Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[KAT Bird]

OMG!!!!  You have sure suffered alot of birds.  2 years old with a tumor.  My first few demises were around 2 years old before I knew why.  Then I lost a whole batch of chicks one by one to paralysis and gasping.  

Know that you are not alone.  

Thank you, I really do appreciate the kind words and encouragement. As many of you have experienced, it is so heart breaking to deal with this disease.

 

[KAT Bird]

so sorry to hear about olivia's fluid biopsy and probable diagnosis. thinking of you and hoping today was a better day. 

Thanks LolaChick. I am just enjoying her and taking it day by day.

 

[welasharon]

If any of my chickens needs to eat, I give them anything they want.  I think the diet you have here looks yummy.  I have done layer mush, French toast taking a piece of bread per egg soaked in, nice and mushy inside and browned on the outside. 

thanks I just wasn't sure why her poop is green. Isn't that a non absorption issue? She has been gaining weight though not a lot.

 

[LolaChick]

Unfortunately I, too, have a hen that could possibly have Marek's. I have not read through this entire thread (yet) but will when there is more time. I did read through the related thread about the polish hen that passed last year. I keep hoping to come across a story about a bird being saved, but I have yet to hear that one.

My pullet is 22 weeks. She was a sticky chick and has always been behind the others developmentally. She has always been smaller, and at 7 weeks she was not feathered out well. I worried about her going into winter with no feathers, but finally by 12 weeks she was all feathered out. I believe she is a RIR crossed with a Wheaten Marans. She currently weighs 3.2 pounds, where her hatch-mates are in the 4 - 6 pound range.

About 3 weeks ago I noticed the pullet sleeping in a corner feeder rather than in the hen house. She would also lay in the yard and wait for scratch grains rather than going to free range with her friends. Our young cockerel ( who is over 6 pounds already) is a typical teenage boy and jumps on everything he can get close to. I noticed him jumping on her and afterwards she was limping on her right leg. We assumed she was injured during his romantic attempt. The problem is that he would not leave her alone so we had to bring her in the house. At that point, she was walking pretty well, but it was clear that the left leg was getting "tired" of doing more than its share of the work. She would sit on her hocks and only walk around to eat.

Two weeks ago one of our older pullets (40 weeks or so) started circling. We treated her for a vitamin deficiency, but she deteriorated rapidly. One morning we found her on her back and she couldn't get up. She had been struggling to right herself for some time. We culled her immediately. After we had disposed of the hen, someone mentioned that we should start thinking about some other cause for the illness. There are so many diseases/ailment out there, and unfortunately I didn't think of sending her in for necropsy at the time.

Back to my limping hen, she is not paralyzed, but no longer wants to walk much. When I take her outside she stands in one place and eats grass and after 30 minutes or so we bring her in the house (it is cold out). She curls her toes sometimes, but sometimes she stands normally. When I pick her up I can hear her joints popping (hip joints I think). The weirdest part is that it started out being her right leg that bothered her, but now it is her left leg that she favors and she stands supporting her weight on the right leg. I think they both bother her, which is why she doesn't want to walk.

After writing that whole novel, I am happy to say that she has a voracious appetite, has not lost any weight, and does not show any other signs of illness or respiratory problems. I'm also treating her for vitamin deficiency (just in case) with Vitamin B complex and Vitamin D. A few days ago I was certain she had MD, but now I'm not so sure. How long does it take a chicken from the time they start to exhibit symptoms until they are paralyzed? I'm also treating her with St John's Wort/hypericum although I'm not sure it will actually do any good. I also dewormed the flock this week, and the pullet did have round worms.

While all this was going on, I have two batches of chicks that have been exposed to this pullet and her dander. The whole time I'm thinking, " All my chicks are going to get MD and have to be culled." After reading the info, I was put as ease since my babies hatched here and are from my own hens. IF it is MD, they may have some resistance. They are 2 weeks old and 7 weeks. They are all very healthy. The two week olds are living outside with their broody mom.

I tried to get a video of her "walking" but she is pretty content just laying on her nest in the house. I will try again later.

