Help!!!!! Is is Marek's disease??

[DWilkins]

I have a splash colored Silkie hen less then a year old. Three days ago we noticed that she wasn't able to jump in the coop.The following day she was laying on her side in the lawn.Hubby picked her up and set her in the coop.I went out the following morning to feed them and she was laying in the same place with a wing sprawled out. I decided to put her in a kennel in the house so I could watch her,plus our young Sulton was walking on her. She isn't able to stand at all. She falls to one side and tries to use her wings for balance. We also noticed that her vent opening is pushed out and red!! She only drank a small bit on her own yesterday. We are giving her antibiotics with a syringe and also water.We are so afraid that she may have Marek's. When she breaths she makes a noise like she is stuffed up She is eating some and drinking water as we out it close to her so she can stretch her neck out some to get to it. .She is usually our little spit fire and tiny eating machine! Can anyone offer and advice or thoughts on what she has? I feel it may be of Merek's.



PS... upon getting home this evening. I expelled an egg ! Question.... Does Egg Binding cause paralysis? She is still not able to walk, but have noticed a large increase in her mood... and she is eating.

 

[beevolleyball3]

right now i have a male silkie that is having somewhat the same problems he seems to be paralized from the legs down. everyone is telling me it is Mereks!!!

 

[willowbranchfarm]

I have a splash colored Silkie hen less then a year old. Three days ago we noticed that she wasn't able to jump in the coop.The following day she was laying on her side in the lawn.Hubby picked her up and set her in the coop.I went out the following morning to feed them and she was laying in the same place with a wing sprawled out. I decided to put her in a kennel in the house so I could watch her,plus our young Sulton was walking on her. She isn't able to stand at all. She falls to one side and tries to use her wings for balance. We also noticed that her vent opening is pushed out and red!! She only drank a small bit on her own yesterday. We are giving her antibiotics with a syringe and also water.We are so afraid that she may have Marek's. When she breaths she makes a noise like she is stuffed up She is eating some and drinking water as we out it close to her so she can stretch her neck out some to get to it. .She is usually our little spit fire and tiny eating machine! Can anyone offer and advice or thoughts on what she has? I feel it may be of Merek's.



PS... upon getting home this evening. I expelled an egg ! Question.... Does Egg Binding cause paralysis? She is still not able to walk, but have noticed a large increase in her mood... and she is eating.

Ive never heard of paralysis because of egg binding. If I had to guess I would say Mareks.

 

[snowflake]

If it is Mareks she will not get better, may improve for a short time, but then relapse
keep her away from the others till you are sure
If it is Mareks as she dies, look for others to get sick even 2or3 months down the road

 

[DWilkins]

Molly is still not able to walk, I am pretty sure its Marke's. If it weren't for the paralysis , she would fine. She eats, flaps her wings,tries to move her legs and is very alert. I have her in our house in a small animal cage. She is actually very spoiled. I am afraid since there is no sure for this I will have to put her down. This is going to be very tough as I have grown very attached to her.

 

[DWilkins]

Since the others have been around her, can I still vaccinate the others? What are the early signs of Marek's? This came on so suddenly, no warning signs. She has now been in the house for over a month and is still as active as before, except for the inability to walk.

 

[seminolewind]

Molly is still not able to walk, I am pretty sure its Marke's. If it weren't for the paralysis , she would fine. She eats, flaps her wings,tries to move her legs and is very alert. I have her in our house in a small animal cage. She is actually very spoiled. I am afraid since there is no sure for this I will have to put her down. This is going to be very tough as I have grown very attached to her.

My first was a silkie roo who did the same thing, not getting in the coop, then laying on his side. I had him in a crate on my patio, and even with the paralysis up to his wings, one blind eye, he was still happy to see me and still crowed in the morning. It's very sad, and they just waste away.

From now on, you have to hatch and vaccinate your own chicks or buy hatchery day-olds that have been vaccinated, and keep them absolutely quarantined from the virus for 2-10 weeks. The longer the better.

Like Snowflake said, you will still be watching for other deaths even after a few months. I have a bunch of information at the bottom of my posts for "Marek's".

 

[seminolewind]

Since the others have been around her, can I still vaccinate the others? What are the early signs of Marek's? This came on so suddenly, no warning signs. She has now been in the house for over a month and is still as active as before, except for the inability to walk.

Anyone already exposed can't be vaccinated.

 

[DWilkins]

Its so weird... she has had the paralysis since the first week of November.At that time her legs just hung when we picked her up, she acted like she had no strength. I called a Vet ( 2 hours away as none in our area know much about birds). She thought without looking at her that she was lacking calcium. She we started giving her 2 cc's of calcium along with some antibiotics every day . She started moving her legs and gripping my fingers when I held her.She flaps her wings pecks the dogs if they get to close,eats like she always did. When I come in the room and call her name she sticks her head up, chirps and flicks her tail feathers. I am told that with this disease that they get worse and eventually die.She is going the opposite direction and getting stronger with each passing day. Could I be wrong and this isn't Marika's? If it isn't what else could it be? If not for the paralysis in her legs and the one leg being in the front of the other, you wouldn't know she is sick. We have her in the house, in a dog kennel, with blankets. ( She is very spoiled) The other two silkies and one sultan we have show no signs of Marek's at all. The hens are even laying when usually here in Iowa in the winter they don't.I guess I am wondering if she is in any pain and keeping her like this is cruel. I have grown very attached to her, holding her on my chest at night while I stroke her to sleep while she "purrs".

 

[DWilkins]

Thank you for the links