Chicken lacks balance, sits on heels with both legs forward

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Quote:
~Okay, thanks so much. I have been looking up everything I can find about Marek's. It's like she has the leg issues but I don't think she is actually "paralyzed" as they say with Marek's mainly because she can still scoot around on them. Also, I have read the chicken's eyes turn gray but her's are still bright yellow. And she is 8-10 months old...I am hoping she is too old to get it. Do you know if wild birds carry Marek's? She does hang out around their feeders a lot.

Read further. Some of the information states that the chickens can "appear" to recover, but later die from "unknown causes" when it was in fact Marek's all along. I still have not found my favorite informational source about Marek's, but here are some more:

http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page9.htm An excerpt:

DISEASE (MD), is a common virus that causes internal lesions (tumors), and kills more birds than any other disease. It is so common that you should assume you have it in your flock, even if you detect no evidence.

http://extension.unh.edu/Agric/Docs/mareks.pdf

http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2005/spring/mareks.htm

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/mareks2.pdf

 

[Amanda4TCU]

Quote:
~Okay, thanks so much. I have been looking up everything I can find about Marek's. It's like she has the leg issues but I don't think she is actually "paralyzed" as they say with Marek's mainly because she can still scoot around on them. Also, I have read the chicken's eyes turn gray but her's are still bright yellow. And she is 8-10 months old...I am hoping she is too old to get it. Do you know if wild birds carry Marek's? She does hang out around their feeders a lot.

Read further. Some of the information states that the chickens can "appear" to recover, but later die from "unknown causes" when it was in fact Marek's all along. I still have not found my favorite informational source about Marek's, but here are some more:

http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page9.htm An excerpt:

DISEASE (MD), is a common virus that causes internal lesions (tumors), and kills more birds than any other disease. It is so common that you should assume you have it in your flock, even if you detect no evidence.

http://extension.unh.edu/Agric/Docs/mareks.pdf

http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2005/spring/mareks.htm

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/mareks2.pdf

~oh my goodness...thank you. There is so much info here! I am praying it's not Marek's but I just don't have any other explanations except a possible vitamin deficiancy. I have started her on Polyvisol and Vit B complex today. Hopefully that will help....

 

[El Federico]

Thanks, guys, I learned so much.

I did my research yesterday and I got four suspects: botulism, Marek's, lymphoid leukosis and (according to my mom) vitamin deficiency. I'm going with vitamin deficiency, but it doesn't matter now. The bird just got culled a few minutes ago. Oh, well. He was always destined for the dinner table, anyway.
Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Gonda]

I just had a rooster put down this morning. He was about 20 weeks old and started limping last week, favouring one leg. He deteriorated quickly this week. Couldn't stand well yesterday, was toppling forward when he stood up. By evening, he was lying with his legs stretched out behind him. I put him in a kennel as he kept trying to be where the others were. This morning he was still looking quite perky, but was sitting with one leg forward. He was vaccinated for Mareks but I understand they can still get it. The woman I bought him from picked him up and her husband did the tough thing on my behalf. It was too hard to watch. So we don't have confirmation that it was Mareks but it sounds like it could be. It seemed like his legs were paralyzed last night. It progressed very quickly. I don't know if that's typical of Mareks. But I knew it was something more than a pulled or twisted leg. I was giving him anti inflammatory medication and that didn't help.

I hope your chicken does well! It wasn't nice to watch this poor guy struggle.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

I believe I posted a link to a UC Davis site/publication about Marek's. It suggested that Marek's is so common that EVERY chicken owner should ASSUME it is in their flock EVEN IF THEIR IS NO SIGN. It also mentions (or one of the links mentions) that a chicken can have Marek's but appear to "recover" only to die later of "unknown causes" -- to the chicken owner that is, but it was Marek's all along.

Might be worth taking Marek's seriously.