Older hen unbalanced on legs and going lame. Out of ideas on how to help her!

[AnnasHens]

Looking for some advice on a poorly Bantam, she is coming up to 7 years old. First noticed at the weekend she was a little wobbly and unbalanced on her feet, with her body tipping backwards and forwards as she stood. I asked for some advice from another experienced chicken keeper who suggested this could likely be just her reaching the end of her life since she is quite old, but also to check for lice and mites. I bought some Battles Poultry Spice at the same time to supplement into her food as well.

I did check for lice and mites then and found lice on her though not a huge number - I do have to really look for them quite hard to find them. Anyhow I have now treated her and the rest of my flock with diatomaceous earth and given their coop a really good clean and disinfect. They are all dustbathing considerably less because of flockdown in the UK, even though we have put out containers for them to do so in. I also didn't find any eggs or nits on any of them, though I'm sure they will be to come. Frustrated with this as I am so vigilant about keeping them clean and bug free. Might sourcing some ivermectin be a better course of action?
I wormed the whole flock with flubenvet at the end of November so I would have thought they should still be ok in that department? I also put ACV in their water on every refill.

Poorly hen has gone further downhill since then. She can walk but is completely unbalanced when she tries to so stumbles around almost as if drunk. She is opting to sit on the floor on her ankle joints with her feet sticking out in front of her. Because of this balance issue I can see her trying to preen but is unable to because she falls over onto her side - I doubt she would be able to bathe herself either. I haven't seen her eat or drink of her own accord and her droppings have turned slightly green (bile I would guess?). I have been taking her out every day and sitting her on my lap with a bowl of scrambled egg (1 egg) and porridge oats which she wolfs down so there is no loss of appetite. I have tried replacing the oats with her usual pellet feed but she avoids these and picks out the egg only.

Really totally stumped at what is wrong with her - I don't think the lice would cause her to be unbalanced and lame in the way she is? I can't see any evidence of mites or scaly leg mite either. I did wonder if her nails were a little overgrown and causing discomfort. She also chooses to sleep on the floor overnight rather than perch and has done for the last 2 years.

Just worried about her inability to keep herself preened and clean causing further issues for the rest of the flock, but as she is bottom of the pecking order and so small, reluctant to take her out if I can avoid it.

If anyone has any thoughts on anything else to try I would be so grateful - lacking in chicken savy vets in my area and struggling to find anything else online which might help me figure out what to do. Can provide pictures later if that is helpful just busy at work at the moment. Sorry if that was a lot of info all in one go as well haha! Thanks in advance !

 

[Perris]

The lice are likely taking advantage because she's poorly, rather than being the cause of her issues, as you suspect. 7 is older than many chickens live, so something age related would not be surprising, but I suspect some sort of disease is at the root of it. Hopefully someone with specific knowledge of loss of balance will come along soon.

 

[Eggcessive]

When they are that age, many hens will have some reproductive problems, such as lash egg material inside the abdomen. Cancer is also common in 1/3 of chickens over 2, according to one article I read recently. I had an older hen like yours who had been vaccinated for Mareks years before, suffer a similar balance issue. She stayed in a basket on the floor of the coop for 5 weeks where I had to feed her watery chicken feed mash and egg, plus B complex vitamins. Finally she was able to walk again, and did pretty well for a year or more until she died. She had cancer and lash eggs in her abdomen upon a home necropsy. I would switch the oatmeal to wet chicken feed, and a little yogurt plus the egg, and give her supportive care. A chicken sling chair might be of help, and you can make those at home.

 

[AnnasHens]

When they are that age, many hens will have some reproductive problems, such as lash egg material inside the abdomen. Cancer is also common in 1/3 of chickens over 2, according to one article I read recently. I had an older hen like yours who had been vaccinated for Mareks years before, suffer a similar balance issue. She stayed in a basket on the floor of the coop for 5 weeks where I had to feed her watery chicken feed mash and egg, plus B complex vitamins. Finally she was able to walk again, and did pretty well for a year or more until she died. She had cancer and lash eggs in her abdomen upon a home necropsy. I would switch the oatmeal to wet chicken feed, and a little yogurt plus the egg, and give her supportive care. A chicken sling chair might be of help, and you can make those at home.

Hopefully she'll sort herself out if I persevere with the feeding and watering then. Mashed pellets definitely sounds sensible will give that a go! Hadn't seen the chicken sling before but looks like it could help her. Do you think Mareks could be a possibility - all I could find online suggested it only comes up in younger hens, and she has no loss of appetite?
Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks is usually a disease of young chickens, since it only needs a minimum of 3 weeks after exposure to cause symptoms. If your hen was possibly exposed to a new bird in the last few months, it could be possible. Some chickens can harbor the Mareks virus in their body unknowingly, and when stressed, symptoms may come out. But I would give her supportive care for a bit before you decide what to do. If you should lose her, it would be good to get a necropsy and testing by your state vet to look for a cause. A home necropsy is also a choice, but limited to something very obvious showing up. Here is a good list of state vets to contact beforehand to find out how much they charge for a backyard chicken necropsy, and how to go about it.
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Here is a thread with chicken sling designs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[coach723]

