Broken Neck?

[Eggcessive]

Chickens can still get Mareks after having the vaccine, because it may take 2-3 weeks for the vaccine to take effect. It also affects chickens his age. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency can cause curled toe paralysis, so it is a good idea to treat with riboflavin, or vitamin B complex 1/2 tablet daily, even though Mareks could still be the problem. Mareks can best be diagnosed after death with a necropsy, so I would contact the state vet for one if you lose him. Be sure to refrigerate the body before taking or sending it for a necropsy. Here is a link about state vet contact info:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[ChickNanny13]

Update us on his condition in a few days hopefully the vitamins will improve his condition

 

[rebrascora]

I've put him on Vitamin E and seretine sp? 3 times a day for the last couple of days

I'm not sure what you mean by seretine but if you mean selenium then you may be over dosing him and it can be toxic. Only a tiny amount is necessary to activate he vitamin E and there is enough in a little egg or tuna to provide that. Sadly the vaccine in not always effective for Marek's, so as others have said it is still a possible cause of his symptoms and at 7 months he is a prime age to suffer an outbreak.

 

[Eggcessive]

Vitamin E can also be overdosed as well as selenium. 400 IU of vitamin E with a little chopped cooked egg or tuna would be all that is necessary. But vitamin B complex is also good to use, and the human tablets are easily crushed into food.

 

[Deblett]

Sorry to interupt this post, but I was intrigued by the post about Mareks possibly being triggered by stress. My chickens were attacked by a fox 3 days ago and only one survived and appeared to have no injuries other than a drooping tucked head. 2 of us scoured the rest of her body and could find nothing wrong except possible shock. She stands in a hunched posotion with her head dropped not too disimilar to the OP picture and I was worried she had a broken neck but she still eats with assistance and attempts to drink, so I feed her food and water 4/5 times a day and she has calmed down. Her poop seems normal, she even laid an egg yesterday, i didn't realise until I was checking her box for poop and found the egg stuck to her feathers and gave her a warm bath and gradually eased dryed poop and egg off. Her vent is clean and healthy looking, but after 3 days although she can move her head from side to side, she can only lift it a little and briefly. I would have thought if it was broken, she wouldn't be able to eat or move it? What other symptoms would indicate Mareks, her toes arn't curled as she can stand for short periods but gets a bit wobbly after about 5 mins. She basically spends the whole time lying in her box and doesn't stand unless I pick her up into a standing position. Would Mareks be immediate from shock or does it develop over time? Thank you

 

[rebrascora]

Sorry to interupt this post, but I was intrigued by the post about Mareks possibly being triggered by stress. My chickens were attacked by a fox 3 days ago and only one survived and appeared to have no injuries other than a drooping tucked head. 2 of us scoured the rest of her body and could find nothing wrong except possible shock. She stands in a hunched posotion with her head dropped not too disimilar to the OP picture and I was worried she had a broken neck but she still eats with assistance and attempts to drink, so I feed her food and water 4/5 times a day and she has calmed down. Her poop seems normal, she even laid an egg yesterday, i didn't realise until I was checking her box for poop and found the egg stuck to her feathers and gave her a warm bath and gradually eased dryed poop and egg off. Her vent is clean and healthy looking, but after 3 days although she can move her head from side to side, she can only lift it a little and briefly. I would have thought if it was broken, she wouldn't be able to eat or move it? What other symptoms would indicate Mareks, her toes arn't curled as she can stand for short periods but gets a bit wobbly after about 5 mins. She basically spends the whole time lying in her box and doesn't stand unless I pick her up into a standing position. Would Mareks be immediate from shock or does it develop over time? Thank you

I'm so sorry for your losses. Fox attacks are horrid!
Yes, it can come on that suddenly, so it certainly is possible that she is experiencing an outbreak of Marek's following the fox attack, but it may also just be that the muscles of her neck were strained if the fox had hold of her.
When she lies down is she still upright or does she roll over onto her side with her legs out? There are so many different symptoms that may or may not exhibit with Marek's that it is hard to list them all and your bird might have none of them and it still be Marek's. If she is lying over on her side or her legs are stuck out either both forward or backwards or one forward and one back (classic Marek's splits posture) that would be more likely to indicate Marek's, but it can be as subtle as having difficulty keeping one eyelid fully open all the time or one pupil slightly more dilated than the other and those are just neurological symptoms. There are also 3 other forms of the disease.... visceral, cutaneous and ocular Marek's as well as secondary infections like coccidiosis, respiratory disease, intestinal and reproductive infections and internal and external parasites which can occur due to the bird's immune system being compromised by the Marek's virus. Some birds will just suffer one form of the disease, the neurological form being the commonest but often the visceral form will be underlying and kill the bird. This would explain why some recover from the neurological symptoms because they have not developed the internal tumours whilst others with neurological symptoms decline and die even though they receive supportive care, because tumours on their organs cause breakdown and failure. I have had birds with neurological and visceral Marek's but not experienced the ocular or cutaneous versions.... so far.
The best you can do for your girl is offer a vitamin supplement and good nutrition and hope she recovers. I would wait until she has been symptom free for some time before introducing any new birds and perhaps give the coop a good clean out with Virkon S which is active against the Marek's virus. It is not possible to eliminate the virus from your properly once you have it, but the coop is the most likely location for infectious material to survive and re-infect, so giving it a good clean out and spray down with a virucide is worth doing in my opinion. Virkon S can be purchased in small sachets that dilute in a bucket of water for probably 3-4 euros (£2 here in the UK) so not expensive and I just do a clean out and then spray the inside, paying particular attention to the nooks and crannies where infected dander dust can collect.
I hope she just has a strained muscle and shock and picks up with some TLC but even if she does recover, don't rule out that it could be Marek's. Introducing new birds will be a stressful time so be very careful how you go about that and make it as slow and steady as possible and observe quarantine procedures because they may be carrying diseases that her immune system is not equipped to cope with.
Good luck!

 

[Deblett]

She lays down normally and occasionally stands for a while, the first day she barely moved and couldn't keep her eyes open but she has become more & more alert and her eyes are open most of the day now, so fingers crossed that she is just badly bruised/sore around her neck and will improve. But whilst I hve her in a box with me, I will use the opportunity to give the coop and run a damn good clean & disenfect just in case. Thank you for taking the time to advise.

 

[Spruceroost]

I'm not sure what you mean by seretine but if you mean selenium then you may be over dosing him and it can be toxic. Only a tiny amount is necessary to activate he vitamin E and there is enough in a little egg or tuna to provide that. Sadly the vaccine in not always effective for Marek's, so as others have said it is still a possible cause of his symptoms and at 7 months he is a prime age to suffer an outbreak.

Not to worry, I take a 200 mg selenium tablet and break it into eighths and give him just one piece each time. I have been using the vitamin E gel tablet 400ui and poking a hole and squeezing it in his break. Eating and drinking require full assistance but he seems to be better. I'll keep everyone updated!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Not to worry, I take a 200 mg selenium tablet and break it into eighths and give him just one piece each time. I have been using the vitamin E gel tablet 400ui and poking a hole and squeezing it in his break. Eating and drinking require full assistance but he seems to be better. I'll keep everyone updated!

A daily dose of Selenium for a chicken is 25mcg - that is Micro grams not Milligrams
even if you split a 200mg tablet into eights you are still overdosing. (25mg=25000mcg)
Eliminate the Selenium tablets and just give the egg or tuna as suggested by @rebrascora a little egg or tuna is sufficient for the uptake of E.

 

[Eggcessive]

Just wondering if they are using 200 mcg tablets like these, not 200 mg: