Does this look like mareks disease*pics*

[Bella D]

Had to Cull my first chicken tonight well actually I tried about six times with a chicken in the cone and then had to call my neighbor over who worked on a chicken farm over to finish the job I couldn't do it although it was a lot more peaceful than I expected.
so about three days ago my healthy-looking Polish baby who's about 3 months old looked like she had a wing injury. When I picked her up to put her in the play pen I keep in the coop I use for the babies to separate her from the flock she seemed kind of skinny so I gave her extra food hard boiled eggs and vitamins I thought maybe she was being bullied away from the food.by the next day she was kind of sitting back on her Hocks and couldn't walk. This morning when I went in there she was feet splayed out, head rotated the wrong way she looked flat and was twitching. I moved her to a tote away from the flock. I had been calling around to find a vet. The one I talked to you yesterday told me they had an opening Monday I thought she would be okay until then but that is obviously not the case. It took me today to find a cone, get some clippers and actually have a time between taking care of my young kids to go out and cull this poor baby.
when I talked to the vet they thought it could have been some kind of metal toxic poisoning and that polish sometimes have neurological issues. But now that I'm looking around on this site I'm thinking it might be Mareks. I had asked her about necropsy it was around 200 but I'm also seeing on here I might be able to send it myself. I already buried this hen but if I see this again I guess I have to call right away and send the body to know if it's mareks. I'm pretty upset right now I've just had a bad year with chickens and I just hope I'm not going to lose the ones I already have . My daughter and I like to hatch and sell babies but we won't be doing that if we have Mareks. I also have way too many roosters and I've been trying to find homes for them and not sure if I should stop doing that now.
I cleaned my coop really good today and I'm giving everybody extra vitamins.
I don't think that she has the Marek's that affects the eyes. Im thinking it could be the neurological type.
any advice is appreciated this is very upsetting. Thanks in advance for your expertise

 

[AquaDuck]

Sorry about your loss!

The Marek's I've experienced had a longer illness period before getting that bad. Starting with stumbling, going over to paralyzed legs in about a week and general near-death shape in another week. (Many years ago so I don't quite remember. Any cases since, I've culled before they got that bad.)
So going from healthy to near-death in 3 days, I'm thinking not Marek's.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

about three days ago my healthy-looking Polish baby who's about 3 months old looked like she had a wing injury. When I picked her up to put her in the play pen I keep in the coop I use for the babies to separate her from the flock she seemed kind of skinny so I gave her extra food hard boiled eggs and vitamins I thought maybe she was being bullied away

by the next day she was kind of sitting back on her Hocks and couldn't walk.

This morning when I went in there she was feet splayed out, head rotated the wrong way she looked flat and was twitching.

when I talked to the vet they thought it could have been some kind of metal toxic poisoning and that polish sometimes have neurological issues. But now that I'm looking around on this site I'm thinking it might be Mareks.

I had asked her about necropsy it was around 200 but I'm also seeing on here I might be able to send it myself. I already buried this hen but if I see this again I guess I have to call right away and send the body to know if it's mareks.

I don't think that she has the Marek's that affects the eyes. Im thinking it could be the neurological type.

I'm sorry for your loss

Unfortunately the only way to know for sure if it's Marek's you are dealing with would be through necropsy/testing.
That said, the symptoms you describe do sound neurological, but there are many causes of that as well. It could be anything from head trauma, infection, vitamin deficiency to disease like Marek's.
What state do you live in? Some states the lab fees are quite reasonable, but other states require you going through your vet to get to them, it just all depends. I can help you find that information if you like so you have it in the future.

Again, I'm very sorry, I know it must have been hard, but I feel you did the right thing. It sure can hurt the heart, but ending her suffering was a kindness.

 

[Bella D]

thank you both for your replies. She went downhill really fast. I've been keeping a really close eye on everybody. She was fine that morning and then Wing droop by the afternoon.
I do have a predator that's got a couple of my chickens and has been stalking them. I thought I had everything secure but it's possible something could have tried to grab her through the fence.
wyorp rock i'm in Washington State. I would appreciate the information I'm going to go and get a little cooler all set up so if it happens again I will have everything I need to send the chicken if I can do it myself. If not I will take it to the vet and have them send it Just to be sure. I do have more young chickens her age and some that are only 2 months old so it'll be a wait and see if any of them are affected.
Do you think it's okay if I keep trying to find Roosters homes?
Thank you for your kind words about her culling. When I saw her and I knew that it was closed until Monday I knew it was up to me.I probably will be able to do it next time if I have to just because it was very very quick and It felt very humane. It's probably less humane to haul her an hour away to the vet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I honestly don't know if it's o.k. to re-home to roosters or not. You may want to mention to potential takers, that you did have a pullet mysteriously die suddenly, but the cause was unknown. It would be up to them then whether or not to risk it.
With young birds it could be so many things, it's just hard to know.

