, but I know them and their flocks, I know exactly what their flocks have.

If you can take the sick pullets back I would do so. Sanitize the coop they've been in (Activated Oxine, Vikron S, Odoban) let it sit empty for a few weeks for good measure and get some chicks from a hearty breed that are vaccinated at least for Mareks.

Poultry keeping has many ups and downs, but the good times with the chickens outweigh the bad for me. I'm sorry you're having a rough go right now, whether you chose to leave poultry keeping or press on, neither is a wrong choice

 

[Closing Time]

chickens can be very emotionally draining, they are either super hardy and live through anything or they like to randomly get sicknesses and / or die. My first three years with chickens were great, then I bought some chicks and brought home Mareks with them.

Are you able to return the sick pullets?

My best advice is to practice strict biosecurity, only bring sanitized hatching eggs or vaccinated day olds, nothing comes home from a poultry swap or auction to my flock. I do have 2 friends that I'll bring birds from, but I know them and their flocks, I know exactly what their flocks have.

If you can take the sick pullets back I would do so. Sanitize the coop they've been in (Activated Oxine, Vikron S, Odoban) let it sit empty for a few weeks for good measure and get some chicks from a hearty breed that are vaccinated at least for Mareks.

Poultry keeping has many ups and downs, but the good times with the chickens outweigh the bad for me. I'm sorry you're having a rough go right now, whether you chose to leave poultry keeping or press on, neither is a wrong choice

Thank you. Ugh, it’s just a whole bunch of ugh. I’ve got a lot of other stuff going on outside of the chicken health that is exacerbating the whole emotional suck. Normally, I’m quite matter of fact and address things as they come.

I’m waiting for the farm to contact me so I can schedule a return. They don’t answer email or phone calls on the weekend, even though I picked up the girls yesterday. There should be no problem returning them, they do have a guarantee. Well hopefully I won’t have a problem.

Regarding this hen, her breathing returned to normal after awhile. At least it didn’t remain consistent. So maybe it was transitory, but maybe this is the beginning of a decline. I’ve gotten attached since I’ve been caring for her every day. Right now it’s worked out because I’ve been working from home. But I have to go back to the office in a few weeks and that means I’ll be gone for days at a time since it’s about 200 miles away. So she has 3 weeks to turn around or not. My husband will be working from home while I’m gone but she wont be getting the same level of care that she gets now.

Thanks for the support and the assist. I appreciate it.

 

[2ndTink]

Thank you. Ugh, it’s just a whole bunch of ugh. I’ve got a lot of other stuff going on outside of the chicken health that is exacerbating the whole emotional suck. Normally, I’m quite matter of fact and address things as they come.

I understand this 100%! It happens, at all the worst times...

I’m waiting for the farm to contact me so I can schedule a return. They don’t answer email or phone calls on the weekend, even though I picked up the girls yesterday. There should be no problem returning them, they do have a guarantee. Well hopefully I won’t have a problem.

This is good, one less thing for you to have on the stress list. It might be an easy cure but it could also turn into CRD (chronic respiratory disease) or something like that which would be a long term issue and even transfer to other chickens.

Regarding this hen, her breathing returned to normal after awhile. At least it didn’t remain consistent. So maybe it was transitory, but maybe this is the beginning of a decline. I’ve gotten attached since I’ve been caring for her every day. Right now it’s worked out because I’ve been working from home. But I have to go back to the office in a few weeks and that means I’ll be gone for days at a time since it’s about 200 miles away. So she has 3 weeks to turn around or not. My husband will be working from home while I’m gone but she wont be getting the same level of care that she gets now.

That's good she returned to normal, but you are right, it is possible something else is going on. It's so easy to get attached when you are giving them extra care, if they do pass, it's important to remember the good times, the happy moments, and the joy they gave you. And no matter what, you have been giving her great care and she knows she's loved and that is very important!

Thanks for the support and the assist. I appreciate it.

always, keeping chickens isn't for the faint of heart, I had a few times last year I really was thinking about throwing in the towel but I had some amazing support here on BYC and now I'm so glad I didn't quit, I really have some wonderful chickens and the strong ones are thriving and so happy!

 

[Closing Time]

Just an update to document should someone else find themselves in a similar situation.

So here we are, two weeks later. My hen is still with us. Still strong legs and wings, but still not standing/walking. Appetite fabulous. I did do an AB course of clavamox with baytril added on, treating for suspect aspiration pneumonia. She has responded well.

My small animal vet was here a week ago for my cat and ended up taking a look at my hen since he has an interest in neuro cases and was curious how she was presenting. He consulted with one of their partners that has avian experience and they agreed we are most likely working with a head or neck injury that may or may not self resolve (her respiratory symptoms were still presenting so kidney involvement was a potential differential dx at the time). Now that she has appeared to recover from whatever respiratory stress she was under, I am taking her out again. The weather has been nice so I've been bringing her out to hang out in the sun in front of the coop. She's getting a bath and blow out as needed to keep her clean and sanitary since she's not able to clean herself well.

We have a plan should she decline. But for now, we will continue to support and see if her body is able to recover.

 

[Closing Time]

Update: we’re still here a month later with our hen. She is pretty much where we were at last posting except we do keep finding her throughout the day in the middle of her coop when she jumps out of her “support towel”. She’s strong and still has an amazing appetite. She’s lost some muscle, as one would expect. But girlfriend can jump like a kangaroo. The other weekend she jumped out of my lap a couple times when I was blow drying her. Her landings aren’t graceful and she still can’t walk on her own. But, we have the time and space to continue to support her. The rest of the flock hangs out with her throughout the day next to her coop, so she isn’t alone. She hasn’t declined and maybe small incremental improvements. It’s been a month so just though I’d update, more for documenting to help anyone else who may need it.

 

[Sylver Queen]

Update: we’re still here a month later with our hen. She is pretty much where we were at last posting except we do keep finding her throughout the day in the middle of her coop when she jumps out of her “support towel”. She’s strong and still has an amazing appetite. She’s lost some muscle, as one would expect. But girlfriend can jump like a kangaroo. The other weekend she jumped out of my lap a couple times when I was blow drying her. Her landings aren’t graceful and she still can’t walk on her own. But, we have the time and space to continue to support her. The rest of the flock hangs out with her throughout the day next to her coop, so she isn’t alone. She hasn’t declined and maybe small incremental improvements. It’s been a month so just though I’d update, more for documenting to help anyone else who may need it.

Love the update, thank you and best wishes!