6 week old silkie Cochin still stumbling- what's wrong?

[Lochloosachicks]

I know it does look like a roo. If you can see the other silkie/cochin in the video it's definitely a roo. He tries to crow every morning already. This one doesn't so I was still hoping it was a she.
What would you do at this point if he/she is happy and eating and drinking fine on their own?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would wait and see how it goes personally. You will know if it is suffering. I have seen birds exhibiting the straight leg paralysis and I have seen the drunken stumbling. I have attributed both to Mareks. I see it generally in one bird every year or two. I could be wrong in what I believe it is, all I know is most get bad enough that they can't do anything. See how yours goes.

 

[rebrascora]

I agree that it looks like Marek's and if you have had other birds with it, then that is the most likely diagnosis. I've had some go months when they were pretty much nest bound and eventually improve enough to go back to free ranging with the flock, some that have miraculously recovered from an attack of the disease just as quickly as they came down with it.... literally a few days.... and others that took a week or two to die and some that died suddenly almost without showing any symptoms..... there are no hard and fast rules with Marek's and in fact it is unusual in my experience to get two that follow the same path with it.
I would your chick some TLC, poultry vitamin supplement and some extra nutritious treats like scrambled egg or cat food as well as their regular feed and see how she goes.

 

[Lochloosachicks]

Cat food, really? Would that be okay at this age? My other with Mareks was almost a year ago.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, anything with a bit of animal protein will help giver her a boost. Not everyday but maybe twice a week.
Most of your flock will be carriers of the virus even though they show no symptoms. It's similar to the herpes virus (cold sores) in humans. Once you have it, it's with you for life and you can spread it to others but no one knows you have it until you have an outbreak. Even if you were to cull your flock and disinfect your coop, it can live in the ground for months if not longer.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Yes, anything with a bit of animal protein will help giver her a boost. Not everyday but maybe twice a week.
Most of your flock will be carriers of the virus even though they show no symptoms. It's similar to the herpes virus (cold sores) in humans. Once you have it, it's with you for life and you can spread it to others but no one knows you have it until you have an outbreak. Even if you were to cull your flock and disinfect your coop, it can live in the ground for months if not longer.

And can come in on the wind since it's spread by the feather dander, which there's a lot of.

 

[rebrascora]

And can come in on the wind since it's spread by the feather dander, which there's a lot of.

Particularly at this time of year when they are moulting.

 

[Lochloosachicks]

I'm updating the post about the same chicken(which is a rooster by the way). Still no change is his walk or health. He seems super healthy and feisty, has even started to crow. I think he is truly disabled. The other rooster seems to look out for him around the bigger chickens. I'm worried about what his future may hold with the rest of my flock. We are free range with an 8x12 coop at night. I have 1 full size rooster (SS) along with these 2 now, and maybe 1 of my new silkies. He gets around fine and can even climb the ladder. I'm worried about the dynamics when I release them with the rest of the flock we usually keep 20-30 chickens total. I have 16 hens now, but am hatching more and I will add more in the spring.
Recent video of him is below, he is the smaller one that can't walk well.

 

[Lochloosachicks]

Update for anyone who might have a similar situation in the future... he is totally fine now. I did a little "physical therapy" with him a few times. I held him with his back to me and helped gently straighten the weak leg bc I felt like maybe he had injured it and let it heal funny. I'm not sure if that helped, but he is walking well now and has been integrated into the rest of the flock. He also started improving around the time when started to mix him with the others so I'm not sure what helped.

 

[rebrascora]

Good to hear that he has made a recovery. I would keep an eye on him as I have had several with Marek's completely recover but then have a secondary attack weeks, months or even a year later. Fingers crossed he will be fine.