[non-emergency] Marek's Homeopathic Treatment - Video

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O.C.Chick

O.C.Chick

Songster
11 Years
Nov 15, 2008
237
9
121
Newport Beach, CA
I wanted to share my gratitude for the BYC members that mentioned that a treatment for Marek's DID exist! Following is a link to a video of my chicken that the Vet said was going to die 10 days ago:

(Title: Appenzeller Recovering From Neurological Symptoms)

This is video of my 20 week old Appenzeller Spitzhauben sisters, one of which has been exhibiting symptoms of progressive paralysis of wings, legs, weakness and incoordination consistent with the neurological form of Marek's for the past 10 days. (Note: she is the lighter of the two sisters, with the lower tail-feather position and the drooping right wing) She had been unresponsive to a course of triple antibiotics prescribed by my vet, who said that if it WAS Marek's, she would be dead soon. She had continued to decline to the point that she could barely keep her balance or hold her wings up. Although she was eating well, I was beginning to lose hope.

Luckily, I stumbled upon several older threads that mentioned a homeopathic remedy, and I figured I had nothing to lose by trying it. That was yesterday....

Since then, I have given her three doses of homeopathic 'Hypericum Perforatum 30x', and she has shown a remarkable improvement within 30 hours!
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Her coordination and energy are almost back to normal, and the wing droop is only evident on the right side, and has improved dramatically. I don't think that this is just a coincidence. I wish I had taken video of her yesterday...You would not believe that this is the same bird! Her rapid change in energy and coordination is pretty amazing!

I should also mention that I have been giving her probiotics and ACV water in between antibiotic doses, and gave her 1/2 of a raw Brazil nut yesterday (for selenium and B vitamins), and raw organic juice mixed with water both yesterday and today. Not sure if this made any difference, but thought it worth mentioning.

I will update her progress, which I hope will continue to improve! Wish me luck and say a prayer for my little Dottie.
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With much hope and gratitude,

Alys
 
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What we'll do for the love of feathers! Congratulations
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I'm sending up a little prayer for Dottie that she continues to improve and thrive! It looks like she's HONGRY!!
 
Thanks Chicky! FYI, you Hand-Held me through my first hatch, and these are the babies that you helped bring into the world! Thank you so much for that! You have a vested interest!
 
I should also mention several things about the initial vet tests in case anyone has any thoughts or observations of this being something other than Marek's:

- Blood tests showed anemia
- Fecal tests ruled out coccidiosis and worms / internal parasites
- Observation showed that she was underweight (although eating normally) but had no external parasites

The vet is one of the top avian specialists in the country (mostly exotics), but I question his volume of practical experience with chicken disease. He admits that most of the available veteranary information is based on commerical flock management, not "pet chickens", therefore leaning toward loss management and not expensive cures. With that said, he did not seem aware of the differrent strains of Marek's and their varied symptoms and prognoses. (He said that my chicken would be dead in days if it was Marek's.)

The other things I suspected (but he dismissed) were:

- Botulism (He said that it wouldn't have come on so fast...She has access to a stream with shrimp, dead leaves, etc. Also, eats worms, pill-bugs and earwigs that have been in compost bin...Botulism didn't seem like such a stretch to me!)

- Soil borne bacteria / Aflatoxins / Aspergillus fungus (They free-range...How could this NOT be a posibility???)

- Lead poisoning (I live in an old house which has had most of the lead paint encapsulated, but who knows how much may have leached into the soil?)

- Exposure to rat feces and wild birds

Furthermore, he told me I "...Shouldn't read so much" !!!
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So, I paid the $380.00 bill and left without a real diagnosis.
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Whether or not it IS Marek's is STILL a mystery, but it sure looks like other videos of Marek's symptoms to me. But then again, I may just be reading too much...
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Any additional thoughts, comments or speculation on diagnosis would be welcomed!!!
 
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It is a homeopathic form of St. John's Wort, and you get it in any health-food store. It is not the pills or capsules you may have seen in the supermarket...It is a tiny pill about the size of a pin-head meant to dissolve under the tongue. Let me do a search for the original post and I will post the link as soon as I can find it, along with the dosing instructions I followed.

A
 
REGARDING THE BOTULISM...I was thinking that they may be picking dead leaves out of the pond, or eating the shrimp who eat the dead leaves. I'm not sure, but I would think the gut of creatures such as shrimp, sow-bugs (which are a crustacean), and earth worms would create an anaerobic environment, and since they eat rotting material, possibly become a vector to spreading botulism in chickens who ate them. I could not find any literature to that effect, so this is purely my own non-scientific speculation. I would love to hear that this is NOT true!!! I have spent so much time and effort creating an organic environment for the chickens that I hate to think that they could not safely free-range on my property during the day!!! I don't want to have "chickens in a bubble"!!!
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HERE'S THE LINK TO HYPERICUM AND DOSING POSTED LAST YEAR BY MOODY CHICKEN:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=135247
This isn't an emergency, just a helpful tidbit of information to help. Despite what you may have heard, there IS a cure for Marek's Disease. It is a homeopathic remedy called "Hypericum." Hypericum is a small creeping herb that, when used hollistically, numbs nerves and dulls pain. When given to a bird suffering from the symptoms of Marek's Disease, it will cure the bird by working on the theory that "like cures like," in other words, by giving the bird the symptoms it will take the symptoms away. I've used this herb with great success to fully cure birds of Marek's Disease. You can fnd Hypericum at health food stores, $8 for 100 tablets. Hypericum must be diluted before it can be used:

- 1 tablespoon of DISTILLED water per tablet Hypericum (must be distilled water, tap water is ionized and will deactivate the Hypericum)
- MUST be mixed in a GLASS or PLASTIC bowl (metal with react with the water and herb)
- drip 5-10 drops (bantam) or 10-15 drops (large fowl) on the afflicted bird's tongue. Be sure the bird rubs its beak together because the Hypericum MUST touch the sinuses (located on the roof of the mouth) in order to work
- treat every 12 hours (morning and night) with a fresh batch
- recovery may be as quick as 1 day or as slow as several months

The treatment works best if you begin treating early. If you delay treatment, the Hypericum may not work or it may be a very slow recovery. IF YOU OVERDOSE YOUR BIRDS ON HYPERICUM, don't worry. The bird will exhibit extreme symptoms, and make a drastic improvment within a 24 hours. Hypericum is also helpful for pain. Only treat birds that are showing symptoms.

HOW CAN I TELL IF MY BIRD HAS MAREK'S DISEASE?

Check your flock history. Marek's Disease affects birds as early as 6 months of age. Symtoms occur most commonly between 6-8 months of age; however, any age bird can become sick, it just becomes less common with age. The incubation period is 2 weeks.

SYMPTOMS INCLUDE: sudden death (fairly common), depression (common), gradual weight loss (fairly common), neck paralysis (not common), paleness (in conjunction with other symtoms), wing paralysis (common), leg paralysis (most common), star-gazing (fairly common), extreme sudden emaciation (rare), mishapen pupil (not common), gray iris (not common), crazy behavior (rare), unresponsive (common), internal tumor growth (not common), tumors on feather follicles (not common), fearful (not common)

Hope this helps someone!!! big_smile

Last edited by MoodyChicken (02/19/2009 9:21 pm)

I had a syringe (no needle!) left over from the antibiotics, and gave 0.6 cc's of the liquid, which is approximately 12 - 14 drops, to my Appenzeller, who is approx. 2.5 lbs.​
 
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