Does this look more like Marek’s or a vitamin deficiency?

[It_is_I_Rae]

My chicken has been doing this for the past 3 days. *I posted several different threads about it earlier but i want more opinions*. I would also like to note that she isn't splaying her legs like that anymore and she is capable of standing and some walking. Currently I'm treating her with vitamin e, selenium, and vitamin b complex pills. She hasn't really improved so far, is that normal for a vitamin deficiency? She also keeps her toes curled a lot but she is capable of uncurling them

 

[casportpony]

I don’t mean to highjack the OPs thread with what I am learning/quesitoning/experiencing. @EggSighted4Life Is there a thread for marek's "discussion"? I find lots of individual threads that happen to get some meaty bits of info, the big giant wonderful FAQ article, but not a "thread" with ongoing discussions.

You should start one!

 

[jolenesdad]

Of course I could be wrong for the second time in my life.

What?! There was a first?


@It_is_I_Rae : there’s various strains of Mareks that affect each flock and chicken a little different. The most unfortunate fact is that in nearly every situation, Mareks is watch and wait. You may, or may not, lose another chicken quickly. You may, or may not, lose your whole flock. You may, or may not lost only a couple of birds.

if you have Mareks or suspect it the number one thing you can do is keep your birds healthy and clean and stress free, and cross your fingers you do not have a virulent strain. Many people can and do keep Mareks-positive flocks with success. Many, many very esteemed poultry vets believe it is SO ubiquitous that it exists in some form in nearly every backyard flock.

this is not to mean that there are not times where Mareks is devastating. It’s just to mean there are times where it is manageable.

@Josip, the cull a whole flock advice is really reserved for either the most virulent strains (but still not always) and commercial flocks and major breeders.

 

[jolenesdad]

My first confirmed case of Mareks was a 3.5 year old hen. She is the only hen on my property that has died of specific Mareks like symptoms and she presented with standard 16ish week old chicken symptoms at such an old age. She had the visceral and neurological form of Mareks that is usually not the case in older birds. I’ve had multiple other deaths here and there that don’t look like Mareks, but that’s what they are.

So the odds are in your favor with her age, I still really think you still have to keep Mareks on the list and treat it as such, however that is. You *could* have a fairly mild strain that most of your birds are fighting off that in this situation presents with heavier symptoms like this in a much older bird like I did.

 

[casportpony]

My suggestion is to get a food scale and start weighing her daily. Once they lose 5-10% of their body weight, tube feeding is recommended.

You can try vitamins, and I would suggest something like Rooster Booster or B complex for cattle.

You could also try de-worming, treating for coccidiosis, & antibiotics.

 

[casportpony]

This is what a vet wrote:
"Prophylactic Deworming
I have been saying this for years (because I have been seeing this for years!) and here it is: Many young and adult birds can be harboring ascarids (especially if they were parent-raised for any length of time) and you can run fecals all day, and guess what? The fecals will almost always be negative. A paper out of the Univ. of Georgia a few years back confirmed this. Many a time I have been a hero when I have dewormed a bird during a second or third opinion, when it passes a pile of ascarids and shocks the owner after being repeatedly told by other vets that "the fecal was negative." Well, deworm it anyway, with something safe. I routinely use pyrantel pamoate, since you can't hurt a bird with it, unless you aspirate it!"
Source:
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/challenges.html

 

[MysteryChicken]

Looks like seizures. Merek's Disease can cause seizures, & so can some types of vitamin deficiencies, brain injury, & or infection can cause this too. Heat stroke is another.

 

[Painted Calls]

I did weigh her earlier today. I used a human scale while holding her and subtracted my normal weight from that. She seems to weigh the same-ish. 4.8 pounds if my math was correct, as opposed to beforehand she was 5 pounds. If it's accurate she hasn't lost much weight

You need a food scale. With chickens, every gram counts. A human scale (lbs) isn't sensitive enough.

 

[casportpony]

You need a food scale. With chickens, every gram counts. A human scale (lbs) isn't sensitive enough.

I agree.
5.0 pounds = 2268 grams
4.8 pounds = 2177 grams
91 gram loss = a 4% loss

 

[casportpony]

I doubt this is how Marek's would present in a FIVE year old chicken..

Why?