Human anti-viral meds for Mareks -- has anyone else tried this?

[Sonya9]

Another positive sign today. The older pullet who has been severely affected, and starved/seizured for days, managed to sit up on her own today.

Small thing but a BIG deal for a bird that has been laying with her legs to the side for 2 weeks; she managed to get both legs under her all by herself.

I have been worried because she is in bad shape, very thin, and I would expect her organs are weak after she was so ill. I keep thinking the meds may cause liver or kidney failure, but she continues to surprise me.

She apparently has a VERY STRONG will to live!

 

[seminolewind]

Hmmm. I have a 6 year old Polish who presented today with paralysis and wing walking. I know she was not on the roost last night. She's plump and happy and eating. She laid an egg today!!! But she's 6, and I just can't figure it out.

 

[Sonya9]

Hmmm. I have a 6 year old Polish who presented today with paralysis and wing walking. I know she was not on the roost last night. She's plump and happy and eating. She laid an egg today!!! But she's 6, and I just can't figure it out.

If she laid an egg she can't be all that stressed. Seems odd that she is laying yet so ill. It must have come on very suddenly.

Can chickens have blood clots or strokes that cause brain damage?

 

[seminolewind]

Good question. It did come on suddenly. Hubby saw her at 8am fine, and at noon she was down unable to walk. The night before she slept in the nest. The egg might have already been created prior to this. I just ordered cold paks. We'll get the necropsy when the time comes.

 

[Sonya9]

Good question. It did come on suddenly. Hubby saw her at 8am fine, and at noon she was down unable to walk. The night before she slept in the nest. The egg might have already been created prior to this. I just ordered cold paks. We'll get the necropsy when the time comes.

Are you asking them to test for Marek's? If so I hope you know exactly what to ask for. I had necropsy done on the first bird here and I wasted $125 in the process, I didn't know what exactly to ask for and since no tumors were spotted the results came back negative.

As I mentioned all of my Marek's related problems started when I got a bird from a local breeder. Yesterday my vet called and asked me to speak with another one of his clients, her bird has been paralyzed for three week's, she told him about it when she brought her dog to the vet (he doesn't treat chickens). He asked where she got it from and it was the same breeder. I told her what I was trying and she picked up some valtrex, it sounds like her currently sick bird is too far gone for it to help however I told her I wanted to have it on hand to stop the onset of symptoms early and she wants to have some on hand for the same reason.

The breeder has since sold off over 100 adult birds (all of his rare breed heritage stock) and is moving in with a new wife with NO birds. Awful thing is we all suspect he KNEW he had a problem and he was selling off all his expensive adult birds "very cheap".

 

[chooks4life]

If she laid an egg she can't be all that stressed. Seems odd that she is laying yet so ill. It must have come on very suddenly.

Not necessarily, I've had severely stressed and even dying hens still lay. 'We' (mankind in general) have developed some breeds to continue producing like machines even under intense physical and psychological stress.

Just as with birth, the body has already been forming the product on a schedule and just because the female gets stressed doesn't mean she gets a raincheck on delivering it. It's downright unfortunate how many books tell folks that 'eggs are signs your hens are happy and healthy!' It's plain untrue.

Can chickens have blood clots or strokes that cause brain damage?

Of course. They also have blood that clots and comparable cardiovascular systems to species known to have strokes. Strokes aren't actually too uncommon in them, neither are general cardiovascular issues comparable to humans, but as to whether or not this medication could cause a clot or stroke the same way in chickens that it does in humans, I can't say as I don't know the mechanism behind it.

It's good to see your hen progressing!

The breeder has since sold off over 100 adult birds (all of his rare breed heritage stock) and is moving in with a new wife with NO birds. Awful thing is we all suspect he KNEW he had a problem and he was selling off all his expensive adult birds "very cheap".

From this post of yours and one a few pages previous, I don't think it's too likely to be any other way.

I think you're right, does sound like he realized what kind of hot water he was in and basically dropkicked the problem to the winds. I hope I'm not judging him harshly or unfairly but some situations and actions are so suss... What else can one think?

He invested a lot of money and time into getting those birds, no doubt, why suddenly drop it all. I wonder what happened.

Still, it's a very, very common disease as you say and people do tend to stay silent about it unless directly quizzed unfortunately. And then there's those which are too ignorant about the issue or which truly do not care, can't be bothered so much as learning about the disease.

Good luck, and best wishes.

 

[Sonya9]

I asked about strokes regarding Seminolwind's bird that looked fine in the morning and was unable to stand a few hours later.

I would think a stroke is one of the few things likely to cause severe paralysis in just 3-4 hours (other than injury of course).

 

[chooks4life]

Oh ok, makes sense now. Sorry, just been talking to people that don't realize that if something works, it can fail to work, kind of basic biology really.

Best wishes.

 

[rebrascora]

Well my girl has definitely laid her second egg today (she has now been paralysed and in sick bay for several weeks so it's not like these eggs were in the system and needed to come out) and she is standing up more without any further treatment. (It's over a week since I gave up on the turmeric and black pepper.) I am definitely seeing some improvement although when I interfere with her.... ie lift her out to clean the sick bay.... she loses coordination and balance and flounders around, presumable because she is stressed about being handled.
When I first come into the hen house and look in the sick bay, she is standing up in the nest quite well although one foot is clawed and tucked under... like her sick bay pal but she is significantly larger and not able to hop around like the other one.
It's great to see the two of them snuggled up together in the nest on a night and "hop a long" is amazingly adept at hoping over her to get into the nest.

I really appreciate the info you dug out regarding obtaining Valtrex here in the UK but I think I'm going to continue without treatment for now and perhaps act as a control for this trial.

 

[Sonya9]

I am definitely seeing some improvement although when I interfere with her.... ie lift her out to clean the sick bay.... she loses coordination and balance and flounders around, presumable because she is stressed about being handled.

I have seen the same thing in this very ill bird and in the first that I had.

I think it is some sort of "seizure like" brain activity, any type of excitement (handling or even food) seems to trigger it. This bird will flounder, wings flapping and screeching and such when I move her and it doesn't seem to be about pain. When she was worse she would have her neck go sideways in jerky movements whenever food or water was presented, it was as if she wanted desperately to eat/drink but instead her head/neck was involuntarily jerking over her right shoulder in a shuddering manner. Sort of like some people that have neurological problems (Cerebral Palsy? Can't recall) and jerk their head to the side when speaking.

The paralysed bird had a bath this morning and then got blow dried. Between sitting in poop and eating lots of mushy food with raw egg in it her feathers were a mess., I didn't want to stress her but she really needed it, fortunately she seemed to like getting blow dried and having all of her feathers ruffled/groomed. She is moving one of her legs a lot now, sometimes almost constantly, so I hope she will show more improvement soon.

It is hard because despite all of the daily care I know that this has taken a great physical toll on her and this may not end well no matter what.