Thank you to everyone who has posted here. While I would be devastated to lose my little pullet, I know if it is MD it isn't the end of the world. We live on 4 acres so there is no way I would be able to "disinfect" everything. The birds free range, it is in my house, etc. I'm going to be hopeful and treat symptoms as they appear. Hopefully my chicks continue to do well. The bigger they are the harder it is to cull them. Makes me so sad to think about.

just as a reference, my first pullet lost to marek's went from slightly to completely paralyzed within two days. the second pullet went from looking marginally "off" to actively dying again within two days, but that one was never paralyzed. hope that's helpful and maybe even encouraging. good luck to you.

 

[ochochicas]

just as a reference, my first pullet lost to marek's went from slightly to completely paralyzed within two days. the second pullet went from looking marginally "off" to actively dying again within two days, but that one was never paralyzed. hope that's helpful and maybe even encouraging. good luck to you.

Thank you. It is encouraging. My pullet is standing on her own now, but doesn't walk much. I'd say she is slightly better now than she was yesterday. I think she has hip problems that were compounded by a rooster twice her size jumping on her back. Of course I have not ruled Marek's out yet, but it is looking less likely at this point.

 

[ochochicas]

Quote: Thanks for the info. Sorry to hear about Olivia. I hope the Metacam and Curcimin help her a bit. Can I buy Metacam at the store? I've been giving my pullet St. John's Wort because the hypericum apparently offers some pain relief. Not sure if it does any good either, but since there is little known about successfully treating chicken illness it isn't going to hurt to try. I do think our pullet is a tiny bit better today. Sometimes she curls her toes, but other times she get them opened and stands normally. I'm hoping at this point she has a soft tissue injury that will just take time to heal. Need to do some more research...thank goodness for BYC forum!

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: I don't think there's anything wrong with green poop unless your chicken is a bag of bones and used up all the bodily reserves. I've seen it as a sea weed color and usually a splat more than a poop. If your hen is gaining or holding her weight, I would not think her poop is starvation-green.

 

[welasharon]

sea weed and splat are exactly what she does. Thank you. I will continue with her for a bit more. She has improved vastly. I have got to figure out a feeding trough so she could maybe eat during the day. It seems like she could relearn her aim with enough work on it. Thanks!

 

[seminolewind]

sea weed and splat are exactly what she does. Thank you. I will continue with her for a bit more. She has improved vastly. I have got to figure out a feeding trough so she could maybe eat during the day. It seems like she could relearn her aim with enough work on it. Thanks!

I will recommend what the noble Casportpony would say: buy a scale. They are really cheap on Amazon.

Well, I think my sweet Coho (Faverolles) is experiencing ocular Marek's. Maybe. It's so hard to tell! My flock is exposed, and she was vaccinated as a chick, and is going to be going on four years old in 2015. She's always had intermittent problems with things like bouts with clostridium perfringens, lots of bumblefoot, and just general failure to thrive. She is a happy snuggly little bun of a hen, and eats well for me, and keeps her weight on so I have always just let her be other than monitoring her weight and occasionally treating her when things seem bad (foot soaks, whatever-- yep, I'm a nut).

Her vision seems good, as far as I can tell... and her irises still react to light changes, but both pupils are becoming badly deformed:


So, I am not sure. It could be a genetic defect, Mareks... something else?? Who knows.

I hope that's as far as it goes. Like my rooster, Clarence, I just happened to notice one day that his pupil was oval. He ate food to the very end while he wasted and died. He was not vaccinated. But if he had been, maybe he just would have had a strange pupil? Has she always had it?

With clostridium, the enteritis can be that or e.coli or cocci as well.

 

[Nambroth]

I hope that's as far as it goes. Like my rooster, Clarence, I just happened to notice one day that his pupil was oval. He ate food to the very end while he wasted and died. He was not vaccinated. But if he had been, maybe he just would have had a strange pupil? Has she always had it?

With clostridium, the enteritis can be that or e.coli or cocci as well.

The strange pupils (both!) are a fairly new development. They may have been slow to change and I just noticed, but I'd say that within the last 3 months they have changed. I'll keep an eye on her, no pun intended... I always do anyhow, as she has always been somewhat sickly.