2 month old chick started having trouble walking

[igapo]

Chicken owners for about 2 months now. We have a buff orpington (2 months old) that recently started having trouble walking (~6 days ago). Her leg "knee" joints seem to have weakened where she became wobbly and clumsy and they give out on her (one more than the other). She does walk and can get around, but is slow and will lay down often; she gets separated from the others too often. She is even getting up on things, but can't get down very well although she eventually manages. She is perching at night with the others. I have been checking out her leg joints and didn't see much, but now I am seeing a bit more red spots as if the joint may be bleeding (just a guess). She has always been developmentally different from the others and I'm just wondering if it's par for the course or if she jumped down and hurt her legs. Of course I fear that she will not heal and I'll need to put her down. I video taped her walking behavior and the red on one of her legs (only one) hoping for feedback. Thanks for your help.

 

[Noobchick]

That's Marek's Disease. Were they immunized as day old chicks?

 

[igapo]

They were all supposed to be vaccinated. I just checked the order form again and it said that "all laying chicks are being vaccinated against Marek's disease." If it is this disease, is it rapid and what can I expect? She's eating and drinking, but what does the progression look like? Thanks.

 

[Noobchick]

Vaccine is only 95% effective: 5% of the birds vaccinated will still get sick AND show signs. Something like 20% will still get sick but show no signs. (Don't hold me to the exact percentages- don't remember offhand.) It's not failsafe.

The sad news is that if it is Marek's as I suspect, there's not a whole lot you can do for her except isolate her from the other birds, try not to stress her out, and keep her fed and watered. There's no treatment or cure for Marek's. She'll either make it or she won't. She may improve over the next couple weeks and be fine; some birds do. Others seem to improve but then die suddenly from internal tumors. Chicks who are vaccinated usually don't develop the tumors, though, so I'd say that since she got the vaccine, chances are good that if she improves, she'll live.

Then comes the question of how you want to deal with having a Marek's bird in your flock. She'll always be a carrier and it probably won't be safe for any birds to go out of or into your flock. A search for "Marek's Disease" on this site should give you some more information. Good luck.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
diagnosis charts at bottom

I am sorry that I don't know what is wrong.

 

[igapo]

Thanks for the input. Got some thinking to do.