6 month old silkie w/ swollen joints

[dolphingirlone]

Hello.

I am a first time silkie/bantam owner and have had some bad luck with my 6 month old white silkie. She was fine until the week of Thanksgiving, where we found her in the coop with a swollen leg joint that also seemed uncomfortable to her because she was having trouble walking normally. We separated her and kept close attention to her for 3 weeks and it had seemed as if she was fine. Her leg joint is still swollen but lesser, and she does not limp anymore but now her one of her wing joints also seems swollen. My mom said she wouldn't move the wing but was able to when I picked her up.

At this point I am not sure if it was a fracture or what has caused it but i am now suspecting possible marek's disease. Are these swollen joints tumors? There are no scars and the bone did not feel or look broken. I have never dealt with marek's disease before and do not know if it can cause tumors around the joints making it seem like she has swollen joints like she has. If it is marek's disease is it terminal, or have chickens survived?

Overall though she still eats and drinks, although spends a lot of her time dust bathing and sitting in the sun. She still has not laid an egg and is about 1.3 pounds.


Thank you.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC.It doesn't sound like Mareks disease, but it could possibly be something like mycoplasma synovitis, which is an infection in the joints. Tylan 50 injectable can be given orally or as a shot to help treat that. Dosage for a silkie would be 1/4 ml orally for 5 days or as an injection for 3 days. There can be other bacterial or viral joint infections as well. MS is a carrier disease, so I would get her tested.
Here are a couple of links for you to read:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/99/mycoplasma-synoviae-infection-ms-infectious-synovitis
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/poultry/viral_arthritis/overview_of_viral_arthritis_in_poultry.html

 

[Sarah42]

Marek's can cause tumors, but in the most common forms, in the internal organs. Marek's Disease is incurable and very contagious. If you have suspicions that your Silkie has it, separate her immediately and take precautions to not allow any sort of contact between her and the flock. That includes allowing her dandruff from your shirt being allowed contact with the flock. The only way to really be sure that it is Marek's is to take her to the vet and allow them to do a lot of tests on her. I'd suggest taking her to the vet any way though.
Another thing to remember in the future is to make sure all your birds are vaccinated against Marek's disease. If you get them from a hatchery, the hatchery will generally vaccinate if you ask them to.

 

[dolphingirlone]

Thank you very much. She has been vaccinated and i was only wondering because I had read it could still be a possibility and wanted a second opinion. I live in Los angeles and all the avian veterinarians are extremely expensive so I was trying to avoid it if at all possible. Also, the MS infection sounds very plausible but would it be problematic to her if I started giving her the tylan 50 if it turns out to be something else? Also is there any way to have her tested for it without having to pay for the costly veterinarian visit? Thank you very much again