Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

I'm glad to see that CarolAnn is doing better. I'm much better than last weekend, but we are putting windows in the shed (rapidly becoming a coop) yesterday, and I overdid it a bit. I just need to give it time. I am able to do my stretches and walking again though, so it won't be long.

I have an excellent chiropractor who is keeping me on my feet.

Sharol

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[FondofChicks]

One of my chickens is acting strangely. She seems to have a balance issue and is not holding up her right wing. Occasionally falls/steps sideways while at the feeder. I looked her all over and see no damage as if she was attacked by something. All feathers are in place. When I hold her she will just lay however I put her. First noticed it this morning when she did not come out of the coop with the other girls. She will eat or drink if it is near but doesn't seem to want to go to the trouble if it is not. Checked on her this afternoon and she was back up in the coop and laying on her back. I put her in quarantine. She seems alert but does not want to walk or mover around much. Any ideas what it could be?

 

[Ivywoods]

I don't have any idea, but if I were you I would post a new thread where more people would see it and possibly give you some idea.

Good luck.

 

[Naughty]

I like the idea of going out for coffee/cocoa/pepsi with some locals... I am in the Wichita area and would love to hang with people who don't roll their eyes when I talk about my girls... lol

Anyone want to meet up at a Mcds with a play place so our un-feathered children can run wild? Lol

 

[mikeksfarmer]

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In some ways this sounds like a broken hip to me. The wing droop may be due to fatigue or for balance. Had a fox attack one of my girls and broke her hip. She couldnt stand for a month. If she tried she would end up on her back. For two months she stayed in a card board box on my kitchen table so she could see her sisters out the window. Her name is now "Foxy" and she is one of my favorite Girls. We have a special friendship and she always walks with a big limp.
I recomend a box of hay, her own feed and a warm water jug to help her recover. Kitchen table not required.

 

[FondofChicks]

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Sounds good to me. Except my un-feathered ones are 19 and 20 and off at college. So it would be just me.

 

[FondofChicks]

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This is what I am thinking. Or some sort of sprain. She is eating and drinking well but just avoids moving. I put her out in the yard and she walked slowly, deliberately for about a yard and stopped. I put her in the run for a little social time and she walked over to the feeder and ate a bit. Then rolled over on her back and closed her eyes. I clapped my hands and said "No! This is not the time to die." She opened her eyes. I picked her up and took her back to the box. I felt her legs and can't feel anything unusual now does she react differently on either leg. Seems to have good strength in both legs. She is VERY content to be held.

 

[Katy]

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This is what I am thinking. Or some sort of sprain. She is eating and drinking well but just avoids moving. I put her out in the yard and she walked slowly, deliberately for about a yard and stopped. I put her in the run for a little social time and she walked over to the feeder and ate a bit. Then rolled over on her back and closed her eyes. I clapped my hands and said "No! This is not the time to die." She opened her eyes. I picked her up and took her back to the box. I felt her legs and can't feel anything unusual now does she react differently on either leg. Seems to have good strength in both legs. She is VERY content to be held.

Having a balance issue and loss of control of legs and wings can also be a sign of Marek's.

 

[mikeksfarmer]

From Google One smart bird that Kathy is! Could very well be Mareks


MAREKS 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.

Mareks is a member of the herpesvirus family of viruses. It is also known as 'Range Paralysis'. Mareks is spread through airborne feather dander so microscopic that it can spread from one farm to another via the wind, even when no human or bird contact is made between the two farms. The virus enters through the bird's respiratory tract.

The turkey version is Herpes Virus Turkey (HVT), and the waterfowl version is known as Duck Virus Enteritis (or DVE). All three are from the same family of viruses.

It's not common for MD, HVT, and DVE to cross over between chickens, turkeys, and ducks kept together, but it has happened.

The study of Mareks Disease in poultry is exciting because it has had a profound effect on cancer research in all species, including human. And the Mareks vaccine for chickens was the first time medical science was able to produce an effective cancer vaccine for any species.

There are a few different types of Mareks in chickens. The most common are eye, visceral (tumor producing), and nerve.

The nerve version is known by some Fanciers as 'down in the leg', and symptoms range from slight to severe paralysis in the wings, legs, or neck, and usually results in death from trampling by other chickens, and/or the inability to get to food and water. There can be 'transient' paralysis that disappears after a few days, such as a dropped wing that suddenly corrects itself. In the eye version, you'll detect an irregularly shaped pupil, cloudy eye ('gray eye'), or sensitivity to light. It can result in blindness. The visceral version should be considered when a bird is just generally 'wasting'.

Mareks is extremely contagious but does not spread vertically (to the egg). Youngsters should develop a natural immunity (called 'age resistance'), by the time they're five months old. This is one of the reasons it is important to raise your youngsters separately from your oldsters. The older birds that have encountered Mareks and have managed to survive are carriers. New birds coming in from other flocks are always potential carriers.

Mareks usually hits between 5 and 25 weeks of age, but can appear even later if the bird had 'latent' MD and is substantially stressed. However, if the bird is a few years old, I would suspect a similar disease called Lymphoid Leukosis (which does pass to the egg). Both diseases will produce internal lesions (or tumors), detectable upon post mortem examination, but LL does not produce paralysis.

Since it is so difficult to control your birds' exposure to Mareks, (showing, bringing in new birds, airborne spread from other farms), the best course is prevention. That starts with completely sanitizing your brooders. Then consider the Mareks vaccine, which is available in a freeze-dried form through a few of the mail-order suppliers, and is easy to administer to day-old chicks. The downside is that you have to administer the vaccine within one-half hour of mixing it with the fluid it comes with (diluent), and you have to plan your hatching to accommodate the 'all-or-none' vaccination within a day or two of hatch. (After one hour of mixing the Mareks vaccine, the active virus dies and the vaccine becomes ineffective.)

You'll inject the vaccine under the skin at the back of the neck (subtecaneously). Be careful though, you could stick right through to the other side and vaccinate the floor instead of the chick!

There are certain 'B factors' contained in the blood of some chickens that make them resistant to Mareks. If you have access to a lab for 'B type' blood testing, 'B factor' birds are desirable for breeding for a 'Mareks-free' flock.

Overall, the easiest way by keep Mareks out of your flock (but not the most effective), is to promote 'age resistance' by keeping your youngsters separate from the adults and away from the poultry shows until they're over 5 months old.

 

[FondofChicks]

Reading about Mereks it says the chicken often dies from being trampled by the other chickens. When mine layed down the others did walk on her, I thought that was odd. It says the paralysis may only last a couple days and then they may act fine but die later from internal tumors. This was my nicest bird. My neighbors daughter picked it as her favorite. You could feed it by hand and would hardly feel it peck for the food. Do any chickens recover from Mereks? It sounds like many chickens are carriers but not effected by the virus.