Limping Pullet - Worried about Marek's. Really worried about my beautiful girls.

[pikagoose]

Disclaimer! I'm new to chicken keeping! But I've done a lot of reading and research and I'm trying my best to be a good keeper. I've got three beautiful pullets, about 22 weeks old. Non laying yet. Skyline, Black Rock & Salmon Fav.

The Skyline developed a very faint limp about two weeks ago. She was only limping in the morning and then was fine in the afternoon, it was barely detectable, so I assumed she'd just done herself a small injury and didn't know that it could potentially be a big deal. I resolved to have a proper good look at her foot once we'd got to the point where she was comfortable with me and me handling her.

She's also had some pretty bad diarrhea and I took her to the vet about a week ago and he put her on antibiotics. And didn't notice her limp. And I didn't bring it up because I'm a total idiot. She also sits down a lot, often leaning over to one side. But she runs over for treats and seems to have a healthy appetite etc.

Fast forward another week and she is limping really badly. All the time. So I got to reading.

So, she's had an epsom salt bath (in case egg-bound, but I doubt that's it since she's never laid and it's been going on about two weeks - can't feel anything in her abdomen but I assume it's likely to be soft-shelled at the start anyway?)

I've given her a good checking over, I've looked for any swelling, sores, scabs, hotter than usual limbs etc - nothing, looking at her she seems in perfect health.

This morning I gave her 75mg aspirin to see if that alleviated her limp (e.g. to suggest it's a sprain or similar). She is still limping despite aspirin.

I'm not sure what else could be wrong with her? Obviously Marek's would be worrying because then I imagine all three are infected? Any ideas? I will take her to the vet if needs be, but due to the pandemic things are a wee bit tight and these things can escalate fast with tests etc and ultimately get nowhere.

Any advice appreciated, super worried about my little chica!

 

[Marigold]

Hi Picagoose, and welcome to the forum. Oh dear - we do all worry about our birds, you’re not alone!
OK, a few more details will be helpful. You have three hybrids, right? Did you get them from a dealer who bought them at 16 weeks from a commercial breeder? If so, they are almost certainly vaccinated against all the common chicken diseases, and have been reared in conditions where the health of the flock was understood because of their commercial value as egg layers. A very good choice, for first time owners, and reduces the worry to some extent.

What are they being fed on? Has the diarrhoea cleared up after the course of antibiotics? Diarrhoea is likely to be caused by a bacterial infection, which is why your vet prescribed antibiotics. Mareks is a virus, so the vet wouldn’t have given antibiotics if they they thought it was that.
My first thought for a foot injury would be bumblefoot, a condition where the bird treads in a splinter or a thorn or similar and the wound becomes infected and painful. Did you look at the bottom of the pads on her foot? See link https://poultrykeeper.com/external-problems/bumblefoot/
She is most unlikely to be egg bound, as she hasn’t yet laid I think you can rule that out. I’d suggest that you leave off any treatments such as aspirin which may do more harm than good unless on a vets advice, and let us know what, if anything, you can see on the bottom of her foot, for a start.

 

[pikagoose]

Hi Marigold!

Thanks so much for getting back to me. I believe the two hybrids were from a commercial breeder and the faverolles she was breeding herself but she did say that they were all vaccinated etc.

They are being fed on mostly layer's pellets, which I supplement with a bit of mealworms, scratch and some fruit/veggies from the allotment for treats. Usually courgette, beetroot, strawberries, cucumber, blueberries etc.

The skyline is the only one with diarrhoea, the others are fine, so I'm inclined agree with the assumption of the vet and yourself re. bacterial infection - although it doesn't seem to have cleared up despite finishing the whole course of antibiotics.

Foot wise, yeah I have had a good look a few times at her feet (was really hoping to find a splinter or something there!), also after having given her a bath so they were super clean, her legs/feet are completely perfect, no sores, splinters, scabs, swelling, localised temperature etc.

My only worry about the vet assuming bacterial over Marek's was that her limp was very faint at that point and I didn't point it out to him - so he didn't spot that she had a limp at all and was focussing purely on the diarrhoea.

 

[Marigold]

Good news that her feet are fine, and you don’t think bumblefoot is the cause - although if you had found something it might have been simpler to treat!

