Pullet suddenly weak, stumbling. Vitamin deficiency or is it worse?

[BlueberryOatmeal]

My largest pullet is about 5 months old, an easter egger. One week ago I noticed her stumbling and tripping over her own feet. Her legs seem to have gotten weaker, and she has a hard time walking without falling over. Her tail is sometimes drooping, sometimes upright. Only possible trigger I can think of is possibly the recent increase in temperature where I live, which surpassed 90F for the first time in her life when her symptoms hit. I uploaded a video of her to Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/1086070300/ed6a808a20?share=copy

I've separated her from her sisters of around the same age, but they don't share her symptoms. I've given her a thorough exam, checking her wings, skin, legs, vent, etc. to see if I can find any trauma or parasites but no luck. Her stools seem normal in color but are a bit firm, coming out as small pieces rather than one dropping.

She is eating and drinking normally, an organic grower feed the other birds her age are also eating. I've been putting Recovery 911 electrolytes in her water for the full week and started administering 1cc of Poultry Cell (orally) for a vitamin supplement, as well as one scrambled egg with crushed shell for calcium, each day two days ago.

She's currently isolated in a double-layer kennel with plenty of shade and a small run, separated from her sisters but nearby for company. Her bedding is natural hemp, which all my chickens use.

Another forum I'm in (much smaller) suggested a vitamin deficiency could be the cause, but I'm just not sure. I keep thinking she's improving and then she backtracks, so ultimately no progress has been made. Would you continue or increase vitamins and wait and see? Would you rush her to the vet ($150 for a check-up)? Would you do something else? Please let me know!

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

@azygous

 

[azygous]

After treating her for a week with electrolytes, a heat related cause should have been corrected. It's not good to have a chicken on electrolytes longer than a week as salts can build up in the tissues and cause other problems.

A vitamin deficiency is a possibility. Leg weakness points to a riboflavin deficiency, so giving her a b-complex might help. But you need to keep up dosing her with a tablet per day of the complex for at least two weeks to begin to see improvement.

Meanwhile, put a little extra sugar into her water to elevate her blood glucose for more energy.

She doesn't need to be kept separate from the flock. She will be better off left with them.

 

[BlueberryOatmeal]

Thank you for this advice! I’ll stop the electrolytes and continue with vitamins, which I’ve been using Rooster Booster Poultry Cell for. Is there a different product you would recommend for riboflavin and B?

Good tip about sugar, too. I’ll give that a shot!