# Sick chicken? Not walking and sitting back on her elbows



## Larkmeadoes

I've got a chicken who's acting like she's sick. A couple of months ago she hatched a batch of eggs and has been fine since. She's always been a very healthy bird and had never acted sick in any way. However, i recently noticed that she wasn't walking around as much and she's started to kind of lay back on her elbows with her feet stretched out in front of her. She also now can't stand up very well and has a hard time keeping her balance. Oh and the other thing is that she's acting almost like their's something stuck in her throat but it feels normal and doesn't seem like something is stuck

Does anyone know what this might be and what i could do to help her?


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## toth boer goats

Find a vet who will look at her.


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## Tanya

Paralising disease. Take her to the vet. You are going yo have to quarentine her. It could well be contagious. It has a biological name I cant think of. It comes from other birds. There most likely wont be a cure.


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## Larkmeadoes

Sadly the only vet around who will look at chickens is currently out of town. We're planning on bringing her as soon as they get back but it won't be for a few more days and the only other vet near us refuses to even look at chickens.


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## CCCSAW

I've had so many go down similar to what your describing. It can literally be anything and might not be contagious at all, but it would be best to separate her from the flock. I have honestly never (except recently due to smoke) had more then 1 go out ill in any sort of close time frame. Unfortunately in a lot of cases by the time they get to the point you are describing thier time is very limited as they have already not been eating and drinking enough. The choking you describing sound like gripe worms, I'm not sure if the spelling is correct but they live in the crop and esophagus and can start to choke the chicken if there are to many. Unfortunately I have only brought back very few from being as weak as your is as they are worse then goats about hiding all aliments until it's to late. I would certainly get fecals on a few to check. And in the mean time you can give her vitamin b complex, or even rooster booster or save a chick in her water and soft foods scrambled eggs are a great food for ill chickens.

Oh also smell her breath... and fell her crop. If its stinky and full it could be sour crop, if it's full but not stinky with hold food over night and make sure it goes down, if not then possibly impacted. At this point it might not be full at all due to not eating. 

Also what color is her comb? And is it bright or dull?

Personally, with out a very i would treat with warmer, vitamins and scrambled eggs or wet feed, and possibly heat, either heat light or heating pad. But i don't help a sick chicken beyond that. If any others do get sick you need to have a vet check


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## MellonFriend

Merricks disease is the thing I think @Tanya is thinking of.

Our flock has it. We had a rooster go down and become paralyzed from it. The only thing you could try like cccsaw said, is b vitamins. Rooster booster is full of them. Save a chick is good too.

The gulping/choking thing has happened in our flock too with Merricks. Seperating her would be a good idea, but know that it is VERY contagious. It will travel on your cloths, shoes, and even in the wind. Some chickens are carriers and never show signs, but if it is Merricks it is most likely going to be in your flock until you can breed for resistance. That's what we have done and only after two generations we have seen great improvement.

If you have the ability, if she doesn't make it or you decide to put her down, something you could do would be to do a post mortem. Often times Merricks can be confirmed by odd noddules and cysts inside the chickens body cavity and organs.

I wish you good luck.


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## Tanya

I list my girl to Merricks. Its really sad to watch. We put her down. There is a cure but only if you treat on first day of signs. Consider if you are going to wait it may be too late


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## Larkmeadoes

She's been separated since we noticed it and is so far very perky and attentive. Aside from not being able to walk, she appears healthy. 

Her comb is bright red. When i say she's acting like there's something stuck in her throat, I mean that she kind of stretches it out after she drinks and eats. Almost like she's trying to force it down. Does anyone know if having something stuck in her throat could make it so she can't stand? The reason i ask is because just a few days before this started, she got into our goat pellets and i suspect that they could have been to big for her. However i'm not sure if this is what's wrong and, if it is, why she can't stand.


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## MellonFriend

Something you could try which worked for a hen I had is you could try to make her throw up. I can't exactly remember how it's done, you might want to google the details, but it has something to do with tipping her forward a certain way to empty her crop. 

The rooster we had this happen to was a very beloved chicken by my younger sisters and he lived out the rest of his days in a small chicken tractor and was hand fed and watered at scheduled times during the day. He got steadily worse until he could not even sit his own head up, but they did give him every chance at life they could. Eventually we did put him down when it became apparent that it was time, but that doesn't mean he didn't live quite a long time after the outset of his symptoms.


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## CCCSAW

she could be impacted from the feed but that would cuase the weakness, unless possibly of the goat feed is medicated. If her crop is impacted or would feel full all the time even if she hasn't eaten.