Have you checked the vaccination status of the Skyline with the breeder? Knowing what she has been vaccinated against will help diagnosis and help to rule out the likelihood of some things.

Did you and the vet have a discussion about what might be causing the diarrhoea? Does the bird appear to have any breathing problems, or runny or bubbly eyes?

I’m very glad the others aren’t affected. I expect it would be difficult for you to separate her, although if it’s anything infectious or contagious, she would probably have passed it on by now anyway. As the others are fine, it would appear to be unconnected with their living conditions, feed, etc, all of which sound good, and it doesn’t seem as if she has passed anything on, so far as we know.

Could you post some pics of her, and the others? See http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11143 for help with this.

We all try hard to avoid the vet, it’s so expensive and often a health problem can be addressed by home remedies and changes in diet and living conditions, but as you have already consulted the vet about her, you may need to follow up on your first appointment since the treatment doesn’t seem to have cleared the problem and there have been more developments since.

What do other people think?

 

[pikagoose]

Hi,

Thanks for that! I am away from home for work at the moment (and thus even more worried about her!), but I will give the dealer a call to find out more about her vaccinations and get some pictures and update as soon as I am back home.

She has no other symptoms besides the limp and the diarrhoea. The salmon faverolle did have some breathing issues (cough/sneeze/wheezing) and no other symptoms, I took her to the vet at the same time, she also got antibiotics (different ones) and seems absolutely fine now.

Having really bad luck with their health! Touch wood, the Black Rock is 100% fine.

 

[Marigold]

Yes, find out if the faverolles has been vaccinated, and if so, against what. Chicken vaccinations are like the ones you give to kids, they need various vaccines at different ages to cover the full range of possible illnesses. This is expensive for small breeders who may not want to buy several batches of vaccines to treat 1,000 birds, the size available for larger-scale breeders.
If she developed bronchial problems after arrival, this is a common reaction to the stress of moving home depressing the bird’s immune system, so she goes down to an infection she might have resisted in her original home - more likely in an unvaccinated bird. I’m sorry I misread your original post and assumed you had 3 hybrids instead of a mixture of hybrids and a purebred, most probably from different backgrounds and maybe with different vaccination histories.

 

[pikagoose]

So I'm back home now...I've tried getting hold of the dealer but no dice yet, I'm sure she will get back to me eventually but she's been quite slow usually! Bit of a status change...Fav is great, Skyline is still limping but less pronounced, Black Rock now has a really bad limp too! Going nuts.

 

[chrismahon]

Is it something simple like their perch is too high? We've found 15" is the maximum and it needs to reduce as they get older.

 

[Marigold]

What about the Skyline’s diarrhoea? Is that better? If the Rock is now limping also, does she show any signs of diarrhoea?
I think it would be unusual for young and active pullets to be affected by hopping up and down on to perches, (assuming the perches are smooth, rounded at the edges, and wide enough so that their feet are spread out over the sides, not wrapped round a narrow perch with their toes touching round the bottom.) As Chris says, older birds, and heavier breeds, do prefer low perches, but I would expect young pullets to like flying up to high perches to roost. My pol pullets fly up to their 5ft high roosting perch in preference to the coop, their choice, and none of them have ever become lame from flying down again. Still, anything’s possible, and leg strains and injuries can result from a crash landing from a high perch on to an unsuitably hard surface. What have they got on the floor of the run? My girls just land on a soft cushion of Aubiose, over an earth floor covered in membrane.

I can’t think of anything connecting diarrhoea with lameness. I would persist in contacting the breeder, take photos and bits of video showing the problem, both the limping and the diarrhoea if that hasn’t cleared up. Could you post a pic of the diarrhoea if it’s still an issue? Hens regularly do caecal droppings as part of their digestive processes, and this could be mistaken for diarrhoea if you didn’t know that. Diarrhoea will give messy bum feathers but normal droppings will not do that. Have a look at this unsavoury link for pics of normal and abnormal poo. https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

Would a vet’s opinion be helpful, as a follow-up to your previous visit? Video evidence would be good to show them, as even if you took the girls in for a checkup, it might be difficult for the vet to let them walk around the surgery to demonstrate a limp!