Denegard

[Darsminizoo]

Hi Everyone,
Can someone please advise on dosage for treating an 11 week old polish chick. She’s got wheezing and her legs are to the side and she can’t walk. She’s eating/drinking but beak is getting weird looking and top one is curling a bit. I want to cry.

 

[coach723]

Can you post some pictures, how the legs are, the beak, etc?
How long has she been like this?
Knowing nothing else, first thing I would do is vitamins. Deficiencies can cause weird neuromuscular symptoms. A 400iu capsule of E daily with some canned tuna, sunflower seeds or cooked egg for some selenium (helps with the uptake of the E) and a super B complex vitamin tablet or capsule daily (human ones, any pharmacy or Walmart should have them). See if those give any improvement.
Polish are susceptible to head injuries due to the vaulted skull also, and can get water on the brain and Marek's disease, those are possibilities.

 

[Darsminizoo]

Can you post some pictures, how the legs are, the beak, etc?
How long has she been like this?
Knowing nothing else, first thing I would do is vitamins. Deficiencies can cause weird neuromuscular symptoms. A 400iu capsule of E daily with some canned tuna, sunflower seeds or cooked egg for some selenium (helps with the uptake of the E) and a super B complex vitamin tablet or capsule daily (human ones, any pharmacy or Walmart should have them). See if those give any improvement.
Polish are susceptible to head injuries due to the vaulted skull also, and can get water on the brain and Marek's disease, those are possibilities.

Hi! Thanks for responding! I’ve been treating for wry neck and with the vitamin E and selenium paste and Nutradrench but nothing is working. I forgot to add her toes are curled and I’ve been giving B vitamins too. Ugh

 

[Darsminizoo]

Hi! Thanks for responding! I’ve been treating for wry neck and with the vitamin E and selenium paste and Nutradrench but nothing is working. I forgot to add her toes are curled and I’ve been giving B vitamins too. Ugh

She’s been like this for about 4 weeks. I’ll take some photos too

 

[coach723]

Is it possible she got a head injury? Pecked by another bird? If it's water on the brain then an antibiotic and anti inflammatory would be the treatment and you will need a vet to help determine the best medications for that.
More here:
https://poultrykeeper.com/keeping-chickens/diseases-common-to-polands/

 

[Darsminizoo]

Can you post some pictures, how the legs are, the beak, etc?
How long has she been like this?
Knowing nothing else, first thing I would do is vitamins. Deficiencies can cause weird neuromuscular symptoms. A 400iu capsule of E daily with some canned tuna, sunflower seeds or cooked egg for some selenium (helps with the uptake of the E) and a super B complex vitamin tablet or capsule daily (human ones, any pharmacy or Walmart should have them). See if those give any improvement.
Polish are susceptible to head injuries due to the vaulted skull also, and can get water on the brain and Marek's disease, those are possibilities.

Is it possible she got a head injury? Pecked by another bird? If it's water on the brain then an antibiotic and anti inflammatory would be the treatment and you will need a vet to help determine the best medications for that.
More here:
https://poultrykeeper.com/keeping-chickens/diseases-common-to-polands/

It is possible but only from another chick not any of my adult birds as they are not housed together.

 

[coach723]

The beak looks slightly overgrown, so filing down the tip may help. I think that is probably separate and unrelated to the rest of the issues. I think your best option here would be a qualified avian vet. I have never had polish or had to treat for water on the brain, so don't have recommendations for correct or possibly effective medications. Since it's been going on for 4 weeks with no improvement at all from vitamin therapy, that is what I would do next. Not sure who on this forum is personally experienced with polish and might be able to help. You might start a thread with that in the title to see if you get a response with help on that front. She's young for Marek's to show up and water on the brain is often mistaken for Marek's, but it's not impossible.
I will tag a couple of other members who may be able to help or may know of another that has experience with this particular issue in polish chickens.
@Wyorp Rock , @Eggcessive

 

[Darsminizoo]

The beak looks slightly overgrown, so filing down the tip may help. I think that is probably separate and unrelated to the rest of the issues. I think your best option here would be a qualified avian vet. I have never had polish or had to treat for water on the brain, so don't have recommendations for correct or possibly effective medications. Since it's been going on for 4 weeks with no improvement at all from vitamin therapy, that is what I would do next. Not sure who on this forum is personally experienced with polish and might be able to help. You might start a thread with that in the title to see if you get a response with help on that front. She's young for Marek's to show up and water on the brain is often mistaken for Marek's, but it's not impossible.
I will tag a couple of other members who may be able to help or may know of another that has experience with this particular issue in polish chickens.
@Wyorp Rock , @Eggcessive

Thank you so much! I appreciate your suggestions and help

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How much paste are you giving daily?
It may be better to go to Walmart, CVS, etc. and get a bottle of 400IU Vitamin E and give her 1 softgel daily along with the B-Complex (you are giving B-Complex not just B-12 right?)
With those pastes, usually you will have to give quite a bit to equal 400IU and then you risk giving too much selenium. A little egg, tuna or sunflower seeds daily are sufficient for selenium.

At 11 weeks, I would suspect Marek's disease, but possibly it's from injury.

A vet may be able to access her better.

Quality of life needs to be considered, to me 4 weeks if quite a while, but sometimes it can take time for conditions to improve.
If you lose her, then sending the body for necropsy will give you some answers.

 

[Darsminizoo]

How much paste are you giving daily?
It may be better to go to Walmart, CVS, etc. and get a bottle of 400IU Vitamin E and give her 1 softgel daily along with the B-Complex (you are giving B-Complex not just B-12 right?)
With those pastes, usually you will have to give quite a bit to equal 400IU and then you risk giving too much selenium. A little egg, tuna or sunflower seeds daily are sufficient for selenium.

At 11 weeks, I would suspect Marek's disease, but possibly it's from injury.

A vet may be able to access her better.

Quality of life needs to be considered, to me 4 weeks if quite a while, but sometimes it can take time for conditions to improve.
If you lose her, then sending the body for necropsy will give you some answers.

Hi! Thank you for replying. I am giving her a pea size portion 4 to 4 times a day along with vitamin B complex. I have human 400IU E that I initially gave her and I can go back to that. I tried tuna and she refused. I can definitely try egg as well. She’s still eating and drinking so I’m not quite ready to give up on her but she started sounded wheey/raspy a few days ago so I bought Denegard from Amazon today.
Yes, I will send body for testing if she doesn’t make it. I got her from a hatchery so I was hoping for a good outcome. She hasn’t been near any adult hens. I have three older chickens that are about 2-3 years old and I’ve never had these issues before. Polish are so difficult.
Thank you again