Do you think Mareks disease or maybe vitamin deficiency?

[groomer530]

yesterday I found my serama rooster laying on his back I picked him up and put him on his feet and he continued to walk backwards and looks like he can't balance, I kept him inside overnight to keep an eye on him, during the night he ended up on his back again, I put him on his feet again and he backed into a corner again. This morning he has a seizure and I took him to the vet. I told him I read about a vitamin deficiency that can cause those symptoms and I read about wry neck, he went and got a book and looked in it and he said he thinks it's Merrick's desease or trauma, he gave me some steroid medication to help with trauma and said in 5 says if he's not improving I should put him down, is there anyone who has experienced this and their chicken turned out ok? He's over a year old and I only have one other chicken I don't know how he could of gotten Merrick's but I'm no vet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

What do you feed?

It would be hard to know what's wrong unless you lose him and have additional testing/necropsy.

The symptoms you describe do sound neurological so Marek's disease or trauma are possibilities.

I would try vitamin therapy to see if that makes a difference. Give him 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex once a day along with some scrambled egg. Ensure that he's drinking well and eating a nutritionally balanced feed. For a little rooster like that I would give him chick starter to eat.

 

[groomer530]

Thank you, attached is a video of how he is, he cant balance well, right now I'm giving him vitamin E selenium and B

 

[Ebony Rose]

Upload the video to youtube then post the link here.

 

[groomer530]

Here is a video of my mini rooster, he's been like this for a few days now, what could be wrong? Vet thinks Mareks disease, some say vitamin deficiency and it takes time to see improvement, I don't want him to suffer either in case it's Mareks I've been giving him vitamin B vitamin E and selenium, he can't balance and sits on his butt he'll get up and walk for a sec and then get off balance again, very wabbled, he Will end up on his back sometimes because of his off balance, he also has a small seizure a day.

 

[groomer530]

Ok

 

[groomer530]

If I give him the vitamin therapy how long do you think it would take to see any progress someone said it could take a couple weeks

 

[Eggcessive]

Your video may need to be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo with a link posted here for use to see it. How old is he? Make sure that he can reach food and water, or you may need to feed him 2-3 times a day. If you should lose him in the future, it might be good to contact your state vet for a necropsy and testing for Mareks. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[groomer530]

the video

 

[groomer530]

He's a year old