Barnevelder with poor coordination - Marek's???? PICS

[TajMahalChickens]

I have a sick year old Barnevelder hen that has been "off" for about 4 days now. Her main sign is her inability to maintain her balance. She still gets outside, but she might stumble to the right, catch herself with her wing, continue walking, start running away from the dog in a awkward gait, stop, start pecking the ground, but loses her balance when she bends down, ect. She is also sleeping in the nestboxes because she can't keep her balance on the perch.

Her face, comb, and wattles look normal. She does have white runny poo. She keeps her head tucked in constantly; she never extends it. She does get outside and try to peck/ scratch, so not all of her vigor is gone.

This is similar to how my rooster acted before he became paralyzed with (what we think was) marak's. He eventually was paralyzed with one foot straight infront of him, and the other straight behind him (which is why we thought it was marak's). I am mentioning this because my rooster also had poor coordination as the first step of his downward spiral. Could my barnevelder have Marek's? Here is the link about my sick rooster https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=418474

I have had numerous other disease problems in my flock. All my illnesses are listed in the middle of the first page. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=434192

I also have a faverolle with a swollen head right now. If you could give me some help with her, here is the link https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5872418#p5872418
Any info on what my Barnevelder has, how to treat it, or anything about how to stop all the illness I have had would be great. Thank you so much!!

 

[DuckyGurl]

Hi!!!

I don't know how to help you with her, but I will be praying for her!
-you-know-who

 

[Miss Lydia]

Taj, tell us everything you can think of about your birds, how long since your rooster died? what you feed them is it fresh? how many chickens you have. what is you coop like? do they free range or are they inside of a run? and what all you have done to help them so far..and I couldn't get either link to work here either. sorry also have you checked them all out for lice/mites? have you ever wormed your chickens? what ages are they all?

 

[TajMahalChickens]

Miss, Lydia,
I fixed the links. Thanks for letting me know

Most of the info about general information of how I care for my flock is on the second page. Info about my deaths timeline in on the first.

Thanks so much

 

[Miss Lydia]

My goodness Taj I don't know what to say. you have had some serious health issues with you flock and I just don't know what to tell you. I will bump you and hopefully someone with more experience with these problems will be on to help you sort it out.. I am so sorry.

 

[TajMahalChickens]

Still alive today, quite surprised about that. Nothing else much has changed.

 

[TajMahalChickens]

Here is most of the info from the link. I thought I would put it here as well.



I got 30 chicks on March 17, 2010, from Nature's Hatchery. The breeds were (parentheses are bird that I now have):

5 easter eggs (3) One had a brain tumor, other I gave away
3 faverolles (3)
2 delaware (1) A progressive disease that slowly made her droopier and droopier. Lost a lot of weight. Near the end her eyelids were half closed. Survived for a month after we isolated her. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=367102
2 campines (0) Dog killed one, the other we found dead in the run. The only weird symptom that we noticed was that she would walk on the hocks sometimes.
4 welsummers (1) One had a purple comb (probably hear failure), other had fowl pox, then became droopy and lost weight and died. Other eaten by raccoon https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=430429 https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4017052
barnavelders (2)
2 cocoo marans (2)
2 white leghorns (2)
2 buttercups (1) My rooster buttercup died of Mareks https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=418474
2 guineas (2)
2 sebrights (0) died in shipment

In my other coop (which had my existing flock)

2 14 month old red stars (1) Purple comb, kept on not moving around until she just sat a day before she died. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=424842A
buff orpington and a silver laced wyandotte, still alive, both 2 1/2 years
A light brama, 2 1/2 years, found her dead by the compost pile after a day of free ranging. However, it was not a predator.

Well, there are all my deaths. I'l rewrite the "deaths" list here in the order that they happened.

Droopy Delaware - became droopy mid July, died early August.
Hock walking campine - early august
Sudden death brama - early August just after campine
Purple comb welsummer - September 26
Easter egger with brain tumor - September 26
Rooster with marek's - November 13
Purple comb Red star- November 30
Post-fowl pox Welsummer - December 27
Sudden death Barnevelder that wasn't on the perch the night before she died - December 30

Thanks.

I consider myslelf a good chicken owner. My sanitation is quite good; I disinfect my coops twice a year, and add bedding when needed. I don't leave dead birds lying around. I bleach the dog crate and all my utensils after isolating a sick bird. I disinfect my boots often. I scrub the waterer each time before I refill it. I feed scraps, but I make sure to peel all potatoes. Now they have a large grass run, and they often free range. I have a 8x10 coop to hold my (now) 19 flock, allowing 4 sp. f. per bird. I have four vents on the near the ceiling. My coop has an inch of insulation for the cold weather here in Wisconsin.

Some things you could call me on is that I let my bird eat fallen bird seed under the bird feeder. I visit other chicken flocks. Until august, they only had a small dirt run.
I don't worm, and I haven't vaccinated. I haven't done any type of dusting for parasites.

Feed: I use the feed from the local mill. It is 16% protein mash.

Egg production: I have been getting about 8 eggs a day on average since they started laying. This is kinda low granted I have 19 hens.

Coop: it is 8X10 with two perches, 3' and 4' off the ground. Four nestboxes, 3 feet off the ground. 3 windows, two south and one west. It has and inch of styrofoam insulation and tyvek moisture barrier all around.

Bedding: I was using our own black walnut shavings but someone said that might be bad so I don't use that anymore. Now I use Pine and/or hay.

 

[TajMahalChickens]

I brought her in for a necropsy today along with another sick bird and a birds that died two days ago. I'll let you know what they find out.