Treating Marek's/viruses with BHT (Butylated hydroxytoluene)

Hi all,

I've got a chicken who I suspect is affected by Marek's. Would it be worth treating her wit BHT, which has been shown to help with Newcastle virus, and has been highly effective in destroying the lipid coating of the herpes virus in humans.

Her symptoms are limping/hopping, appears to be blind her left side. She's eating and drinking and pooing fairly normally, but not moving much and when she does, she steps on her left foot because I assume she has no feeling. She seems to have some feeling still in the upper leg because she knows to put pressure on that side.

Research into chicken use here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7369612

So I'd like to know what the appropriate dose of BHT for chickens would be? I've got some 180mg (with 80mg of vit c) capsules here I can weigh out into a smaller dose, just not sure what that should be?

I'm already dosing the chicken with 3mg of famciclovir as suggested elsewhere. Also Lysine and B vitamins.

Thanks for your help!

I am extremely interested to hear responses to this, as I also have a chicken I'm trying to nurse back from Mareks. I've never heard of BHT - where can you get it and do you need a prescription?

I'll be watching replies on this for more info too, and dosing! Thank you!

No prescription. It's a food preservative, but there has been some controversy, but also a lot of relief for people suffering from various viral infections. http://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/BHT.html

I bought it from iHerb years ago, it seems to go in and out of stock, my one is quite old as I don't take it that often so I'm hoping it's still effective. http://www.iherb.com/Life-Enhanceme...s=1&disc=0&lc=en-US&w=bht&rc=155&sr=null&ic=1

You can also get it on ebay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xbht.TRS0&_nkw=bht&_sacat=0

I gave some to the sick chook yesterday, and didn't seem to cause her any issues, she seemed quite talkative this morning actually. Still not moving with the rest of the flock though. Day 3 of famciclovir, day 2 of BHT.

I also sprinkled a tiny bit from one of the capsules in some mince meat today and all 5 chickens seemed to eat it up. I've got another chook who seemed to have poor vision in one eye so if this is marek's or another viral issue hopefully this will prevent any deterioration in the more vulnerable ones. At the very least I should have herpes free chooks lol!

EDIT: She's actually much more active than I thought I brought her near to the other chooks and she was determined to get closer to them, she's still hopping a bit but she's putting a lot more pressure on the other leg. Compared to yesterday when she couldn't be bothered to move at all I see this as a little improvement

jharrs said:

No prescription. It's a food preservative, but there has been some controversy, but also a lot of relief for people suffering from various viral infections. http://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/BHT.html

I bought it from iHerb years ago, it seems to go in and out of stock, my one is quite old as I don't take it that often so I'm hoping it's still effective. http://www.iherb.com/Life-Enhanceme...s=1&disc=0&lc=en-US&w=bht&rc=155&sr=null&ic=1

You can also get it on ebay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xbht.TRS0&_nkw=bht&_sacat=0

I gave some to the sick chook yesterday, and didn't seem to cause her any issues, she seemed quite talkative this morning actually. Still not moving with the rest of the flock though. Day 3 of famciclovir, day 2 of BHT.

I also sprinkled a tiny bit from one of the capsules in some mince meat today and all 5 chickens seemed to eat it up. I've got another chook who seemed to have poor vision in one eye so if this is marek's or another viral issue hopefully this will prevent any deterioration in the more vulnerable ones. At the very least I should have herpes free chooks lol!

EDIT: She's actually much more active than I thought I brought her near to the other chooks and she was determined to get closer to them, she's still hopping a bit but she's putting a lot more pressure on the other leg. Compared to yesterday when she couldn't be bothered to move at all I see this as a little improvement

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this info! I just ordered it and chose overnight shipping, so I'll start this tomorrow! How much are you giving your sick chicken right now? Any improvement yet?

Thanks!

CuteChick369 said:

Thank you so much for this info! I just ordered it and chose overnight shipping, so I'll start this tomorrow! How much are you giving your sick chicken right now? Any improvement yet?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I would approach BHT sparingly. I sprinkled a few granules on a small amount of meat and fed it to the chicken. Apparently it can be cumulative in the fat tissues, so I wouldn't treat the chicken for too long. I viewed this as a situation where I've got nothing to lose, so make sure you feel the same way.

Now, for the news she has bounced back, but the limp looks like it's turning into bumblefoot. The viral treatment has seemed to have given her a huge boost in energy though. The first few days I was nursing her, she just couldn't move. Now she's squawking like crazy at me, and last night she joined the flock, feeding with them and even jumped in the pen. Still she doesn't put much pressure on the foot but she's way more active than when this all started.

I've now changed the treatment to iodine, mangesium sulphate and GSE externally.

I have to wonder if bumblefoot strikes them so visciously or if she did have a viral infection as well.

Good luck!

