contracting Mareks at 29 months?

[LisaMarie81]

I have a Bantam Barred Plymouth Rock Hen. 2 ½ years old. who up until this past weekend has been healthy from what I’ve observed.

Walked out to the coop Saturday to see her sitting on the ground. When she stood I noticed she was not using one leg at all.

We immediately isolated her and made sure she was eating and drinking fine (which she is).

There was no improvement over the past 48 hours so vet visit this morning

Vet said no break or any sign of trauma/damage to the leg or foot. She does not appear to be in any pain, but will not weight bear on it. Vet said possibly Mareks, but they unfortunately do not have the ability to test for it there, so I’m bringing her home and going to try antibiotics for a couple weeks (per the vets suggestion just in case it’s something else) and if I observe a constant downhill consistent with Marek’s we’ll put her down humanely.

I’m a little confused though. She was vaccinated as a chick (the whole flock was), they have been together since with no other birds entering the flock. She is exactly 29 months of age (if you put it in months) and they say it’s usually in chicks up to 4 months and rarely can occur up to 30 months. Also the foot/leg is not dragging or splayed out front, it’s tucked up with the foot curled. Any other suggestions? With no sign of visible damage? And given her age and how she’s holding it could it still be Mareks?

Thanks

I do not have her with me now but can provide a photo of how she is holding the leg once I get her home.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. It sounds like she could have symptoms of Mareks, but an injury that has caused some nerve involvement might also be a problem. I would start some vitamin B complex which has riboflavin, in case of a riboflavin deficiency. If you want to try to get a sample of her blood serum, and contact them for details, there is a test that can be done by this Texas lab for about $20:
http://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf
If you should lose her or decide to put her down at some point, your state vet most like can do a Mareks test with a necropsy, if you keep the body cold, but not frozen.
Mareks can affect older chickens if exposed to a carrier and at least 3 or more weeks have passed. It doesn’t seem very likely that she would develop symptoms this late if she was vaccinated.

 

[LisaMarie81]

Thank you for the advice Eggcessive. I will get her some vitamins to help out.
I agree that I thought it unlikely she would develop it this late in her life. The only possible carriers she could have been exposed to would have been wild fowl. I live on a lake. We have many ducks, geese, blue herons, bald eagles, hawks, etc. She has not been around any other chickens though.
I'll pick up the vitamins and continue on the antibiotic and see what happens.
Crossing my fingers she recovers, but even if she does her coopmates are full size birds. She was raised with them so never any issues, but now that I've removed her I'm sure reintroduction will not go well at all. UGH.

 

[LisaMarie81]

Even more confused. She's not holding it up anymore amd the toes are not curled (they were). It almost looks normal but she still can't put any weight on it. She looks fine otherwise. No weakness anywhere else, eyes look clear.
I guess only time will tell

 

[LisaMarie81]

Pretty sure I'm going to have to put her down. She's not getting any better and seems to almost be getting worse. Her balance is terrible and she was at least balancing on one leg on Monday. My daughter is in tears.