Is this Clostridium Perfringens?

Hi, I have a 14 week old Barred Plymouth rock that hasn't been able to properly walk since Friday(4 days ago). I thought it was a Vitamin B deficiency because her toes weren't curling when I bent the leg at the hock, and once I started giving her b complex, they began curling again. The one issue is this poop she's been having since a day after I gave her the b complex, 3 days ago. I thought it was just because of the Vitamin B complex, since I heard it can cause weird poop, but something just didn't feel right. Its watery, green, and smells very odd, but not terrible? Just strange. It seems like a familiar smell, but I can't pinpoint where I've smelled it before. She's been panting a lot since Sunday, but I thought it was because of the stress of having trouble walking. When I'd take her out of her pen to sit on my lap and try calming her down, she'd stop panting and eat, drink, and relax, it only seems to happen after she tries to move and realizes she can't properly walk, and stumbles. She's still eating and drinking normally, and in equal amounts of each. She has been sleeping often, but she doesn't seem lethargic. She's alert and bright eyed, and if anyone walks up to her pen too quickly she will try to get up and move.



This is my original thread, when I thought it was just a foot problem:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...et-limping-please-help.1409114/#post-23145077

Should I be concerned? Or am I just fussing too much over her?

StarCanyonChicks said:

Should I be concerned?

Click to expand...

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

Sorry you are facing this.

Where did she come from, how long have you had her, was she vaccinated against Marek's, what are you feeding on a regular basis including treats and supplements before symptoms started?

Are you able to get a fecal float done by the vet to check parasite load and maybe the bacteria you are asking about?

Stop the baby aspirin.. her symptoms appear neurological and not pain related.. you may be masking other symptoms.

According to your other thread that I just read..

"I took all three of them off of their medicated feed and to a normal grower feed, with all the vitamins they need to grow. Taught me my lesson on what Vitamins and ingredients to look for when buying feed, as well as paying more attention for nutrient issues in my heavier breeds."

Your issue is NOT nutritional unless you were feeding excess treats.. and the medicated feed should have ALL the nutrients needed for chicks.. the medicated part just mimics thiamine to slow the growth of coccidia. Even though many nutrients aren't required to be listed on the guaranteed analysis doesn't mean they aren't in the bag. It often means we don't know what they are calling it on the ingredients list. Most often, starter feed should have higher nutrient values than "grower". So the clues simply aren't adding up.. unless I missed something

If you feel no swelling or extra heat in the legs.. indicating an injury or infection.. according to the state poultry vet at UC Davis.. Marek's is in EVERY poultry environment.. some strains are more virulent then others.
Marek's Virus FAQ

Many other things can look like Marek's.. leukosis, equine encephalitis, etc. A necropsy is the only way to know for sure.

Two great resources, with accurate information..
https://aaap.memberclicks.net/avian-disease-manual-past-edition-

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry

Some folks make a chicken sling for their birds..


The change in dropping might partly be contributed to the change in feed.

Has she shown any improvement since you started treating? Even if it is Marek's birds can spontaneously recover depending on the strain.

Hope you get some answers and your pretty lady recovers quickly!

However if you're in the US and decide you want to know the truth, here are links to help get a necropsy should she pass or be euthanized (since not scratching is not living like a chicken).. It's often free or affordable to back yard keepers as a means of protecting our national food supply chain.. Please consider adding your general location to your profile as it can help folks make their best suggestions possible at a glance...

State poultry labs

How to Send a Bird for a Necropsy

Thanks for replying so quickly. Unfortunately, it turned out to be Marek's. I took her into the avian vet near me yesterday, and they confirmed it. Apparently they had also gotten 2 other cases of Marek's just in this week alone coming from the exact same hatchery as where I got mine, Dare2Dream Farms in Lompoc, CA. The vet called the hatchery and informed them of what is going on. They do vaccinate their chicks for Marek's, but I guess they are having an issue or not properly quarantining their chicks in the 2 week period for the vaccinations to take effect, and even then I've heard the vaccination isn't 100% effective. This disease is truly a b*tch. Isabella ended up being one of those unlucky ones. She was euthanized yesterday.

She wasn't showing any signs of recovery, she seemed to only get worse and more stressed out. She became more lethargic and depressed. She had been on the Vitamin B complex for nearly 4 days, and was completely unable to walk or stand, she'd move by flapping her wings and using her neck to move. A part of me feels like I should've waited and tried the Vitamin B complex for longer, but another part of me knew how stressed she was and that considering there had been multiple cases out of that hatchery already, it most likely would only get worse. I don't know...

My other two are showing no signs, and are seemingly healthy. I did a checkup on both of them in case I wasn't seeing something. They seem to be good weights based on their keel bones, but I'll be getting a scale to be more precise with their weights. They also are eating and drinking plenty, and show no unhealthy poo or leg, wings, eyes, or neck issues. Thank goodness for now.

I just finished cleaning out their coop and putting in fresh bedding, as well as picking up all the feathers that had gotten strewn around. Although I heard that once it gets into the soil, its impossible to get rid of, and it carries in the wind and spreads. Overall, this has really been a tough first go at chicken keeping.

I don't think this will sway me from keeping chickens in the future, though. Even if this was very painful to deal with, I love keeping chickens too much, and I want to try and keep chickens my whole life if I can. Just taught me a lot about how wicked avian diseases can be.

Also, I didn't specify this in my post right, so sorry for the confusion, but both the medicated and non-medicated feeds are starter-growers. They were having a small slice of watermelon every other day the previous week because it was getting in the hundreds here, and a blueberry mint ice treat once. Other than that, its been only a few meal worms, maybe once or twice a month. I didn't start giving them treats until they were about 9 weeks old, and it was only meal worms at that age.

But this wasn't a nutritional issue, so those facts probably don't matter much.