Looked up the Battles Poultry Spice, minerals and some herbs/spices. I would also give her a B complex tablet or capsule daily (human ones, regular not time release). When I have a bird that is having balance or coordination issues I give a super B complex daily, it often helps. The B's are water soluble so no risk of overdosing, the extra will be excreted. Some of the B's can have neuromuscular symptoms when they are deficient, riboflavin deficiency can cause hock sitting. It won't hurt anything even if that's not the issue, and it might help. If she hasn't been eating well due to not feeling good, then it could be an issue. I will sometimes have a bird get wonky during molt, not eating well, and the B complex helps a lot.
Other causes have been mentioned, a bird with cancer or reproductive problems can sometimes have pressure on the sciatic nerves which can cause symptoms, the sciatic can also be affected by Marek's.
Lice and mites can make a bird very weak and anemic. Diatomaceous earth is not a real good treatment. In the US we use permethrin products most commonly, or the more expensive Elector PSP (spinosad). Not sure what you have available there, but I would look for something more effective.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[AnnasHens]

Looked up the Battles Poultry Spice, minerals and some herbs/spices. I would also give her a B complex tablet or capsule daily (human ones, regular not time release). When I have a bird that is having balance or coordination issues I give a super B complex daily, it often helps. The B's are water soluble so no risk of overdosing, the extra will be excreted. Some of the B's can have neuromuscular symptoms when they are deficient, riboflavin deficiency can cause hock sitting. It won't hurt anything even if that's not the issue, and it might help. If she hasn't been eating well due to not feeling good, then it could be an issue. I will sometimes have a bird get wonky during molt, not eating well, and the B complex helps a lot.
Other causes have been mentioned, a bird with cancer or reproductive problems can sometimes have pressure on the sciatic nerves which can cause symptoms, the sciatic can also be affected by Marek's.
Lice and mites can make a bird very weak and anemic. Diatomaceous earth is not a real good treatment. In the US we use permethrin products most commonly, or the more expensive Elector PSP (spinosad). Not sure what you have available there, but I would look for something more effective.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

I did think by the looks of the poultry spice ingredients it probably wasn't sufficient - good to know we can just give human intended vitamins, should be super easy to get hold of then!

I did look for Elector PSP a few days ago but it didn't appear to something I could get hold of here in the UK - I think ivermectin is standard treatment here so will do a little more research on that. Lots of housing disinfectants with permethrin in so will go in with some of that too. Have never had to deal with lice before so a little lost on the best course of action.

Thank you

 

[Perris]

I think ivermectin is standard treatment here so will do a little more research on that

you can get it in liquid form to apply as (4) drops to the skin at the back of the neck, under the trade name Harkamectin, and sold as a product for pigeons (because it is not licensed for use on poultry here).

 

[AnnasHens]

you can get it in liquid form to apply as (4) drops to the skin at the back of the neck, under the trade name Harkamectin, and sold as a product for pigeons (because it is not licensed for use on poultry here).

Fab thank you! Have got some ordered so will treat them all with it over the next few weeks. Guessing egg withdrawal will be a couple of weeks after finishing treatment?

Vitamin B is sorted too - after looking about a bit more I think it could be curly toe paralysis, hopefully caused by vitamin b deficiency and not Mareks. Will get some into her and hope she perks up!

Thanks both for your help!

 

[All Ball]

Thought I would add my experience: I have a 5-year-old girl who had hatch defects that gave her a bit of a limp, some motor awkwardness, and meant she was not fully embraced by the flock. Last June the flock started beating up on her - she would squat rather than run away and they pecked and flogged her. Once it happened in front of me I realized what was happening & separated her. She had nerve or spine or brain damage from the attacks, so it is possible your small girl got beat up. My girl started out wobbly and veered to the left when she ran, and had seizures when her neck would flail her head about. Then she had something like a stroke, or a deterioration in her condition - in the morning she was laying on her side and couldn't get up. At that point, her capacity declined to walking low on haunches. Another incident, and now she is like your girl, with legs out in front and a definite left-side deficit so she has to lean against something on the left or be in a sling (which she isn't thrilled about). There seems to be paralysis of a muscle in the hip or groin that prevents her from being able to sit/rest with her feet under her. I've seen here recommended not only the B complex (I saw suggestion to give 1/4 of a human pill), plus also Vitamin E. My girl HATES the B taste so that is a challenge. She is not high-energy, sleeps a lot, but enjoys eating and drinking, and very much enjoys preening/petting sessions. I am still trying to figure out how to avoid "bed sores" from sitting on her left butt and how she can best get exercise. A good suggestion on here re slings was to use a cardboard box with clamps, and I may rig one up with an open floor to see if she will use her feet to scoot around on the floor. So bottom line it could be nerve/spine/brain damage rather than worms or illness.