Wobbly unsteady chicken

[Chickenmom85]

Hi!! I have a hen that I found today that was having a hard time standing up and very wobbly and her head is twitching. Her feet aren't flat and are curled up. I need help. What could this be? Her cone is bright red and she looks fine but I'm worried that I'm gonna lose her.

 

[rebrascora]

How old is she? Have you checked the soles of her feet for bumblefoot scabs?
If she is struggling to keep herself upright a chicken sling (see below) can be helpful. It needs to be adjusted so that her feet can just touch the bottom otherwise they sometimes panic and a hole cut under her vent as well as he 2 holes for her legs. Pots can be clipped to the front of the box for food and water....

A good quality poultry vitamin supplement like Nutri Drench or Poultry Cell or Rooster Booster can be helpful but it is possible that it may be Marek's disease which is pretty common and widespread. My experience of it is that some birds can recover from an outbreak almost as quickly as they developed problems but they will always be carriers and prone to other outbreaks in the future but can be very healthy in between times. Some make a limited recovery after weeks or months of supportive care and sadly some decline and die or are euthanized..... which can be really heart breaking when they are young birds. There is no recognised treatment and symptoms with Marek's can vary enormously and look like a multitude of other ailments, so it is very hard to diagnose unless a necropsy is done but once you have it in your flock as I have, you come to recognise the signs. Some birds will usually be resistant but it is impossible to tell because they don't all have outbreaks at the same time, it stays dormant for weeks months or even years and birds have an outbreak every now and then, usually when they are stressed. It is a Herpes virus similar in some respects to the cold sore virus in humans, in that you cannot tell who has it until they are having an outbreak and what causes one person to have an outbreak may not cause another. Sadly there is no accepted treatment, but keeping birds happy and well fed and as stress free as possible will help. It is an immunosuppressant virus like AIDS, so supporting their immune system with vitamins and their digestive system with probiotics may help. There is no risk to humans from it and eggs and meat from infected birds/flock can still be eaten although sick birds will usually not be in laying condition for long and the disease causes muscle wastage, so not much meat on carcasses and you probably would not want to eat a sick bird anyway.

If she dies, it is a good idea to get a necropsy done to test for Marek's as that will enable you to plan on how to manage your flock in the future. It is recommended to operate a closed flock if you have the disease and not sell or give away chickens that have been exposed or at least not without full disclosure. The disease is not passed down through eggs though, so hatching eggs can still be sold.

Hopefully I am wrong and it is not Marek's but even if she makes a full recovery with vitamin supplementation, you cannot rule it out.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

How old is your hen?
Do you have any photos of her?
How long have you had her?
Have you added any chickens to your flock within the last 30days?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
If she is of laying age, when was the last time she laid an egg?
Was she vaccinated for Marek's?
Giving your general location (state/country) is helpful when we give you suggestions.

Your weather may be very important here - how hot is it? Is your hen panting or does she seem to be in distress from heat?
Do her legs seem paralyzed, do they respond to touch/feeling?

Hopefully with more information, we can help you better.

 

[azygous]

It could be lots of things. If this came on very suddenly, I would look for sources of poisoning. This could be anything from rotten compost to ant or rat poison to hydraulic fluid contaminating the soil where chickens are picking up grit.

It could be a bacterial infection, or a serious avian virus. Or coccidiosis.

But neurotoxin poisoning is what I would consider first. You can administer activated charcoal or a molasses flush to try to counter the poison in her system and then give her vitamin E, selenium and B-complex to try to repair damage to her nervous system.

Given her symptoms, you need to prepare yourself for the event she may die from this. The symptoms are serious.