Thank you jhars! I'm so glad to hear your hen is looking better! Does she have the round black scab on her foot that is typical of bumblefoot? I had a hen who got bumblefoot a few times and I had our vet remove it each time. But, she never missed a beat. She didn't even limp. But each time he removed it, there was a LOT of infection under the scab.

My rooster, Fletcher, did much worse yesterday. He couldn't sit outside at all, because he just couldn't balance. His right wing started to drop too, so I'm really thinking I may not cure him. Thanks for the dosing info - I gave him about half the capsule yesterday so that was maybe too much. I'll skip today's and just give him a few sprinkles tomorrow.

Last night, he slept very well though and today he's sitting on my office floor without much problem right now! Improvement over yesterday! He's been talking to me all morning too! It's raining outside or I would be bringing him out to sit in the grass. His wing is still drooping.

I have many doubts he has Mareks, most notably...NO ONE ELSE has any symptoms. He came from a home with 70 chickens, of all ages, and he has many siblings and no one else is sick. But, it's pretty clear it's a neurological issue, and the vet is convinced it's Mareks. I'm continuing B2, Selenium, Magnesium, Nutri Drench, and I've added the BHT now. The vet gave me Metacam to make him more comfortable. At night we are putting electrodes on his feet (we are keeping it at a comfortable level...he sleeps through it). Viruses can't survive electricity, so we thought we'd give it a try. The only problem is that I'd like to put the electrode on his sciatic nerve, but we can't make that work. So, we are clipping them to his feet. Trying anything!

Thanks for your help and if you ever find out what's wrong with your hen, I'd love to know! I hope she continues to improve!

I'm sorry to hear your rooster's in a bad way. You might also try the famciclovir - it's over the counter. You might want to continue the bht but in the tiniest doses (like a pinch) twice a day or more so if the virus is present, it's deactivated more often.

Whatever my chook came down with, she started out really badly, like I could pluck her right out of the garden, because she was immobile and not very chatty. While I was treating her she didn't seem to see on one side and she kept waving her left foot like she was trying to find the ground, over and over. As I progressed the treatment over a few days, it still seemed her foot lacked coordination or feeling but looked normal. Then in the last day or so, the joint seemed to swelll a bit on the top of the left foot (other side of the pad). So I don't know really.

Perhaps she was sedated by all the treatment, but I've definitely seen an improvement, even today she's got a lot more pressure on the foot and running around. No sign of any scabs still but the top of the foot was looking slightly yellow underneath when I looked yesterday. I'm continuing the b vitamins in meat treatment, but stopped everything else for a while.

Keep me posted!

Also re: electrodes, that's a special vet you've got!! My dad used to make his own zappers, fun times!

I had a 5 yr old ISA brown recently come down with some crazy neurological thing. She couldn't walk in a straight line, I think blind in one eye. Her head kept moving like when you spin around in a chair too many times then stop, completely dizzy. I didn't quarantine, so I need to make sure this new batch are in good health. Plus they're silly little houdans that melt your heart!

Here's a photo when I got them

jhars, I love the picture of them taking over your bathroom! Like a bunch of teenagers!

My vet didn't do much at all. He is very sure it's Mareks and that we should just keep him comfortable, and when things get too bad to put him to sleep. My husband bought the electrodes for something he was doing. He cured his cold sores with them. So, we are trying those on our own. I have no idea if we are doing it right, or if the electricity is getting to the virus, or if it would reduce the lesions. But, it's not hurting him so it would be cool if it worked! But, I personally am so doubtful this is Mareks. I don't agree with the vet on the diagnosis simply because no one else is sick! But, I'm going to treat for everything I can think of. We have nothing to lose, and if Fletcher gets so bad he's not happy, we'll put him to sleep. He's fighting though, so I am too!

Thanks for the suggestion of famciclovir. I have to ask my husband what the vet said....he said there is an upper herpes virus and a lower herpes virus. (I think that's what he called it) Cold sores are the upper and genital herpers are the lower. Mareks is one of them, but I don't remember which one.

Today so far Fletcher is doing well again. He has little control over either leg, but this morning he's been able to pull his legs up under him into a more proper position. He's in a cat bed, with no swaddling at all, and balancing pretty well. He has one foot slightly extended to help with balance. But two days ago he couldn't balance on the floor at all, and if I let go of him he'd do the splits and fall over He had to be swaddled in a towel and propped up with towels in a plastic tote. He sat on my desk all day like this. So, I'm really happy he is sitting on his own today. If it ever stops raining I'll bring him out into the grass.

What ended up happening with your ISA brown? Did she recover from her symptoms?

For your little hen who's recovering now - I know metacam (prescription) is an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. It might help with her leg and foot. I wonder if she does have a foot infection if it's yellow on the top. I've seen bumblefoot come through on the top, but I've always seen the tell tale round scab at the bottom of the foot too. You could soak her foot in Epsom salt, and apply an anti-biotic (without pain reliever in it). Maybe that would help?

I hope she continues to improve...and Fletcher too!!