Bantam chicken, 7 months old, paralyzed legs and can't extend neck (not broken, was a progressive loss of movement), swollen comb and face. No injuries.
She started limping 2 weeks ago on one leg, so we brought her in to a hospital enclosure because we thought she had sprained her leg somehow and wanted to give her an easy space to heal. For nearly a week there were no changes in her condition. 1 week and 1 day ago, she started having issues with the other leg and spent most of her time sitting. 1 week ago today she stopped sitting and now only sprawls out (laying down). She also seemed to lose the ability to extend her neck at this time, though she still turns her head around and up/down just fine. She eats and drinks when presented the opportunity (when I put her directly up against a food pile or water), but can't transport herself between food/water. She also poops on herself since she can't stand/aim. She has no respiratory symptoms (breathing fine, no wheezing). In the picture you can see the skin around her eye is swollen (mostly above the eye), but her other eye is completely unaffected and normal. Swelling is confined to her comb and right eye.
Poop looks normal, though maybe just slightly greener than normal? Not a lot though. Also slightly drier, but I think that's because she can't get water whenever she wants.
I have 7 other bantam hens, none of which have any symptoms of illness. She and the other 7 were vaccinated for Marek's at 1 day old by the hatchery.
Her condition has been unchanged for a week now- honestly thought she would either start improving or have died at this point, so I'm not sure what to do. I've been giving her NutriDrench in her water, but that's the only real treatment.
Would it be best to find a vet (are there televets you can call like for humans??) to get some sort of real diagnosis and antibiotics? Vets are expensive and most don't see chickens, and if this is something that she can't recover from, I don't see the point. I don't want to prolong her suffering if this is fatal, but I want to give her the best chance to recover since she's so young.
Thanks!
She started limping 2 weeks ago on one leg, so we brought her in to a hospital enclosure because we thought she had sprained her leg somehow and wanted to give her an easy space to heal. For nearly a week there were no changes in her condition. 1 week and 1 day ago, she started having issues with the other leg and spent most of her time sitting. 1 week ago today she stopped sitting and now only sprawls out (laying down). She also seemed to lose the ability to extend her neck at this time, though she still turns her head around and up/down just fine. She eats and drinks when presented the opportunity (when I put her directly up against a food pile or water), but can't transport herself between food/water. She also poops on herself since she can't stand/aim. She has no respiratory symptoms (breathing fine, no wheezing). In the picture you can see the skin around her eye is swollen (mostly above the eye), but her other eye is completely unaffected and normal. Swelling is confined to her comb and right eye.
Poop looks normal, though maybe just slightly greener than normal? Not a lot though. Also slightly drier, but I think that's because she can't get water whenever she wants.
I have 7 other bantam hens, none of which have any symptoms of illness. She and the other 7 were vaccinated for Marek's at 1 day old by the hatchery.
Her condition has been unchanged for a week now- honestly thought she would either start improving or have died at this point, so I'm not sure what to do. I've been giving her NutriDrench in her water, but that's the only real treatment.
Would it be best to find a vet (are there televets you can call like for humans??) to get some sort of real diagnosis and antibiotics? Vets are expensive and most don't see chickens, and if this is something that she can't recover from, I don't see the point. I don't want to prolong her suffering if this is fatal, but I want to give her the best chance to recover since she's so young.
Thanks!
