Paralysis on the left side

[Bmpru]

I have a 10 month old silkie and last month she became broody for about two weeks. She doesn’t usually eat or drink when she is broody and I try to force her but she doesn’t eat or drink a lot. When she got up she was walking crooked and looking drunk like. She was walking towards the left and her left wing was drooped on the left side. I thought it was going to go away until I saw it was getting worse the next day. When I saw her not able to get up anymore I rushed her to an emergency vet. They did box X-rays, blood work, vitamin b12 injection, and iv fluids. $1500 later the doctor thinks it’s Mareks. I told her I didn’t think so and I wasn’t going to give up on her. My bf and I separated her from the rest of the flock just in case. She wasn’t eating much or drinking I had to syringe it to her. The doctor emailed me the blood results and said, “KJ's CBC (complete blood count) did come back with a fairly elevated white blood cell count. This response is robust enough to be called an inflammatory leukogram and can be indicative of the body responding to something infectious. With that in mind, we could definitely start KJ on an antibiotic in addition to her other therapies to help cover the potential for bacterial infection. We can fill that medication through the hospital for pick-up with your approval.” I started her on clavamox and she also was on pain medication and a calcium supplement. After taking the antibiotics and calcium supplier after a week she was better. She was running around eating and drinking normally and I was so happy that she was better.

A month later she became broody again but only for a week. She seems worse now. Paralysis on her left side. Not wanting to eat or drink so I’m syringing her vitamins mixed in her water and syringing her feed mixed with water so I can force her to eat it. Sometimes at night she will eat from my hand. She will try to run to go lay in the coop but she falls over on her side. I put her on antibiotics again because I thought she had an infection and nothing helped after a week. I took her to her primary vet and she thinks she has hypocalcemia because of the paralysis and the twitching of her left leg. So I started to give her the calcium supplement again and it’s been 3-4 days and she’s not walking. She’s getting skinnier and I’m feeding her multiple times a day. Every time I look online for an answer it says it’s Mareks disease and it’s not. This is the second time it happened when she became broody. I tried giving her scrambled eggs and she doesn’t want it. I give her egg yolk and she doesn’t want it. I’ve tried yogurt and still no.

Please help me with what I can do. I’m not ready to give up on her she is apart of the family. Has this happened to anyone’s chicken before or know of anyone it has happened to? I will do anything for her to walk again and be back to normal.

 

[Bmpru]

I have a 10 month old silkie and last month she became broody for about two weeks. She doesn’t usually eat or drink when she is broody and I try to force her but she doesn’t eat or drink a lot. When she got up she was walking crooked and looking drunk like. She was walking towards the left and her left wing was drooped on the left side. I thought it was going to go away until I saw it was getting worse the next day. When I saw her not able to get up anymore I rushed her to an emergency vet. They did box X-rays, blood work, vitamin b12 injection, and iv fluids. $1500 later the doctor thinks it’s Mareks. I told her I didn’t think so and I wasn’t going to give up on her. My bf and I separated her from the rest of the flock just in case. She wasn’t eating much or drinking I had to syringe it to her. The doctor emailed me the blood results and said, “KJ's CBC (complete blood count) did come back with a fairly elevated white blood cell count. This response is robust enough to be called an inflammatory leukogram and can be indicative of the body responding to something infectious. With that in mind, we could definitely start KJ on an antibiotic in addition to her other therapies to help cover the potential for bacterial infection. We can fill that medication through the hospital for pick-up with your approval.” I started her on clavamox and she also was on pain medication and a calcium supplement. After taking the antibiotics and calcium supplier after a week she was better. She was running around eating and drinking normally and I was so happy that she was better.

A month later she became broody again but only for a week. She seems worse now. Paralysis on her left side. Not wanting to eat or drink so I’m syringing her vitamins mixed in her water and syringing her feed mixed with water so I can force her to eat it. Sometimes at night she will eat from my hand. She will try to run to go lay in the coop but she falls over on her side. I put her on antibiotics again because I thought she had an infection and nothing helped after a week. I took her to her primary vet and she thinks she has hypocalcemia because of the paralysis and the twitching of her left leg. So I started to give her the calcium supplement again and it’s been 3-4 days and she’s not walking. She’s getting skinnier and I’m feeding her multiple times a day. Every time I look online for an answer it says it’s Mareks disease and it’s not. This is the second time it happened when she became broody. I tried giving her scrambled eggs and she doesn’t want it. I give her egg yolk and she doesn’t want it. I’ve tried yogurt and still no.

Please help me with what I can do. I’m not ready to give up on her she is apart of the family. Has this happened to anyone’s chicken before or know of anyone it has happened to? I will do anything for her to walk again and be back to normal.

Sorry I forgot to add that her poop was green the first time and went back to normal after a week and this time it’s green as well

 

[CombNWattles]

You can try offering her some canned tuna; that has good protein.

Silkies are especially prone to vitamin deficiencies; this can present as neurological/balance issues. That would be my guess, especially because being broody is so stressful.

You are doing everything right with the vitamins, food, calcium, and yogurt. She is lucky to have such a devoted owner!

If she gets broody again, separate her in a cage, preferably without fluffy bedding. Hens have a bare spot along their keels to warm their eggs, and cool air on this signals them to stop brooding. Search ‘broody breaker’ for more information.

 

[Bmpru]

You can try offering her some canned tuna; that has good protein.

Silkies are especially prone to vitamin deficiencies; this can present as neurological/balance issues. That would be my guess, especially because being broody is so stressful.

You are doing everything right with the vitamins, food, calcium, and yogurt. She is lucky to have such a devoted owner!

If she gets broody again, separate her in a cage, preferably without fluffy bedding. Hens have a bare spot along their keels to warm their eggs, and cool air on this signals them to stop brooding. Search ‘broody breaker’ for more information.

I will try the canned tuna thank you so much for that suggestion!

I will keep giving her vitamins and everything I have been giving her. Do you know how long it’ll take her to get better? I know you won’t know an exact date but can it take weeks?

I have a cage and the next time I even see her try to be Brody she will go in there to break the broodiness and I will do more research about it too.

Thank you for being so kind and helping I’m trying so hard to get her better and I’m trying anything I can

 

[CombNWattles]

From what I’ve read, it can take a few weeks for a bird to recover from stress/undernourishment.
I’m going to call on some peeps with more experience-
@Eggcessive
@azygous
@Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

10 month old silkie and last month she became broody for about two weeks. She doesn’t usually eat or drink when she is broody and I try to force her but she doesn’t eat or drink a lot. When she got up she was walking crooked and looking drunk like. She was walking towards the left and her left wing was drooped on the left side.

A month later she became broody again but only for a week. She seems worse now. Paralysis on her left side.

I'm sorry about your hen.

It could be that you are dealing with Marek's, it's so hard to know. The stressor appears to be hormonal, becoming broody.

Silkies do seem to be more prone to disease like Marek's and/or neurological symptoms.

If she were mine, I'd start her on vitamin therapy. Give 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a treat of egg or tuna. This is the course of treatment usually given to address signs of neurological symptoms and to help support the legs.

Can she see well to eat/drink? Sometimes the feathers/fuzz around the eyes needs a bit of trimming and shaping up so they can see better.

If you do lose her, then it would be a good idea to have testing/necropsy. Have this done through your State Lab instead of a vet, the Pathologists/Lab "folks" are generally very thorough and well versed in whatever field they specialize in. https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...QS0JjyDKvz06L8grMA-4OOo0GQwiKbWBUXhSJ0jSBeuSp