Polish chicken suddenly won’t stand or walk

[Swbertrand1]

Short of a disease like Mareks or Coccidiosis, I'd point to a nutrition issue that you touched on above. Even though her feet may look ok, if she's walking on rocks, they may be tender. Can you keep her off the rocks for a few days?

You said she's eating and drinking and the rest of the flock seems fine; that's good, but begs a few questions for me:

What does her feed consist of? Does she get treats? If so, what, how much, and how often? Does she free range? Do you give any vitamin supplements, at least before this began?

The Polish breed, like Silkies, are more prone to suffering from vitamin deficiencies, even if the feed given works for all the other birds. Follow Eggcessive's advice above and see if she doesn't improve rather quickly. We find that vitamin therapy in our Silkies is very often an almost instant improvement in their condition.

Good luck with her and let us know how she does please...

 

[penny131]

Short of a disease like Mareks or Coccidiosis, I'd point to a nutrition issue that you touched on above. Even though her feet may look ok, if she's walking on rocks, they may be tender. Can you keep her off the rocks for a few days?

You said she's eating and drinking and the rest of the flock seems fine; that's good, but begs a few questions for me:

What does her feed consist of? Does she get treats? If so, what, how much, and how often? Does she free range? Do you give any vitamin supplements, at least before this began?

The Polish breed, like Silkies, are more prone to suffering from vitamin deficiencies, even if the feed given works for all the other birds. Follow Eggcessive's advice above and see if she doesn't improve rather quickly. We find that vitamin therapy in our Silkies is very often an almost instant improvement in their condition.

Good luck with her and let us know how she does please...

she’s stayed off the rocks since this all began, she mostly just lays down all day and will move to find a new spot to sit or for food. It sad she just kinda stays all day.

Rest of the flock is still totally fine, I’m so nervous about mareks. But so far they are happy and doing their normal. Our property isn’t huge so I’m sure they’ve all been exposed if that is what’s going on. We feed a 20% protein feed just chick crumbles. We just barely had some start laying and need to switch feed soon. Occasional treats of black sunflower seeds and mealworms (she picks the worms out and won’t eat the seeds) and I sometimes will give some berries or greens.

She for sure is bottom of the flock, she had three other polishes with her and they came after my others and two of those died randomly and one was rehomed because it was a roo. So she has kinda been alone even though she’d wander with the others. My birds do freerange around the yard everyday. I occasionally put vitamins in their water. I was awesome at doing this when they were younger and have not been as good about it though the summer. I added rooster booster and vitamins to the water last Friday but I have not done any other supplements for her. And I don’t know how much she’s eating I just know she is. She’s always been very small and I’ve always noticed doesn’t fill her crop like the others do.

I’m sort of at a loss to do next? Should I try a bigger dose of b3 or is there something else I should give? She’s very perky, very eager to eat. I started giving some scrambled egg yolk starting yesterday and today and she really liked that.

What do you do for vitamin therapy? We have three silkies but they are happy and healthy so far.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would give B complex or some B2 riboflavin directly to her. Just a little is okay. Some won’t drink water flavored with vitamins or electrolytes. B complex tablets can be cut into pieces and crushed, and fed with a little egg or feed. 1/4 tablet daily is plenty, or if your vitamin can be put into food or a little water and fed to her, that would be fine. Did the other 2 polish who died have any symptoms before they died? Mareks may be likely, but the best way to get a diagnosis is with a necropsy done by your state vet. There is a blood test that can be done on live birds if interested by contacting this lab:
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf
Let us know how she gets along. Here is a link for finding your state vet to ask questions about how to get a necropsy:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[penny131]

I would give B complex or some B2 riboflavin directly to her. Just a little is okay. Some won’t drink water flavored with vitamins or electrolytes. B complex tablets can be cut into pieces and crushed, and fed with a little egg or feed. 1/4 tablet daily is plenty, or if your vitamin can be put into food or a little water and fed to her, that would be fine. Did the other 2 polish who died have any symptoms before they died? Mareks may be likely, but the best way to get a diagnosis is with a necropsy done by your state vet. There is a blood test that can be done on live birds if interested by contacting this lab:
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf
Let us know how she gets along.

