Cant walk anymore

[jasonw]

Something very strange happened to one of my Bantam chicks that I hope someone can help with. We have 4 of them that are about 3 months old now. Up until now there have been no problems. Yesterday when I went to feed them I noticed it looked like one of them had a broken leg, She was just siting there with 1 leg bent behind her. I separated her and moved her closer to the house to keep an eye on her. Today I go out to feed them again and see she now cant use ether leg. I am starting to think it was not a broken leg but rather something ells. No of our vets will even advise on a chicken but one gave me a number to a bird specialist in the next county over who consequently was extremely rude on the phone "If all you want is to ask questions you will have to make an appointment" Needless to say I wont be making that appointment with her. I am at a total loss here. It seems to me its only a matter of time before the ants find the bird that can no longer walk. It seams to me the only thing left to do is put her out of her misery. Is there anything that could have caused this so I can avoid it in the future?

 

[RL]

Sounds like it could be Marek's disease, but I am no expert on chicken diseases. You might want to google it and see if the symptoms are what you are seeing and read about any steps you can take to protect the others in your flock.

 

[Emzyyy]

Quote:
That is what it sounds like. Don't let her near your other birds she will give it to them if they don't already have it. If she does the best thing to do is cull. I don't think there is a cure but I'm not so sure. Sorry about your girl

 

[horsejody]

Yes, that sounds like classic Marek's paralysis. If you want to attempt to save her, put her in a small cage witht the food and water right in front of her. Take her out everyday to clean the cage and check for improvement. It can take days, weeks or months. If it is Marek's, it may or may not go into remission. Marek's is everywhere. It is one of the most common chicken diseases in the world. If it is Marek's, she and your whole flock are carriers. Marek's survivors can live happily in remission, but you will need to inform anybody that you give or sell birds to about it. I would also recommend only getting vaccinated birds in the future. You will need to ensure that they are properly quarantined before and for at least 10 days after vaccination.

 

[jasonw]

Ok I read up on it and that's exactly what it is. One leg tucked under to the side and the other sticking strait back. On top of that I saw signs of the partial wing perailsis as well. I hope to god none of the other birds have it. She was in a cage with 3 other chicks that was next to the main coup but they were not in the coup with the adults. I guess its just a waiting game now. Is there any way to tell where it came from? I got these 4 chicks at about the same time as getting 2 older birds from a different place. I wander if sence she showed the signs first if its safe to say she was the one infected?

 

[horsejody]

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They will all "have" it because they have all been exposed. They are all carriers also. Just because the disease (a herpes virus) hasn't manifested itself, don't fool yourself into believing that they don't carry it.

 

[jasonw]

So if they all have it is it to late for the aforementioned vaccinations? Is there anything I should do to prevent from having to put anymore down?

 

[horsejody]

Chickens can survive Marek's. They don't always have to be put down. For the vaccine to be effective it has to be given to a chick before it is ever exposed to the virus. The virus can be found quite freely in the outdoor environment, on your clothes after being around unvaccinated older birds, on unvaccinated older birds, etc. It's airborn. People generally vaccinate chicks as day olds. It can be done when they are a few days older but only if they have been under strict quarantine and never exposed. After vaccination, they need to be under strict quarantine for at least ten days to get optimal immunity. Most unvaccinated adult chickens actually harbor the disease virus latent in their bodies even if the disease has never manifested itself. Because you have had the disease manifest itself, you may have a more virulent strain. Marek's usually rears its ugly head when the chickens are under stress.

 

[jasonw]

So there is really nothing I can do for the rest of the flock but hope? Its still safe for my family and I to eat the eggs isn't it?

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Yes, it's safe to eat the eggs. The rest of your flock may never show symptoms, but I would recommend very strongly that any additions be vaccinated.