Curled up toes and walking in a squat position--Help?

[threehorses]

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I was one of the lucky (?) ones to have a Marek's case that the bird survived. It was ocular mareks - I actually had two over the years, but no other Marek's cases even with unvaccinated birds. (I buy vaccinated birds now and always quarantine from the older birds til 5 months. There is a theory out that ocular mareks (grey eye or pupil changes) are birds that had true Marek's but survived, never the neoplasias which are the hallmark of the "range paralysis" version of the disease.

So Marek's is so tricky. Necropsies are really the only way we ever really know - except possible the combination of pupil changes with the "splits" of Marek's. And I do think a lot of people automatically fear Marek's, because it is rather scary, but there are fewer blatent cases of it than most people think, and (ironically) probably a lot more latent cases than they'd ever imagine!

I used to really worry about Marek's, and I just wore myself out. So I just stopped.

Seeing a bird in a slow decline like that has to be one of the most frustrating things of all - yes, because of the attachment, but also because of the lingering hope. "Well, she's still here so maybe if I...." You know?

In any case, I'm very sorry that you and your daughters are having to go through this. It is a good lesson in the ups and downs of life (even for those of us who are already grown up) but darn it, it's a hard lesson and not at all fun.

Again, my condolences.

 

[chicknmania]

Thank you I read some of your information yesterday, as well as some others, and that is how I was able to sleep last night though I still woke up at three thirty...the information on here was very informative and helped alleviate some fears. I'm hoping my flock will be ok.

 

[chicknmania]

Also, I wanted to point out something I thought was interesting; originaly I thought she had runting syndrome b/c she was tiny; all her siblings and parents were standard size, on the smaller side, but she never grew to be bigger than a sparrow. That[s partly why we got so attached. She also had poor feathering; she still had chick fuzz on her head. But later I read that Marek's can also affect growth and cause poor feathering. It is tricky, and confusing.

 

[threehorses]

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I don't think I would have been able to sleep, either. /more hugs

I'm glad the information helped you get some rest. Digging up and learning the information is how I got rest sometimes when I had some worries, so I do know the feeling and hate you're going through it.

 

[100AcreFarm]

Wow! I ignored my thread for a few days and it went off on a bunny trail! I'm glad someone else could be helped by it as well.

Just an update: My birdie is still pretty wimpy and crouched down all the time. I *think* she's able to get around a tiny bit easier but on the flip side I think she's stopped trying to get around as much as she needs to in order to get to the food and water as much as she should. I've been giving her polyvisol every day (3 drops) and a spoon full of yogurt and mashed egg yolk. I haven't been able to be very consistent though due to being gone alot this past week with my work schedule and hauling my son across the state to college orientation. She feels very bony to me too. She wouldn't be very good as a meal herself!
A good thing--I have the next 6 days off work...YAY!!! So, I'm thinking about bringing her up to the house each morning and feeding her separately so I know she's getting a fair amount. I'm figuring some mixtures of crumbles, yogurt, oatmeal, egg, vitamins and fruit. Should I plan to do that more than once in the morning? Maybe more like 3 times a day until I see some good improvement? Or would it be better to get her totally isolated so she can really rest up and not have to compete for food at all?

I was reading on another thread that feeding other grains depletes the protein and/or other nutrients. I've been erring by tossing out more scratch than usual to them each day thinking it was more "fattening" and would be helpful but its probably doing just the opposite. I'll cut way back on the scratch!

If this is a vitamin deficiency, how long should it be until I see some serious improvement? And then should I keep treating for a while longer after she seems better as well or would that be overkill? All in all she doesn't appear to be getting any worse even if she's not getting much better. I suppose that's a good thing for a start.

(I don't know how to edit the thread title to indicate an update)

 

[threehorses]

Because she's still squatty, I'd just keep her in a smaller area so she just eats and doesn't have to do much other than heal - if possible. I definitely like the meal-of-her-own idea and I think that's necessary. I'd not put much fruit - I'd do yogurt, crumbles, egg, vitamins in the mouth - so you know she's got it. I'd only use oatmeal in tiny amounts if she'll eat the entire bite (and get vitamins from it).

And yes - grains do, but handfuls don't. You can feed a good bit of grain, but I usually recommend that at least 90% of their total diet be the fortified food - which really 10% is a lot. I feed milo/corn based scratch grains in handfuls as milo is a cheap grain, but apparently some peoples' feedstores have oat/barley/corn scratch - that can be fed in greater amounts (under the 10%).

If this is a vitamin deficiency, I'd think with daily intense treatment you'd see some changes within 3 days - serious improvement depends on what caused the vitamin deficiency. And I honestly have NO idea how to put "update" on the thread title. I really need to find out how. /blush

 

[hinkjc]

To change your title, go to your first post and click 'edit'.

Keeping my fingers crossed for more improvement for your girl.