I have b complex vitamins for humans? Do I do 1/4 of that tablet? Or
Is there something specific she needs? No. We’ve actually had three die in the last like two months. Two birds just were fine in the morning dead by night. No symptoms. One other just started being really lethargic one day and I noticed some really yellow frothy poop that was runny and then a day later she was gone. No one has shown signs like this at all. I’ll send something in for blood work. There is a local vet I could probably have that done there also. But probably better to know so we know how to proceed with new birds down the road. This feels really overwhelming if that’s what it is. I don’t think our flock is vaccinated and I can’t imagine losing all of them suddenly

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes human b complex 1/4 tablet is great. I would contact your state vet about testing or the lab above. Local vets know very little about Mareks, and the lab above can ship you the material to get a blood sample from cutting a toenail, and then you mail it in. @azygous recently did that, and it was about $40 altogether. Or if you lose her, you then would keep her body cold in a cooler, but don’t freeze it, and take or ship it to your state vet. Weekdays are the days to take it in. They can send a shipping label for overnight shipping via Fedex or UPS in many states. It costs less to take it in if possible. In what state are you?

 

[penny131]

Yes human b complex 1/4 tablet is great. I would contact your state vet about testing or the lab above. Local vets know very little about Mareks, and the lab above can ship you the material to get a blood sample from cutting a toenail, and then you mail it in. @azygous recently did that, and it was about $40 altogether. Or if you lose her, you then would keep her body cold in a cooler, but don’t freeze it, and take or ship it to your state vet. Weekdays are the days to take it in. They can send a shipping label for overnight shipping via Fedex or UPS in many states. It costs less to take it in if possible. In what state are you?

Ok, we have an avian vet nearby I don’t know if that matter much. I’m in Utah.

 

[Swbertrand1]

she’s stayed off the rocks since this all began, she mostly just lays down all day and will move to find a new spot to sit or for food. It sad she just kinda stays all day.

Rest of the flock is still totally fine, I’m so nervous about mareks. But so far they are happy and doing their normal. Our property isn’t huge so I’m sure they’ve all been exposed if that is what’s going on. We feed a 20% protein feed just chick crumbles. We just barely had some start laying and need to switch feed soon. Occasional treats of black sunflower seeds and mealworms (she picks the worms out and won’t eat the seeds) and I sometimes will give some berries or greens.

She for sure is bottom of the flock, she had three other polishes with her and they came after my others and two of those died randomly and one was rehomed because it was a roo. So she has kinda been alone even though she’d wander with the others. My birds do freerange around the yard everyday. I occasionally put vitamins in their water. I was awesome at doing this when they were younger and have not been as good about it though the summer. I added rooster booster and vitamins to the water last Friday but I have not done any other supplements for her. And I don’t know how much she’s eating I just know she is. She’s always been very small and I’ve always noticed doesn’t fill her crop like the others do.

I’m sort of at a loss to do next? Should I try a bigger dose of b3 or is there something else I should give? She’s very perky, very eager to eat. I started giving some scrambled egg yolk starting yesterday and today and she really liked that.

What do you do for vitamin therapy? We have three silkies but they are happy and healthy so far.

I don't think you're facing something like Mareks, and I agree that the rest of your flock would likely be showing symptoms by now. Don't rule out worms with this girl either. Worms can sap the strength of the healthiest of birds in short order. Has your flock been de-wormed?

B-3 is but one vitamin and a larger dose is likely not going to do anything. Chickens need a host of vitamins in the B family. The Rooster Booster is a good source of vitamins, but I think she needs a larger dose of the B family. See this article about chickens and their vitamin/minerals:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/vitamins-and-minerals-important-to-poultry

Your feed and treats certainly seem adequate to keep your flock healthy, so don't concern yourself there. Sometimes one or two birds just needs an extra boost or "shot in the arm" so to speak.

Try the vitamin that Eggcessive suggested above (1/4 tablet of Vitamin B-Complex crushed), mixing it in with something she'll eat, and make sure she eats it all. Vitamins mixed with water are fine IF the bird is drinking enough of the water to get a therapeutic dose, but there's no way to know that without watching her over a 24 hour period. With a vitamin that can be mixed with something she'll eat, we know she got all the dose.

