Year old hen cant stand or walk, no balance, just laying on side......

[True Grit]

When my chick was about 8 or 9 weeks old I saw her start to scratch her ear and then fall over. Eventually over the day it got so she couldn't stay upright to scratch and she got very unsteady and finally just couldn't walk . I took her to an avian vet and though he couldn't see anything wrong with her ears he gave her baytril and I treated her at home twice a day with baytril and propped her where she could eat and drink. She could get around her old brooder by basically just trying and flopping. She recovered but then went crossbeak. She seemed fine until this week when she died unexpectedly. I can't connect her death with her condition particularly. I just wanted to suggest antibiotics. Good luck.

 

[aukuma]

Today we put our girl back in with the flock. She's still a bit unsteady but she's doing well. She's re-establishing her pecking order and keeping up with the others.

 

[kerrypayne]

I put our Mabel back in the henhouse yesterday afternoon as we had to go out and I didn't want to leave her on the lawn by herself, she was walking around more and more over the last 2 days, I've just gone down to check on them this morning and she looks absolutely fine, her ears are still a bit white but she seems back to normal.
I also got some mite powder from the feed store and treated them all as it more mud than dust in their run and I dont know if they are able to have dust baths to clean themselves.
So the cure - keep her inside in the warm and dry, keep food (pellets, porridge, bread, scrambled eggs, silverbeet) and water nearby, dunk her head in the bowl to make her drink every now and again, and let her out on the back lawn to get some sun and fresh air, keep her in a cardboard box at night and wash her bum when she has diarrhoea.
I asked about worming stuff at the feed store as well and he said to put a capful of cider vinegar in their water once a week to keep worms at bay.
thanks everyone for your support!

 

[lucky acres]

I'm Glad I found this section.. I have a 4 month old araconna that she was fine but 2 days ago started to loose her balance I thought one of the roosters pounced on her too hard comming off the roost.. but after reading this I'm going to check her ears tomorrow and give her a dust bath.. I use sevin in their favorite dusting spot but seems she wasn't going into it.. Gives me something to look for thank you.. I have been giving her chick food and found some electrolyte water supplement for chickens at my grain store
this site is heaven sent..
Thank you,,, Thank you ,,, Thank you....
Sharon
Lucky acres in NH..

 

[ikatiemay]

Our poor girl finially stopped eating, we decided to cull her

I keep wondering if I should have waited but she showed no sign of improvement. She couldn't seem to get her balance at all. So sad. Do you think the white things on the ears that some of you have seen are bugs??? I dont remember seeing anything like that at all on our hen.

 

[kerrypayne]

Its a shame she stopped eating , but according to our chicken man if they stop eating then they will only last 24 hours anyway - they've given up. so it was probably the best thing that you did. I checked her ears again and it looks like they lost the red pigment in the centre rather than it being actual stuff on the skin, I will keep an eye on it and see it it returns to all red as she gets better, she still hasn't laid an egg since she was ill but at least is running around and scratching with the others now.

 

[aukuma]

Quote:
Sorry to hear about your gal.

I am not sure what the white on the ears was, it looked crusty, not like bugs. I could be wrong.

My hen is now with the others and seems to be holding her own. She still loses her balance on occasion but generally seems ok.