Edit: Urgent - Marek's or Injury?

[Dinoroar]

I keep putting off updating because I haven't managed to get a video yet. It is just insanely hectic here! I decided I should update anyway because there's a lot going on.

Atreyu has been making so much progress with his movement it's quite unbelievable. He's basically doing everything now except for roosting on a perch.

He still has a severe limp but it doesn't slow him down. He can even run at speed but he just looks so awkward doing it.

He had been attempting to preen all along but it was only about a week ago he started being able to reach back as far as his preen gland so he's finally able to preen properly.

He's also been dust bathing, including kicking with both legs. Yesterday, I saw him put almost full weight on his bad leg to stretch the other one.

He brings the hens foraging and does all the other normal stuff. Sometimes during foraging, he'll sit down for a bit but keep pecking at the grass calling hens and then he gets up again and carries on.

Sometimes he seems like he's struggling more than others. Often if he's been over exerting himself he might be a bit slower afterwards but generally he's full of vigour.

All that sounds great but I am extremely concerned about his health otherwise. He appears to be eating. I often see him at the feeder. However, his crop is never full and he isn't putting on any weight. I'm afraid I never took a healthy baseline weight on him but I can tell visibly that he lost a lot of weight while he was quite bad. Since then, he hasn't put any weight back on and his body condition doesn't look great. He's 4.2kg currently, which is less than my biggest Australorp hen.

His droppings are a normal colour and consistency but maybe a bit small. I never see him doing runny ones and I don't see runny ones around the place, yet the feathers under his vent look very messy. I'm contemplating worming him but I know that can be hard on them so I'm not sure if it's a good idea.

He's still on the vitamins. I wonder how long to keep that up?

Anyway, I'm wondering what all of it means and I'm still terrified. I've also just discovered alarming symptoms in my chicks, which have me right back to fearing the worst in terms of Marek's. Quite a lot of them have suddenly developed crooked toes.

They will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. So far, the toes look crooked, not curled, as in they bend to the side rather than curling underneath. I am going to start a thread about that but I thought it was very relevant to mention it here as well.

Can Marek's look like that at their age or do I have multiple issues going on that are coincidental but unrelated? Since they're bending sideways instead of curling under, I probably wouldn't jump to the Marek's conclusion if it wasn't for Atreyu's issue but the two things combined are frightening. The interesting thing is that none of the Light Sussex chicks have crooked toes. So far, it's only the Bresse chicks - about three quarters of them (13/17) are affected, some more than others.

Glad he’s doing better but sorry he still has some strides to make in fully recovering.

I’ll look for your thread on the chicks, hopefully it’s unrelated.

Edit to add I’m not sure if this would be relevant to your bresse over there but I had issues with curled toes in one batch of bresse I hatched. I have never had that with any other breed. I have read of others having similar issues with bresse.

 

[Waterfaery]

Glad he’s doing better but sorry he still has some strides to make in fully recovering.

I’ll look for your thread on the chicks, hopefully it’s unrelated.

Edit to add I’m not sure if this would be relevant to your bresse over there but I had issues with curled toes in one batch of bresse I hatched. I have never had that with any other breed. I have read of others having similar issues with bresse.

Thank you! That's interesting about the Bresse. I'll definitely look into that some more.

I'd so appreciate hearing your experience with the curled toes if you get a chance. I just started the chick thread here if you're able to to check it out.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad to hear he's doing so much better!

I'd get a baseline weight on him now, then track it. I'd feed him chick starter or an all flock feed. Vitamins, you can try tapering them down. If you are giving the B Vitamins, they are water soluble so long term dosing isn't a concern.
It took him a good while to recover and he lost weight, so it will take a while to regain. I wouldn't rush it.

Deworming isn't really that hard on them, but worms are, they rob a bird of nutrients and can damage the intestines. Getting a fecal float will most of the time rule in/out worms. If you can't get testing, then deworming would be a good idea. Safeguard liquid goat dewormer dosed at 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row will take care of most worms that poultry can have.

Crooked Toes are associated with genetics, brooder flooring being too cool or incorrect incubation.
Crooked Toes are not the same as Curled Toes which is usually caused by vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) deficiency.

 

[Waterfaery]

I'm glad to hear he's doing so much better!

I'd get a baseline weight on him now, then track it. I'd feed him chick starter or an all flock feed. Vitamins, you can try tapering them down. If you are giving the B Vitamins, they are water soluble so long term dosing isn't a concern.
It took him a good while to recover and he lost weight, so it will take a while to regain. I wouldn't rush it.

Deworming isn't really that hard on them, but worms are, they rob a bird of nutrients and can damage the intestines. Getting a fecal float will most of the time rule in/out worms. If you can't get testing, then deworming would be a good idea. Safeguard liquid goat dewormer dosed at 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row will take care of most worms that poultry can have.

Crooked Toes are associated with genetics, brooder flooring being too cool or incorrect incubation.
Crooked Toes are not the same as Curled Toes which is usually caused by vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) deficiency.

Thank you!

Yes, I've been tracking his weight since he was at his worst. As I said, he's 4.2kg now. He hasn't lost further weight but he's not putting it on either. As you say, maybe that will just take more time. His feed is turkey grower 24% protein.

What do you think about him not filling his crop?

Fecal floats are not a viable option. If anyone has seen any of my posts in the peafowl forum you'll know my woes of trying to deal with vets here! I am actually looking into the option of getting the equipment to do it myself.

I do follow a deworming programme with Fenbendazole (same ingredient as what you have in Safeguard over there). In my experience, it does take a bit out of them. I don't underestimate worms but I don't underestimate overmedicating either. His droppings are solid so I wonder if the mess around his vent is just still there from back when he couldn't move. I might try to clean it up for him and then if it recurs I'll worm him.

Thanks so much for your help with the crooked toes in my chick thread as well.