Could this be Marek's? Anything I can do????

[bananas1024]

Hi all. My favorite chicken, Splash Maran named Dolly, is sick. She can't stand well and when she does she falls over. Labored breathing. Laying her head down and closing her eyes. Her comb and waddles are changing color drastically minute to minute.. red to pink to pale to red again. I have her separated and she is eating and drinking a little. Holding her wings away from her body. She is 5 moths old and i have been waiting for her to lay her first egg. Could she be egg bound? Worms? Two pictures of her different colored combs attached. Heat exhaustion? Is it definitely Marek? She is still moving around some

 

[azygous]

Several things besides Marek's can cause these symptoms. One is, as you've already considered, heat stress. It can affect balance and cause leg weakness. The treatment is electrolytes and sugar in cool water every hour until symptoms improve.

Another, not treatable, is exposure to petroleum distillates such as hydraulic fluid dripping onto soil where chickens peck up grit. Other automotive fluids can also cause these problems. If you have a backyard mechanic, it may be someone recently flushed out a radiator onto the ground.

Toadstools, poison mushrooms and toxic plants and berries can also cause these symptoms. Activated charcoal may help if treated soon enough.

 

[bananas1024]

Thank you for this insight. In hopes it is heat exposure, I brought her inside yesterday to get some AC and she is doing much better, no panting, less drastic flopping, able to sit up. She still is not standing well this morning though and I have noticed a decline in eating and no drinking... still hopeful.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can insert a clean or gloved finger inside her vent to check for a stuck egg. But she sounds overheated and weak. I would keep food and water close to her, and it might be good to give 2 ml of Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell daily for a couple of days. Those have vitamins and electrolytes. Look her over for evidence of lice or mites on her lower belly and body. A chicken sling or chair might be something to consider using, and here are some examples:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[bananas1024]

I had another chicken that had been acting strange but I thought she broke her wing in a fuss with the dogs... It had been dragging and she was lethargic but nothing like Dolly.

I had tried a sling but to no avail and just thought it would heal on her own but I found her dead in the pin this afternoon... Now i am pretty convinced it's Mareks...

 

[bananas1024]

You can insert a clean or gloved finger inside her vent to check for a stuck egg. But she sounds overheated and weak. I would keep food and water close to her, and it might be good to give 2 ml of Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell daily for a couple of days. Those have vitamins and electrolytes. Look her over for evidence of lice or mites on her lower belly and body. A chicken sling or chair might be something to consider using, and here are some examples:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

Thank you for this. I am going to try this... afraid i might just be prolonging death now!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Some other things that can look like Mareks are botulism from eating something buried underground or underwater such as a dead animal or fish, moldy feed, toxic plants, or other kinds of poison.

Most state poultry vets will perform a necropsy on a dead chicken whose body has been kept cold, not frozen, and taken or shipped to them. They can look for or test for Mareks. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[bananas1024]

Hi again! Just wanted to seek help one last time... This chicken is 100% there mentally. She is bright. She is eating so much and seems to be generally happy other than she just simply cannot stand and keeps flopping to her right side. She can occasionally get a good run in with her sings spread and then she just flops right over. I am going to put her down and get her necropsied tomorrow but I am wondering if any one has any last minute ideas. I took her to the vet and have been giving her antibiotics and inflammatory. She's been loving clover, eggs, blueberries, and sunflower seeds... She just lays on her side constantly and cannot balance even while sitting.

 

[bananas1024]

There are no injuries on her. Wondering if it could be a tumor or something? I tried the sling/chair and it was helpful but she kept getting out.

 

[Birds of a Feather]

Marek’s often causes tumors which can contribute to the paralysis.