2 week old chick can't use her leg - HELP PLEASE

[susieq2002]

It has been a while since I last posted on here but recently, my father brought home 8 baby chicks. Yesterday, I noticed all of the chicks on top of one, who was laying on her side screaming. When I got the other chicks to move, I noticed this chick was having trouble staying on her feet. So I took her out of the box and set her on the floor of the barn and she was having trouble walking. I put her in a smaller box and brought her inside and today she can't even stand on her feet without my help. If I let her go, she sits on her bum. She hasn't been hungry or thirsty and has been very sleepy. I checked for a slipped tendon first, but her leg felt fine and she fell asleep when I pressed up and down her leg, so I figured she wasn't in any pain. I compared her leg to the other chicks and it seems normal. I then thought it might be cocci because she pooped a nasty smelling, green with white foam-ish, slightly runny terd this morning. So I mixed some corid in her drinking water and have been feeding her using a small syringe. She has perked up quite a bit this afternoon but is still having trouble with that leg. Even when I pick her up, she brings one leg immediately up to her but lets the other leg hang. I've included pictures below.

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) Barred Rock, 2 1/2 weeks old, and she feels lighter than the other chicks.

2) What is the behavior, exactly. She was acting lethargic and sleepy yesterday but since administering the medicated water, she seems to have perked up a little.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? She seemed fine yesterday morning but having trouble standing/keeping balance yesterday evening.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? I've checked all day today and none of the other chicks are showing these symptoms. I've medicated their water too just in case.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. Not that I could see/feel. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, but she's really struggling to use that leg. If I hold her, she's wobbly and if I let her go, she falls back onto her bum.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. A couple of the chicks have been jumping on top of the feeder and then jumping into the flock of baby chicks. I wondered if one of them landed on her and did some damage but I can't be sure.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Not much of anything. I can get her to drink her medicated water a little better this afternoon but she won't touch the dry feed or the milk/feed mash I made. I also tried feeding her some cooked egg this morning and she wouldn't touch that either.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Runny, puke green with white throughout. And stinky!

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Corid in her water.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I would love to have her treated and better but I'm afraid she isn't going to get better. Not knowing exactly what she has is driving me nuts. lol If possible, I would like to treat her myself since we don't have any chicken vets locally. (our vets work mostly with dogs and cats)

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. Picture below.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. I'm using a cardboard box lined with an old pillow case and lots of shavings on top. I'm really hoping I didn't cause any problems with her leg because of the bedding used. The other chicks seem to be doing ok though.

 

[Eggcessive]

She could have a leg injury or a slipped tendon. I would give her Nutri-Drench 1-2 ml daily or PolyVisol without iron 2 drops daily by mouth for a possible vitamin deficiency, which is standard treatment in a lame chick. Continue with the Corid.

 

[susieq2002]

Thank you so much. I will try the Nutri-Drench right now since I have some on hand. She seemed to be getting better this afternoon but now she's back to being sleepy again. And she still refuses to eat. I was able to snap a picture of her latest poop too. Also, she is starting to move her bad leg underneath of her a little more.

(I had her outside of her box for a minute to give her water with the syringe... she almost pooped on me. lol)

(it seems like she is trying to bring that leg up underneath of her... progress I hope?!?)

 

[susieq2002]

I'm at a complete loss. Her leg doesn't seem to be getting any better and it's like she doesn't know how to use it. I've felt all up and down her leg, pressing at the hock joint and stretching the tendon and running my thumb down the tendon. I can't feel anything out of place and nothing is "popping" in or out. And the chick falls asleep while I'm rubbing her leg and stretching it, which makes me believe that if her tendon was slipped she'd be in a lot of pain, not sleeping. I tried hobbling her legs, which helped her to stand at least but once the hobbles are taken off, her bad leg goes straight out in front of her again and the other leg goes straight back, behind her. I'm thinking it might be splayed legs now, so I've put her back in the hobbles so she can at least stay standing. But even in the hobbles, she won't put any pressure on her bad leg... she uses her hock for balance as well as the good leg. I'm going to try giving her PolyVisol for the next week along with the hobbles and leg stretching to see if I can't correct this problem. It's so frustrating because she had been using her leg just fine a couple of days ago. So discouraged.

Also, I fed her a hard-boiled egg yolk this morning and she gobbled it right up. If anyone has any other suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

She is at the age for avian encephalomyelitis, a virus of the central nervous system that can cause tremors, lameness, and loss of balance. If you put the chick in the palm of your hand on it's back, sometimes you can see tremors. I would continue the vitamins, and hope that she just has a deficiency. Here is a little reading about AE:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/9/avian-encephalomyelitis-epidemic-tremors/
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...itis/overview_of_avian_encephalomyelitis.html

 

[susieq2002]

Thank you so much for the advice. I held her last night, after I got home from work, and there were no tremors. However, I've noticed a huge improvement since hobbling her legs and feeding her mashed hard-boiled egg yolk. She is able to stand, although she is shaky & unsteady with that one leg, and tuck her legs underneath of her at night now. She's still off-balance when she walks but is eating ferociously. This morning, I gave her the mashed chick starter feed and she went crazy eating it. I moved the feed to the other side of the box next to her water, thinking she'd had her fill, and went to take a fast shower. When I checked on her after, she was standing and eating her feed from the dish. So, she's not a complete invalid. I also checked her bad leg again last night, stretching it and pressing on the hock and rubbing my thumb down her tendon, but still felt nothing "pop" or out of place. And yet again, she fell asleep while I was rubbing and stretching her leg. lol I'm just afraid if it is a slipped tendon that I'm doing more harm and than good by hobbling her. But, with the hobbling, at least she is able to stand up and move around slightly better than before. I will keep the AE disease in the back of my mind though and keep checking her for any tremors. I didn't know about that disease at all so thank you again for telling me.

Anymore advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

 

[susieq2002]

UPDATE:

I decided to hobble her legs since her hocks have remained flat and don't seem out of joint. I'll post a few links later with youtube videos I used to help me figure out how to hobble a 2 week old chick. Basically, I wrapped bandaids around her legs below the hocks and loosely tied a piece of cotton string to each leg below the bandaids. The bandaids helped the string to stay in place and not move up her leg. Anyway, after a couple of days she was standing and by day 4, she was pecking at her bandaids. So, I took the hobbles off and she has been doing fantastic... HOWEVER... now I'm noticing that her bad leg will bend forward when she walks occasionally and when she is standing. It's not out of place because she can bend it the correct way and walk, but most times, she is bending her leg forward too. I've never seen anything like this. Is it possible for a chicken to be double jointed?!? And her hock is not out of place because I keep checking and it can bend correctly and the hock is flat but she still wants to move it the wrong way when walking and standing. Not quite sure what to make of this. She isn't in any pain and is moving around just fine, but it concerns me to see her leg moving forward as well as correctly. Any advice would be so helpful. Thank you!