Silkie not walking, NOT mareks......

[penny131]

I could really use some advice as I am unsure what to do next. Long story short, we have a silkie almost a year old that started limping around October. By the end of December she could not use either leg and walk at all. She's been inside since and eating and drinking great, normal poop, very alert and active, but cannot walk or hold herself up. I was thinking for sure mareks, we had a couple birds randomly die last year so I sent off blood for testing and figured that's what was going on. We just received the results and it is negative. I am totally shocked to be honest. The vet was sure this is what it was but she didn't test for anything and just kinda assumed it based off her not walking. What do I do? She is the sweetest, my heart hurts that she can't be outside doing normal chicken things. But I also am feeling terrible putting her down. I thought this was the direction we were heading but I am second guessing my self with it not being mareks hoping maybe there is more we could try. We have done b and e vitamins, is there anything else we can try? She can grasp our fingers, shes just not standing or holding herself up. Our chickens are for sure pets hence the massive effort we have put into her.

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Have you checked her feet for bumblefoot?

 

[penny131]

Have you checked her feet for bumblefoot?

I have, nothing. And she’s not supporting herself by her legs at all if I set her down she goes split legged and falls to the side.

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

I've never dealt with this before so I can't be of much help but from what I've read it could be a vitamin/mineral dufficiency. What you can do though is on this forum, click on the search button and search for something like silkie not able to walk not mareks or something like that and it will pull up all the posts that people have on that subject. I hope someone out there can help you and your silkie gets better!

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

I could really use some advice as I am unsure what to do next. Long story short, we have a silkie almost a year old that started limping around October. By the end of December she could not use either leg and walk at all. She's been inside since and eating and drinking great, normal poop, very alert and active, but cannot walk or hold herself up. I was thinking for sure mareks, we had a couple birds randomly die last year so I sent off blood for testing and figured that's what was going on. We just received the results and it is negative. I am totally shocked to be honest. The vet was sure this is what it was but she didn't test for anything and just kinda assumed it based off her not walking. What do I do? She is the sweetest, my heart hurts that she can't be outside doing normal chicken things. But I also am feeling terrible putting her down. I thought this was the direction we were heading but I am second guessing my self with it not being mareks hoping maybe there is more we could try. We have done b and e vitamins, is there anything else we can try? She can grasp our fingers, shes just not standing or holding herself up. Our chickens are for sure pets hence the massive effort we have put into her.

I would give her vitiam b12 or complex

 

[penny131]

I would give her vitiam b12 or complex

I’ve been giving a b complex but have not seen a major improvement

 

[Eggcessive]

Was the blood test from RAL where you collect it at home or did the vet do it? It still could be Mareks, so I would try to get your state vet to do a necropsy on her if you lose her or put her down. They look for enlarged sciatic nerves, spots on the liver and other organs, tumor tissue, and test that and feather shafts. Usually they can tell if it looks like Mareks from a preliminary necropsy, but testing is available. Eventually, you may decide that she is not having a good quality of life. It is up to you, but tests can be wrong sometimes. Sorry that she has not responded to treatment, but it sounds like you are doing as much as you can. What state are you in?

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Type this into the search engine:
Help! My chicken can't walk/stand

I found this article by Tabitha345 on her Egyptian Fayoumis chicken that was having trouble walking and there are some great replies in this that I think could help

 

[Eggcessive]

I would give her vitiam b12 or complex

B12 is only B12, but B complex has all B vitamins including riboflavin for leg health and B 12 as well.

 

[penny131]

Was the blood test from RAL where you collect it at home or did the vet do it? It still could be Mareks, so I would try to get your state vet to do a necropsy on her if you lose her or put her down. They look for enlarged sciatic nerves, spots on the liver and other organs, tumor tissue, and test that and feather shafts. Usually they can tell if it looks like Mareks from a preliminary necropsy, but testing is available. Eventually, you may decide that she is not having a good quality of life. It is up to you, but tests can be wrong sometimes. Sorry that she has not responded to treatment, but it sounds like you are doing as much as you can. What state are you in?

Yes it was the RAL test. How accurate are those? I’m honestly shocked. I was so sure that’s what was going on and we pretty much had told the kids we were likely putting her down this week. Her quality of life is really where I struggle. It’s not fair for her. It’s been a slower process to put her down because she is my daughter’s (she saved and bought everything to start chickens and had been pretty crushed. So she’s needed time to process.) with the negative test I l now feel like is there something else I can do that I’m missing. Or have I exhausted all I can. I’ve done lots of b complex. I have done vitamin e. I have not tried st johns wort, not sure if that’s something I should try or not. If we put her down I think I will for sure send her in.