To get her to take the dose of B-Complex, make a little mix for her that goes something like this:
1/4-1/2 TBSP Starter Feed
1/4-1/2 TBSP Fried Egg Yolk
1/4 tablet Vitamin B-Complex crushed/pulverized
Water or Yogurt to moisten the "mash"

Mix these together is a small bowl and offer it to your Polish. She should eat it all and quickly if she likes the egg you're giving her. We use Yogurt because our girls just seem to really like it, but they like Fried Egg yolk too! Just do what works for you.

Last, the Rooster Booster is a good supplement; we use it too, but really only for cases where we have a problem. Chicks and adults really get all they need from their commercial feed, but we do supplement in their water maybe once every 3 months or so with Durvet's Vitamins and Electrolytes just to give a little boost to their systems in case someone might be lacking.

Get the B-Complex in her and keep us posted...

 

[Swbertrand1]

Yes human b complex 1/4 tablet is great. I would contact your state vet about testing or the lab above. Local vets know very little about Mareks, and the lab above can ship you the material to get a blood sample from cutting a toenail, and then you mail it in. @azygous recently did that, and it was about $40 altogether. Or if you lose her, you then would keep her body cold in a cooler, but don’t freeze it, and take or ship it to your state vet. Weekdays are the days to take it in. They can send a shipping label for overnight shipping via Fedex or UPS in many states. It costs less to take it in if possible. In what state are you?

I think you dropped that in the wrong thread??? OOPS! Nevermind! LOL!

You're in GREAT hands with Eggcessive! I'm going to step aside

 

[penny131]

I don't think you're facing something like Mareks, and I agree that the rest of your flock would likely be showing symptoms by now. Don't rule out worms with this girl either. Worms can sap the strength of the healthiest of birds in short order. Has your flock been de-wormed?

B-3 is but one vitamin and a larger dose is likely not going to do anything. Chickens need a host of vitamins in the B family. The Rooster Booster is a good source of vitamins, but I think she needs a larger dose of the B family. See this article about chickens and their vitamin/minerals:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/vitamins-and-minerals-important-to-poultry

Your feed and treats certainly seem adequate to keep your flock healthy, so don't concern yourself there. Sometimes one or two birds just needs an extra boost or "shot in the arm" so to speak.

Try the vitamin that Eggcessive suggested above (1/4 tablet of Vitamin B-Complex crushed), mixing it in with something she'll eat, and make sure she eats it all. Vitamins mixed with water are fine IF the bird is drinking enough of the water to get a therapeutic dose, but there's no way to know that without watching her over a 24 hour period. With a vitamin that can be mixed with something she'll eat, we know she got all the dose.

To get her to take the dose of B-Complex, make a little mix for her that goes something like this:
1/4-1/2 TBSP Starter Feed
1/4-1/2 TBSP Fried Egg Yolk
1/4 tablet Vitamin B-Complex crushed/pulverized
Water or Yogurt to moisten the "mash"

Mix these together is a small bowl and offer it to your Polish. She should eat it all and quickly if she likes the egg you're giving her. We use Yogurt because our girls just seem to really like it, but they like Fried Egg yolk too! Just do what works for you.

Last, the Rooster Booster is a good supplement; we use it too, but really only for cases where we have a problem. Chicks and adults really get all they need from their commercial feed, but we do supplement in their water maybe once every 3 months or so with Durvet's Vitamins and Electrolytes just to give a little boost to their systems in case someone might be lacking.

Get the B-Complex in her and keep us posted...

Thank you!! We will give this a shot today!! I have considered worms potentially. I actually was wondering if one of the polishes we had due had an overload based on the really frothy yellow poop but we also had some cocci so it could have been that. No we have never dewormed them. What should I use for that? I actually just read an article about issues with walking related to worms so it made me wonder.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can call the avian vet and ask about Mareks testing, but most vets don’t do testing, from what I have read on here. The blood test above is not very common, and probably just a few labs in different states do it. U of GA does it, and the lab I listed. It is fairly inexpensive and you do the blood collecting, and mail it in. The state poultry pathologists usually look for Mareks with the necropsy by looking for the tell tale tumors on organs and nerves. If they suspect, they may ask if you want testing at that point. You don’t really have to do any of this, especially if she continues to eat and drink, and give the vitamin B2 riboflavin some time to work.