chicken losing balance

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mazbaz

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Is there anybody on here that has any idea what is wrong with my chicken, she is 20 months old and I have had her since pol along with 3 others, on Monday last she was fluffed up and looking sorry for herself, on the Tuesday when she came out of the coup she kept losing her balance as if she had a stroke but her poos where just like water and the others promptly started attacking her, bought her indoors where she started eating little bits, but each time she tried she kept falling over, next day saw a great improvement and her poos back to normal,even to the point that she went back with the others, she was fine for a week then on Tuesday the balance seems to have gone again but not so bad and she has stayed with the others, but even now she is still doddery on her feet,
Any help would be grately appreciated
 
Hi Maz-----just somethings that maybe worth considering---- Respiratory tract infection , ear mites/ear infection or possibly Mareks disease . Ros
 
Thanks for the repoly Ros, how would I know if it was a Respiratory tract infection or ear infection, she is fine apart from the inbalance, no runny nose or sneazing, eating well, her cone is the same colour as the others, could it be just a bad mault
 
RTI signs might include---sneeze,cough,wheeze,lethargy,bubbly eyes ,runny nose ,conjunctivitis,facial swelling---pretty much like humans really! Some do get pretty knocked back by moulting but Ive not seen it make one loose balance. How is she doing? Ros
 
Hi Ros,
Sorry about not getting back but had problems login in,
She is indoors now as the others keep picking on her, she seems to have lost the use of her left leg and seems depressed, but her eyes/nose are clear no coughing or sneezing, and there are no proper signs of ill health apart from not wanting to walk or stand, she's alert enough, drinking but being picky with food, had the runs yesterday as gave her some codliver oil incase of blockage,
Don't understand why she got better for a week and now going down hill again, went to the vet (didn't know much about chickens) and he didn't have a clue, will give her a little more time and see where we go, one minuite I think her time is up and that I should do something, then she seems to brighten up but still will not stand, will keep her going for a little while longer
Marion
 
Hi, It may be a stab in the dark, but a respitory infection could possibly be the culprit as podstable said. I had a bantam cockeral which had it and althought there was no sneezing or runny nose or any of the classic symptoms he did lose his balance and went off food and water and because he was ill the others were pecking him all the time and wouldnt leave him alone, although its odd she got better and got ill again, but it could possibly be a secondry infection?? Just thought I'd share some ideas. There is Mereks disease as well which causes bad balance but I dont think they recover normally. The problem is with respitory infections or mycoplasma they spread very slowly through a flock and some will show symptoms some wont. It may be a safe option to start giving antibiotics because if it is a resp infection it can get bad, I have had it twice now and as mentioned already lost one to it. Good luck and please let us know if you find out any more. By the way the loose droppings could be due to her not eating enough, is it very green as well?
 
Hi french chicken,
I am now thinking that it is more mereks as when I got in from work the other leg has no strength and she is just rolling when she tries to move so it seems as if it is the nerve type of mereks, after looking at some pics today and reading up about mereks,it does seem as if it is the type that attacks the nervous system, very sad, but I will give her until the weekend and then make a decision, one that I wish I did't have to make
 
Are her eyes okay, I know when my vet checked my roo before he died, he thought he had mereks because not only the paralysis but also he had grey pupils, which is another symptom, just trying to single it out as the problem...
 
I notice from looking at the posts tonight that there are a lot of people posting with birds with very similar symtomes - I know that there has been a lot of outbreaks of upper resipiritory bugs, a lot of my friends that show not just up here but from all over have been saying that they have had one or two ill birds, and I know that after the scottish Nat there was a huge amount of birds not well, could it have something to do with the weather, mine were suffering not even 2 months ago from badly frostbitten combs, day after day of -16° type temps, now it rains one day, warmish (joke) the next, howling winds, and they are all coming into lay, when they have been weakened by this winter.. I have had birds with UR bugs, that have also looked a bit drunk, because it had affected their ears and sinisus, to be honest, we can all have a stab in the dark as to what is the problem, I would see your vet, and find out once and for all, even just to reasure yourself, that it's not infectious.. it might cost a bit, but better that than whatever it is goes through your flock
 
i would say its highly unlikely to be mareks as it generally affects younger birds. maybe she had a stroke?
 
mightymohan said:
i would say its highly unlikely to be mareks as it generally affects younger birds. maybe she had a stroke?
Click to expand...
MM is right about the age - I saw 20 and didn't norice the months - Mareks is usually between 16 - 20 weeks, not months.. good luck with her tell us how you get on
 
Hi Doranda,
When she first became ill I thought it was a stroke, but after being bought indoors for 24 hours she perked right up and went back with the others, then a week later went back down with the same symptons and has not picked up this time, I fear the worst for her as for the past 36 hours she has only been interested in drinking when I put water right in front of her and will not eat now and is very weak, I think it will be the vets tonight, such a shame,
Frenchchicken 123
Her eyes are fine, as is wattle/combe, no runny nose, no sneezing, no other symptons apart from the loss of use of her legs, first off it was the left, now the right, and she is using her wings to move
There was just one thing, when I bought them (all 4) 2 years ago at pol, she took a long time to mature to adhult hood compared to the others and then last summer the other 3 started picking on her, this stopped, but I wonder if they knew that she had a weakness somewhere, she has always been at the bottom of the pecking order
 
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