American serama thread!

[Carolynspeeps]

To be effective MD vaccine needs to be given behind the neck when the chicks are less than 24 hours old and then the chicks need to be isolated with no exposure to other chickens for 10 days. This link shows a graphic demo of how to vaccinate for MD...(warning may be disturbing to some!

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http://poultryone.com/articles/mareks.html

 

[Chicklette 1]

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Wow, sorry I wasn't online when all this was going on. My babies do not go crazy for mealworms yet so I did not find that unusual. Let me read more posts and then I will see if I can add anything that might help.

 

[artsyrobin]

i had this pic on my hard drive, if anyone needs ideas for an injured chick

off this morning to meet of with upcdayz to get my serama girls!

 

[tailfluff]

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I am an eternal optimist, but I DO THINK you need to consider early Marek's disease in this bird. Vitually all flocks WORLDWIDE have been exposed to the virus. Not all birds or flocks, however, exibit the symptoms. It is like cancer in chickens...caused by a virus. Some will get it and exhibit symptoms and some will not. The vaccine does NOT stop the spread of the disease per se. It simply helps that particular chick to not develop the disease or become symptomatic. Chicks should be vaccinated as day olds. Do you happen to know if this chick was vaccinated?

My condolences to them.

It's a pretty tough thing to watch especially when a chick is a special pet to a child.

Thank you!

It really is tough and my heart goes out to Shorty even though I've never met her. I know she is a wonderful little bird and is well loved. MD has definitely been taken into consideration and she is isolated. She had not been vaccinated.

The one bird she has who came from my flock was vaccinated so we aren't worried so much about that one. The major concern is that Shorty was with three other chicks who are now back at my friend's place. I called her last night to talk it over with her so she can take the necessary precautions - none of those chicks show any signs thus far and she is ordering MD vaccine for her flock.

The little buff baby who was in with Shorty is isolated as well - again, no signs of anything out of the ordinary so far. She has lived with Shorty since the start of December and is also unvaccinated.

 

[tailfluff]

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That is an awesome idea! I love it. Will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks for sharing!

I love the food and water dish idea. Very convenient!

Congratulations on your new birds - yay!

 

[tailfluff]

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Wow, sorry I wasn't online when all this was going on. My babies do not go crazy for mealworms yet so I did not find that unusual. Let me read more posts and then I will see if I can add anything that might help.

Thanks Chicklette! I was actually just about to PM you.

How long did it take for MD to progress in your birds? How did it start - About how many days? Shorty has had this problem for about two weeks now. I don't know how she looks since that video - I should be getting another video of her today sometime.

 

[tailfluff]

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I think it is a neurological problem caused by either a vitamin deficiency or mal-absorbtion of vitamins...I would isolate the bird, continue multi vitamins (including E and B, make sure she eats and drinks and give her some time.

Thank you, June!! That's what my friend is doing with her right now. She is brand spanking new to poultry so this is a pretty nasty surprise for her. Shorty is still eating and drinking as she normally would. She is in isolation as precaution but since she still has some use of her right leg I can't tell her that she needs to cut its head off, y'know? We have to try everything first.

 

[Chicklette 1]

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Sorry I wasn't available last night. I know how frustrating it can be to watch them and not be able to help. I tried both the vitamin E and the B therapies. I did not see any improvement after several days. The chickens ate, drank, pooped and seemed fine except for their legs. Started with one and the other one gradually got weaker. Froggie gave you good info on how they move differently when it is an injury as opposed to an illness. I could not tell you what you may have but within a few days one leg was forward and one leg was backward. The birds really could not support themselves and needed help getting to the food and water. I had to prop them up. I think if you just isolate them and wait and watch you will know if they are getting better or worse over all. They looked like they were a little better at some times and then got worse again so it was a bit of a roller coaster watching them. The leg position was the most prominent symptom and easiest to see.
I am very sorry for her baby. I watched the video and it was hard to tell but the one leg looked pretty useless already. The legs just get weak. It is due to tumors affecting the sciatic nerve. There are several different forms of MD but I think the neurological one is the most common. This is something that is difficult, if almost impossible to get completely rid of. The virus is so easily transmitted and can live for a long time in dust. I am weighing the idea of vaccinating or not vaccinating as they can still be carriers and transmit it to any other bird that has not been vaccinated at the age of 1 day old.
The good news is that there are many birds who have a natural resistance to MD and will not get it but can still carry it. One recommendation is to build a resistant flock and not vaccinate but let the resistant ones survive. Mereks is EVERYWHERE from what I have learned. There are more inquiries being made for me from large chicken raisers to U of Mich. to resident vets. I hope to learn more so I can come to a wise conclusion as to which way to go. It is said that most chickens harbor the herpes virus and things such as stress from outside conditions or their own systems going thru the "teen" period can cause the outbreak. My hen was near point of lay and my rooster was becoming a young man. Their ages were perfect for the outbreak. So far everyone else is fine.
I hope this has helped you and any other people who may encounter an outbreak of MD. I am sure there are many opinions on this topic because there is no cure and the exposure is so wide.
I will report any other info that I receive from other sources in order to make people more familiar withal MD.
I had my 2 beautiful 3 month old birds humanely euthanized at the vet and I am moving on. This is just one of the perils of raising these birds and I do not feel I've done anything to be responsible for it.
Maybe if I was just starting in chickens, I would have vaccinated every baby I got but that limits your additions to your flock to only vaccinated birds and most people do not vaccinate.
I would inform the person from whom you got the chick so that they can be on the lookout for other birds they have and know what they are dealing with.
That said.........time will tell and maybe she will get better and it is not MD! Good luck to you.

 

[Chicklette 1]

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Wow, sorry I wasn't online when all this was going on. My babies do not go crazy for mealworms yet so I did not find that unusual. Let me read more posts and then I will see if I can add anything that might help.

Thanks Chicklette! I was actually just about to PM you.

How long did it take for MD to progress in your birds? How did it start - About how many days? Shorty has had this problem for about two weeks now. I don't know how she looks since that video - I should be getting another video of her today sometime.

My birds got progressively worse in a matter of days so the fact that it's been a couple of weeks is good news unless it is declining. I had to make sure they got the food and vitamin water several times a day as they really could not get to the food all the time unless it was right in front of them. Interested to see the new video. If she is getting the vitamin therapy, it should be kicking in now unless as was stated by someone else, her body cannot absorb it. There is also a form of Mereks that attacks the internal organs rather than the neurological system.

 

[Chicklette 1]

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I've saved the pic so that I can refer to it in case I have an injured chick. Very good idea! Thanks