What is wrong with my chicken?

[HollyJenk17]

Hi there,

I have a dark brahma, about 20 weeks old, that is displaying some very bad signs of illness.
I’ve done my online research of what I think it is.... but would love to hear from some of y’all and your opinions.

Here is what’s going on;
She is unable to walk, she is sitting on her legs. Her feet do not clutch anymore, like when I put her on the roost, she can’t grab ahold. She is using her legs and wings to crawl. She is able to move her Legs, I saw her scratch her head with them, but they seem almost paralyzed right now.
She is having very small green droppings which are sticking to her since she is not standing up to go.
She has one eye closed and one open. She can open both. They both look normal. Pupils and color are normal when she does open them.
She is dropping her head like a tired child does when falling asleep. It falls and she picks it back up again.
She is drinking a little, but today did not eat very much, if any food.

help! She is the best. Every night I sit on the front steps and she jumps in my lap before I put her to bed. I’ll be very sad to see her go, but at this point I am preparing for it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry about your Pullet.
What do you feed including treats?
Do you know if she was vaccinated for Marek's?

The symptoms you describe - she may be suffering from Marek's disease, but without testing, it would be hard to know.

Here's a good article about Marek's:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[HollyJenk17]

I'm sorry about your Pullet.
What do you feed including treats?
Do you know if she was vaccinated for Marek's?

The symptoms you describe - she may be suffering from Marek's disease, but without testing, it would be hard to know.

Here's a good article about Marek's:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Thanks for your reply.
treats have included eggs, Fish, and mealworms.

I thought it was Mareks as well, but wasn’t sure since her legs aren’t completely paralyzed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for your reply.
treats have included eggs, Fish, and mealworms.

I thought it was Mareks as well, but wasn’t sure since her legs aren’t completely paralyzed.

Marek's symptoms can vary from partial to complete paralysis - my understanding it's very frustrating. Sometimes birds can miraculously "recover" or "get better" only to relapse at a later time or during times of stress.

Not saying that she does have Marek's, but I would consider it at her age.

You can try vitamin B-Complex as a therapy to see if that helps - 1/4 tablet a day. See that she's eating a nutritionally balanced feed for the majority of her intake. If she's not in lay, then chick starter or an all flock type feed would be good to give.

If possible, getting a fecal float will rule out worms and Coccidiosis as a contributing cause.

Also think about if she ate anything moldy, spoiled, rancid, rotten or toxic (weed killer, spilled oil/antifreeze, fertilizer, etc.).