I'm sorry you are having to deal with this.

A quick look at Washington's lab system, it looks like you can submit your own carcasses instead of having to go through a vet (vets are $$$). Basic necropsy looks like it starts at $40.00, I'm sure they tack on small fees for other testing as necessary.
https://waddl.vetmed.wsu.edu/avian

 

[Bella D]

Thank you so much for that information. That is way cheaper than having to go through the vet I will just make sure I have the cooler so that I can send it if anybody else shows symptoms. So far everybody looks fine.
I think I'm going to wait a month before I list any more roosters if I haven't seen any symptoms in anybody I will just tell people that I had that hen pass from unknown reasons. I don't want to make anybody else's flock sick, although my hens would like it if I would get rid of some of these boys I only list them one at a time so hopefully they don't become dinner. It takes me all summer to find them homes.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

We’ve had a difficult year in chicken keeping due to Marek’s. It’s presented numerous ways, with some chicks failing to thrive, 2 months old dying of coccidiosis, losing pullets at point of lay, and lack of appetite/muscle wasting/hiding. Most but not all have had neurological disease. Some had a drooping wing or two. Other signs were curled toes, lack of coordination, head tilt, unable to stand, hunger and attempt to eat but the crop states empty because they can’t grab food. The classic sign of Marek’s is one leg forward and one leg back position; maybe half of ours have done that. Our major ages of mortality have been at 2 months and 6 months/point of lay. Some have died (or been euthanized) quickly, with some found dead and some whose neurological signs have progressed quickly in a few days. Others lingered for weeks, so I used slings and tube feedings and acyclovir and hoped that they’d recover, but they only temporarily improved. We’ve necropsied almost all at our state lab in Oklahoma and had the disease confirmed by a pathologist with poultry expertise. Until you confirm the first one, it can be a tough initial diagnosis for pathologists because it mimics many diseases. Our first two were only diagnosed with coccidiosis, because Marek’s decreases the function of the immnune system. On necropsy, ours have had tumors and/or swollen nerves, and often sepsis/infected crop/salpingitis, etc due to the immune dysfunction. We don’t sell or give away chickens. We’ve managed to live with it, and we are breeding chicks for our own replacements and have ordered some chicks, but only if vaccinated for Marek’s with the Rispens vaccine. Wishing the best for you and that you don’t have this disease.

 

[Bella D]

Thank you for sharing how this affected your flock and how you're handling it. It's nice to know but it isn't the end of the world. it's pretty devastating to think about what it's going to do to my flock. I've just been watching them wondering who I'm going to have to cull next ,it's pretty sad.
Yesterday another one of my polish hens started stumbling and was unable to stand for long periods of time without sitting on her hocks. I isolated her in the barn. There was no change today ,she ate all her food but she's still is too weak to stand.
This time I'm going to send her for necropsy.It is Thursday I won't be able to send her on Friday Saturday or Sunday so I'm hoping she doesn't get any worse and then I will send her on Monday. I really don't want to put her in my fridge but I will if I have to I already have my freezer box ready and I really don't see her improving she's probably going to get bad just like the last one.
I have been giving everybody extra vitamins and keeping everything extra clean.
I unfortunately lost a frizzle rooster to fly strike couple days ago. I tried for a couple days to save him but it it was just overwhelming, he ended up dying while I was setting things up to cull him. I just couldn't get ahead of the maggots.This has just been a really bad chicken year.
I have been thinking about what I would do if it was marek's I think I will just order some vaccinated females and brood them in my sunroom for a couple months and from what I'm understanding hopefully they will have enough immunity to fight off the disease. I will just keep all the ones I have.I listed a couple of my roosters for Soup pot only. I've been sending my roosters out to free range and keeping the hens in to give everybody a break. I don't want to lose all my hens and be stuck with just a bunch of roosters so I think raising up some hens to have some on hand as I lose some is probably the way to go.
I'm still hoping this isn't Marek's but I just have this feeling it is
Thank you everyone for your help to navigate my chicken situation.

 

[Eggcessive]

Be sure not to freeze, but just refrigerate the body. You can simply keep it on ice packs in a cooler. Contact your atate vet or poultry lab now, and arrange for them to send you a shipping label for overnight shipping with Fedex or UPS. It is less cost that way. Or you may be able to drive her body in to them. Some state vets, such as Ohio, will require that they send the necropsy results to your local vet, or a vet of your choice, which you can then get from the local vet.

 

[Bella D]

Thank you. I had all the contact info thanks to Wyorp Rock I got hold of the lab and everything is set for Monday. I feel bad keeping her alive knowing I'm just going to cull her
I don't think she is in pain, she is still eating but her legs are sometimes in the one forward one backward position. I put her on pee pads and rolled up some towels but she still keeps moving around.
Thank you all for your help I will make sure I post the results