Chicken virus affecting nerves

[Nambroth]

I'm currently trying to read your post, I have no clue on how to deal with this if it is mareks, when I got my chickens I had one blind one, and about a month ago I had my 1/2 battery hen have a prolapse and infections with ulcers in the vent, the vet said if it didn't heal then it could be tumors, and I would have been more than happy to pay for surgery as crazy as it seems. If it could have been tumors that's mareks all over and now this one aswell

Quite a few of us deal with Marek's in our flocks and still enjoy chickens. If it's Marek's, the very best thing you can do is to find out for sure, and educate yourself on the disease so you know how to deal with it.

It might not be Marek's, in which case you'd deal with the problem differently for the most part, so finding out for sure would be great if you can. There are things that "look" like Marek's disease, and so you must consider that there are several possibilities.

I know this is frustrating and you are just looking for an answer! It is very hard. I know, I have been in your shoes.

If there anywhere in England that will do testing for you? Here in the states they can test via necropsy of a dead bird, or a blood sample from a live bird. I don't know what resources you have over there.

 

[laurengeeves]

Yeah I'm going to call up the vets to see if she can be tested, and if they don't do it I'll call up every vet going, I read your post about trousers, so sad I'll let you know what they say

 

[Nambroth]

I hope you can find answers, and that the price of testing is low!
Even if you can not find someone nearby that will do the testing, most vets can draw a blood sample and then ship it to someone that will. The best place for a blood draw on a chicken is generally under the wing.

 

[laurengeeves]

Called the vets at 11am and got told they would call me back, I called them again at 4pm and they said they will call me in a bit and they never did. There is another vets that said I could bring her to the clinic on Monday, but all vets are shut till Monday now so I'll call my vets back up Monday morning. As for money it's about £38- £40 for a cats blood test so it should be around that which isn't a problem for me. She's refusing to eat so tube feeding might be an option, how would you go about doing it and could you tube water aswell? Thank you for all your answers and support nambroth

 

[laurengeeves]

She's been with my partner all day and she's got worse, she won't pull her wings in, and won't stand up, I'm guessing that she's not going to recover anymore :/

 

[Nambroth]

I'm so sorry that she seems to be doing worse. Only you can judge her condition, since you are with her in person and we are not! So use your best judgement on if you want to try to tube her to help get something into her system.
If you want to try tube feeding her, here are some guides: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-for-visuals-very-detailed-post#post_11652991

If nothing else, getting her hydrated at this point is very important if she has not been drinking much for you. Dehydration will kill much faster than starvation.

I hope she can recover!

 

[seminolewind]

It does sound like Marek's but I would consider cancer or tumors. I would also think about her quality of life.

 

[laurengeeves]

After finally getting the vet to call me, they said that they don't do blood testing for it and I'd have to have a dead bird to give them. We booked an appointment to get her put down as it had been a week and 3 days tomorrow.. And she's not moving and has the majority of your signs on your post. It would cost around £200 to find out if she has it with cutting her open, which I can afford but I hate the idea of it, and they said I couldn't get her back if she has it then there is no cure and no full vaccine, so I might just say they have all got it and get the others vaccinated, opinion?

 

[Nambroth]

After finally getting the vet to call me, they said that they don't do blood testing for it and I'd have to have a dead bird to give them. We booked an appointment to get her put down as it had been a week and 3 days tomorrow.. And she's not moving and has the majority of your signs on your post. It would cost around £200 to find out if she has it with cutting her open, which I can afford but I hate the idea of it, and they said I couldn't get her back

if she has it then there is no cure and no full vaccine, so I might just say they have all got it and get the others vaccinated, opinion?

I'm very sorry to hear this. Is there truly nowhere in England that will do diagnostic PCR testing for livestock disease? Are there any agricultural centers you can call and see if they can recommend anywhere? Even if you put your hen down and do the gross necropsy (cutting her open), it is not a 100% thing. Lymphomas can suggest Marek's, but they might also suggest other diseases. The lesions on the sciatic nerve that some vets examine is not always present in Marek's positive birds, either. £200 is very expensive for a gross necropsy, and is more than what the blood testing cost me even with shipping fees. Maybe you can find an alternative. I hope for the best for you!

If it does indeed turn out to be Marek's disease, all of your other chickens that have been around your poor hen have already been exposed. Any chicken that has been in her proximity or has lived where she's passed through is likely to have been exposed. The virus is airborne via very very fine (tiny) dust and spreads very easily to other birds. All they need to do is breathe it in once. Vaccinating them is generally thought to be completely pointless after they are exposed to the disease. They can still develop natural resistance to it, though. Many people do have chickens that are not vaccinated, go on to live with no symptoms.

If you ever bring in or hatch new chicks, however, you can have them vaccinated properly (proper vaccination must be done before they are 36 hours old out of the shell), and quarantine them strictly for at least 3-4 weeks. Vaccination is not a guarantee, but it can help reduce losses quite a bit, depending on the strain you may be dealing with.

If it is Marek's, it might be worth it to read the article from head to toe so you are better prepared for how to deal with it in your surviving flock.

I'm very sorry your hen does not seem to be improving. I was so hoping she would recover for you!!

 

[laurengeeves]

Called up the best vets and they called the lab and they said they won't do it.. So went to the vets as planned and got her put down because it's not fair when we went into the room the avian specialist was saying " with her disease" " the problem with this disease" funny how she trying to pretend that she knew it was mareks,I asked her if she thought it was and her response was " I'm almost certain".. She said there is no point in getting the necropsy because there's nothing that can be done. And getting the others vaccinated would be pointless as you can only get it in masses of enough to do 1000 birds.. But apparently because they have quiet a big area the others might not have it, which I doubt! We are expecting a few guinea fowl chicks around late June, so we will have to take them away before they hatch so they can be vaccinated. Thank you all so much for your help with this, nambroth I might message you again in the future on advice on the chicks, and any questions if that's okay. You've all been such a great help and I really so appreciate helping me though such a difficult and challenging time