Does my rooster have Mareks disease? *Update*

I'm so worried about my 27 week old BLR Wyandotte rooster . He is very sick and I'm not sure what he has. He's been showing signs of illness for two weeks now. He shares a large run with 9 hens.
SYMPTOMS: He walks funny, straight legged marching like. He cant seem to hold his eyes open and when he walks he seems like he is almost blind....bumping into things...hestitates jumping down from roost, etc.
He is eating and drinking like normal but stretches his neck with his mouth wide open a lot. And he takes a lot of naps all day long. He even stands and walks with his eyes closed. Very unbalanced. He's getting worse everyday. Now him and several hens are showing signs of a cold.
At first I thought it was botulism because I found some hidden old veggies under the coop. But everything I read said within 36 hours the chicken would be better or dead. Its been weeks now and he is still alive but not getting better.
Unfortunately I just removed him from the rest of the flock 3 days ago because my DH didn't tell me the rooster was sick. I have been so busy with other duties i didnt have a chance to visit my flock for sevaral weeks. DH thought the rooster was just being lazy. ( DH can be so clueless sometimes!) So now what ever he has has had a very good chance of infecting the girls.

I need help figuring out what he has got. Any suggestions?

Debra

sad! I wish I new whats wrong ! can he eat like canteloupe ? I ve heard something about blindness in chickens, but need too find that thread, Hope some one else will help !

Without getting blood/tissue samples analyzed, it could be any number of things.

I'm having a difficult time finding a vet that works with chickens here in central Virginia. Its so frustrating. Any suggestions on how to find one? I never thought it would be a problem here in farm country. Lol

Debra

Probably just need to find an avian vet. They should be able to help you.

Even if they aren't as "up" on chicken medicine as compared to other birds, there are resources out there like VIN (Veterinary Information Network) that they can access to help them with the finer points of chicken medicine. But if they treat birds, they should be able to draw blood on a chicken. Your state probably has a veterinary diagnostic lab run by the state where the vet can also get help and that is probably where they would have to send any blood work or tissue samples anyway.

My hubby is a vet and has been fine learning chicken medicine on the fly - vets just have to know how to utilize resources and not have a fit about treating a chicken.

There are different online veterinary directories you can try like localvets.com. And doing an internet search for an avian vet could also get you someone in your area. If they don't specifically say avian, you can try a vet that sees "exotics". And most vets know who the avian vets are in their area because they don't want to see birds and are more than happy passing bird clients on to someone else. You just have to ask the staff to get a recommendation from the vet because often the staff don't even think to give a phone caller a referral to someone that could help if their clinic can't.

You can also call the vet school in Virginia and/or the VA veterinary medical association. These entities often keep lists of specialty vets or they know someone that knows someone.

There isn't much call for poultry medicine - most people won't pay for it - so there is not a lot of vet schools that have much in the way of poultry medicine classes. Which is why you are having difficulty finding someone.

I'll start making calls Monday! In the meantime does anyone have any suggestions on how I should treat Roscoe (that's his name) while I look for a vet?

Additional info: right before Roscoe became ill, I had two hens that got sick with lethargy, unable to stand for more than a few minutes before falling over sideways, and dark green running poop. I separated them, gave them scrambled eggs to get them to eat, and treated their water with sulmet. They were 100% better in 3-4 days. I wasn't sure what they had but then I found their stash of rotten veggies under the coop, I'm
thinking maybe botulism. That's why I was wondering if my rooster may have that....but he's not showing signs of improvement and it's been a few weeks.

I hate to lose him. He's so sweet and he's my only rooster.

Debra

Update*** I brought Roscoe in to the house and have been watching him. He's having a hard time with his balance. He also has a very runny nose, sneezing and sounds very horse. He's eyes are very watery....so watery there are a lot of bubbles covering his eyes. No sign of grey eyes so that's good.

I put Tylan 50 in his water. Is there anything else I should do for him?

I also put the Tylan in the run waterers because all the hens are sneezing too.

Those symptoms could be caused viruses, which antibiotics do not work for, or by bacteria. There really is no way for you to be able to tell.

You'll need to make sure that if you choose to give antibiotics, that you follow instructions, including withdrawal time for eggs/meat that you may eat from the chickens. Some antibiotics are not recommended to be given for birds over 4 months old because their ability to clear the body has not been established, since commercial flocks are slaughtered early and if birds in a commercial egg laying flock get sick, they simply slaughter them all and start fresh rather than worry about sick chickens.

Sounds like a.respiratory illness with other complications. I would get him on Tylan 50 injectable for cattle that you can get at many feed places. ..here at COMpany. 1/2 cc injected under the skin twice daily for 3 days for standard breeds.

I was a Vet Tech years ago but only worked on typical family pets. I never worked with birds. Giving an injection makes me a little nervous because I know how delicate they are but I can do a just under the skin injection....where is the best place to give it? On the breast? Is there any main veins I should be aware of on the breast area? I'm thinking no, but like I said, I never worked on birds before...

Debra