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## MidnightRavenFarm

Is she possibly egg bound?


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## twilightGG

when my chickens do this it usually means that they have sour crop or worms, if we don't catch sour crop fast they usually die. this can be caused by them, like, eating something they can't digest like glass, or they could just not be digesting. if their not digesting you can give them apple cider vinegar and shredded garlic in their water if they have glass stuck in them then sometimes their body will work it out but usually you'll find them dead somewhere and it might be best to butcher them, unless they are a pet then you'll have to take them to a vet. For worms you should deworm ALL of you're animals, either naturally with apple cider vinegar, pumpkin, watermelon, and garlic, or with a dewormer from the store.


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## twilightGG

but also it may be something more serious and i don't really have a tone of experience with anything like that I'm fairly new at this I've only been doing this for like three and a halfish years


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## toth boer goats

How are things?


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## twilightGG

?


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## MidnightRavenFarm

When a chicken is egg bound they will have weird posture, have trouble walking and do this thing with their mouth that looks like they are trying to squawk but no sound comes out. Do you notice a hard swollen area near her lower belly? Sometimes if they are egg bound they will also stop pooping


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## Larkmeadoes

Sorry for being so inactive on here. So far she's doing great! She's eating and drinking pretty much by herself. She's eating scrambled egg mixed with yogurt and oatmeal and she's drinking garlic water. She can't fully stand but she's using her legs more and is able to kind of sit up. 

It could be that she's egg bound but i don't feel any eggs stuck so i'm not sure. 

She's pooping regularly now and it looks like normal chicken poo just runny. 

I do suspect that it had something to do with a blockage in her throat. I noticed that what i thought was just a bone has disappeared and it isn't as hard anymore there. Still not sure if that caused the issue with her legs. 

Thank you all for you help and suggestions. Hopefully she's on the road to recovery


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## CaramelKittey

If she was egg bound, I don’t believe she would be able to poop normally, so if she is pooping fine it sounds like she isn’t egg bound. 
How are her eyes? If her eyes are normal, it probably means it isn’t Mereck’s but not all Mereck’s cases have glazed eyes, or gray pupils.


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## CaramelKittey

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/canker 
So glad she is feeling better! Did it resemble this at all?


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## Larkmeadoes

CaramelKittey said:


> If she was egg bound, I don't believe she would be able to poop normally, so if she is pooping fine it sounds like she isn't egg bound.
> How are her eyes? If her eyes are normal, it probably means it isn't Mereck's but not all Mereck's cases have glazed eyes, or gray pupils.





CaramelKittey said:


> http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/canker
> So glad she is feeling better! Did it resemble this at all?


Her eyes look normal to me. If it was Mereck's i figured she would be dead by now but maybe not (it started over a week ago)

It could be that. I didn't see any issues in her mouth at first, however, after comparing her mouth to another chicken's, i realized it looked almost like her throat was swollen. It was like the space around the entrance to her trachea was much smaller than the other bird's


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## Larkmeadoes

Just a quick update for anyone who's curious. 
She's doing great now. She can stand and walk out of her box and back. She's still a bit wobbly but much better than before. We're still giving her extra vitamins as well as yogurt, scrambled eggs and oatmeal. She's talking a lot and is very attentive. And, just today, she laid her first egg since she hatched her chicks in July. Hopefully this means she's on the road to recovery.


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## toth boer goats

Good to hear.


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## Kass

Question cause I'm curious 
Did her legs have any discoloring (red or black) or bumps?


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## luvmyherd

I just read this and am happy she is recovering.
Sadly, in my experience; a sick chicken usually is a dead chicken.
You did very well by her and deserve a pat on the back.


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## toth boer goats

:nod::up:


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## Larkmeadoes

Kass said:


> Question cause I'm curious
> Did her legs have any discoloring (red or black) or bumps?


Nope, legs look normal to me. I'm assuming it was some kind of vitamin deficiency but who knows


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## Larkmeadoes

toth boer goats said:


> Good to hear.





luvmyherd said:


> I just read this and am happy she is recovering.
> Sadly, in my experience; a sick chicken usually is a dead chicken.
> You did very well by her and deserve a pat on the back.





toth boer goats said:


> :nod::up:


Thank you! Normally i would try to help a sick chicken a bit but i don't think i would usually put in as much effort as i have into this one. She's a bit of a special girl so i'm very glad she's doing so well.


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## toth boer goats

(thumbup)


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