Is it marecks disease??

My beautiful black hen has not been herself lately. She hasn't been eatin a whole lot and noticed today that she is very unsteady on her feet. I looked her over and there are no signs of injury. I've isolated her from my other hens and bleached and cleaned the entire coop. Has anyone had a hen with marecks live? Are my other girls doomed if it is marecks? She is still eating but doesn't seem to be drinking and is a little lethargic. Help. Is there anything to do to help her??

yes. You need to get her eating and drinking first of all. If she won't drink, you could try moistening her feed and adding a little applesauce or yogurt to tempt her. Or oatmeal. Grapes...chop them up, they're juicy. hens with Marek's or neuro diseases can live. But first evaluate her for a day or so and see what other symptoms she has. There are pages of information on BYC about Hypericum and how it can cure Marek's. It worked for one of our hens, it was a miracle. Lots of people say that. If she quits eating and drinking altogether, you will need to tube feed her..it's not difficult, but I don't like to do it, I think it's hard on the hen as far as stress. But they gotta eat and drink to live. A lot.
Search Hypericum on here and you can decide if you should try it. But the unsteadiness could be from a lot of things, so that's why I say evaluate her.

I wouldn't isolate her from the others unless they are harming her. She could stay in a dog crate in her coop with her mates for company. I would first try to determine what is wrong with her. If it is Mareks, everyone else has long been exposed through the dander. It's everywhere that your chickens have been. She could be unsteady just because she is weak from another illness. Botulism and other diseases can also cause lameness. Has she possibly been in an area where she could have eaten remains of an animal or fish, or rotted vegetation? Read all you can about Mareks so that you can determine for sure what you are dealing with. Here are a couple of links: http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/search/disease/502
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism

If she lives through this can I ever integrate her back into my flock? If it is marecks will she always be contagious?

LorenMcHugh said:

If she lives through this can I ever integrate her back into my flock? If it is marecks will she always be contagious?

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This is why I suggested to cage her inside the coop to keep her with others. If she has Mareks, which I hope it is not, they are all exposed already, so there is no point in isolating her. That is the reason to read up on Mareks, so that you may know what to expect. She may not fit the right symptoms. If she has Mareks, there may be others who exhibit symptoms. If you get other chickens in the future, they should always be vaccinated for Mareks if you find that is what this is. It will stay in your coop or wherever the chickens have been for at least 7 years and maybe forever. If this chicken dies, I would recommend getting a necropsy on her refrigerated (not frozen) body by the state vet to rule out Mareks. Here is a link for contacting your state vet: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/participants.shtml

Thanks for the info. All of the marecks info I'm reading pretty much all says the same stuff. She is the same. Eating some. Not drinking when I'm around. Her poop is normal but seems to have a much more foul odor to it. Still walking but very wobbly on her feet. Feathers, eyes and breathing seems normal. Can't really pinpoint what this could be. I may try to dropper feed some water w oil of oregano in it and see if that helps at all. My other girls seem fine for now. I guess time will tell

chicknmania said:

yes. You need to get her eating and drinking first of all. If she won't drink, you could try moistening her feed and adding a little applesauce or yogurt to tempt her. Or oatmeal. Grapes...chop them up, they're juicy. hens with Marek's or neuro diseases can live. But first evaluate her for a day or so and see what other symptoms she has. There are pages of information on BYC about Hypericum and how it can cure Marek's. It worked for one of our hens, it was a miracle. Lots of people say that. If she quits eating and drinking altogether, you will need to tube feed her..it's not difficult, but I don't like to do it, I think it's hard on the hen as far as stress. But they gotta eat and drink to live. A lot.
Search Hypericum on here and you can decide if you should try it. But the unsteadiness could be from a lot of things, so that's why I say evaluate her.

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I mean this kindly, as I don't think you intended to mislead anyone, but I know that people sometimes find these threads and use them for information. So I have to say this...
There is no cure for Marek's. Saying that there is a cure is giving false hope.
Sometimes, if birds suffer only from neurological form of Marek's, the bird can survive, and supplementation can possibly help them recover. Nerve repair is complicated and often slow, and careful supplementation MIGHT help. It does not hurt to try.
But it is NOT a cure.

LorenMcHugh said:

My beautiful black hen has not been herself lately. She hasn't been eatin a whole lot and noticed today that she is very unsteady on her feet. I looked her over and there are no signs of injury. I've isolated her from my other hens and bleached and cleaned the entire coop. Has anyone had a hen with marecks live? Are my other girls doomed if it is marecks? She is still eating but doesn't seem to be drinking and is a little lethargic. Help. Is there anything to do to help her??

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Do you have a postal or kitchen scale? They are not expensive, or you could borrow one. If you can, please weigh her daily and monitor to see if she is losing weight or not.
Birds can only live so long if they are not eating and drinking enough. It might be a good idea to put her in a crate so that you can carefully monitor her consumption. If she does not eat or drink normally soon, you will have to carefully consider your options-- to do nothing will probably result in her 'wasting' away and dying. You can try tube feeding, which is effective, but a bit of a commitment. It can save birds lives, though, if they are to survive any disease they have to have nutrition and hydration.

I don't think that the oil will do much for her unless she is experiencing a blockage. How is her crop?

I have her in my garage so she's away from my other 2 girls. I have only 3 hens including her and a very small coop and pen. I'm maticulous about keeping it clean...don't understand how she got sick. I bought her at about 3 weeks from a livestock auction with 2 others that were killed by a hawk. My other hens I've had since day-old chicks from a hatchery. My older girls never accepted her and picked on her. I'm regretting getting birds from the auction and not the hatchery I normally use. She always seemed healthy till now and she's about 6-7 months. Ughh. I'm gonna totally inspect her again now that I know how to find her crop...learning new stuff about chickens everyday....

My girl has the same problem, but she has a sore eye and is slightly uncoordinated, should I just keep her with the flock as she has been with them for months so I assume that they have already been exposed. Any suggestions on how I can make her more comfortable? My main question now is do I have her put to sleep or leave her be? She seems to be ok in herself at the moment!