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

[beevolleyball3]

I am glad she is doing good

!!! The chicken I had with Mereks died.

 

[TheMotherHen]

I have a hen that I suspect has Mareks. When she was around 9 months her legs became paralyzed and I brought her inside to live for 3 weeks. I exercised her legs until she began to kick back and fed her with an eyedropper when she refused to eat. She was outside and doing great for 2 years and now she does very well for several months and then has a bout of leg weakness and we do it all over again. She is 4 1/2 years old now. The cold really bothers her legs so she has been staying inside at night because I worry about her getting into the henhouse.
I love that bird so much.I would put her down if l felt she was miserable but she seems to enjoy sitting in the little dust hill she makes each day and the other hens get along with her. They have always been together which makes me question if this is Mareks or just some sad affliction.

 

[TheMotherHen]

I forgot to mention in the 3 + years this has been on no other hen has had similar problems.

 

[seminolewind]

Marek's mimics so many ailments that aside from the blatent classic symptoms, it's a guessing game. I do think that one has to take the flock history into consideration. I had one die every few months for a year plus, the same thing, wasting, but appearing normal and eating, until they died. They were all under a year.

It's typical for a paralysis victim to look perfectly normal and happy, just paralized. I had a roo live on my patio for a few months, he crowed every morning, as the paralysis moved up his body. Towards the end he got a gray blind eye, and had no control of his neck.

I also had a pullet have paralysis and recover and it's been 8 months now and she's laying eggs.

A chicken can have several other things that look like Marek's, but not be. It's probably easier to see Marek's in a flock if more than one succumbs to the same symptoms. The 2 most common being the paralysis, and the wasting away.

 

[Mr Peeps Mama]

I see here that you have/had a chicken with the mareks disease. I have a rooster that sounds just like your hen and I have been doing similar care for him. I've been exercising his legs several times a day...he lives in a big dog crate...I give him pediolyte and pediasure....I feel so bad for him bcuz the one leg is comletely paralizyed and the other one was but it's 'coming back'....It was good to see someone treated their mareks chicken and it survived. "Stuey" is such a sweet little pet now that I've been doctoring him in the house. Did your hen survive that last bout? I really hope I can save my rooster....was yours completely paralyzed in the legs and they started working again? I'm just looking for a little thread of 'hope' here...i've had him in the house for a week now...I so want him to make it. Thanks for any advice you can give on the subject of mareks disease.

 

[Haunted55]

I see here that you have/had a chicken with the mareks disease. I have a rooster that sounds just like your hen and I have been doing similar care for him. I've been exercising his legs several times a day...he lives in a big dog crate...I give him pediolyte and pediasure....I feel so bad for him bcuz the one leg is comletely paralizyed and the other one was but it's 'coming back'....It was good to see someone treated their mareks chicken and it survived. "Stuey" is such a sweet little pet now that I've been doctoring him in the house. Did your hen survive that last bout? I really hope I can save my rooster....was yours completely paralyzed in the legs and they started working again? I'm just looking for a little thread of 'hope' here...i've had him in the house for a week now...I so want him to make it. Thanks for any advice you can give on the subject of mareks disease.

If only one leg is involved, there is a slight chance he can come back from it. If it is Marek's, it's an iffy thing. Bringing him inside is good as cold and heat can set the disease off as can any form of stress. I have had a couple that have come back from one leg, total paralysis, and they seemed to do fine for a while. The occular form then showed up and they had to be culled. What I have here is a mutation of the normal Marek's disease and it's very virulent, I think it's harder for mine to make it back to 'normal'. You may be one of the very lucky ones who has the boy make it and live a long life. I've heard of it and read about it on BYC. I hope it works out for you and your roo.

 

[Mr Peeps Mama]

I have a flock of 34 in addition to this guy and I sure hope they dont get it too, but I read that by the time you know what it is usually all the others have already been exposed and will most likely be 'carriers' if they dont get it themselves...I have a hen who has 6 baby chicks 2 weeks old and I'm so hoping they dont get it. I read it's particularly hard on chicks. Stuey if 4 years old ,..he started out with a limp on one leg and bcuz I have 3 other roosters I thought one of them put the thump on him, you know? Thennnn he started dragging the leg....that's when I brought him inside....after a few days the other leg became totally paralized...that one has since started 'waking up' and he has weird little tremors in it...he doesnt seem to be in pain and I've become pretty efficient at walking around with a rooster on my hip...I try to give him lots of attention because even though the dog crate is a jumbo one he's still IN there without contact other than me and a dog or two peeking in at him occasionally. He's in the living room where there's the most activity to watch. Everyday I think 'well maybe I should take him and just have him euthanized' and then I pick him up and he's so alert and so happy for the attention and he actually LIKES the vanilla flavored pediasure...I also try to get him to eat by giving him things he loves like grapes, bread soaked in milk, cantaloupe, corn...anything he'll eat ... he doesnt want the crumbles so I knew he needed more than just grapes to live on so thats when I got the pediasure to be sure that he gets more nutrition. He was looking a little dehydrated when he was just eating the fruits and things even though he was also being fed the pediolyte but since I put him on the pediasure his comb looks hydrated .He also has the actual herpe type sores, one on each leg up at the top where the feathers start. I doctor that 3 times a day with neosporin and I keep his 'bed' real clean so that he doesnt get poop in the sore. Sure hope he makes it poor little dude. He was the alpha rooster too and I can tell him hens miss him. I have taken his crate out on the deck when it's warm out and not windy. His hens literally get up on top of his crate and some peek through the door and air holes at him...
How long did your hen have it before she started feeling better?? I've been doctoring Stuey for a week now.
Thank You so much for your help.

 

[Haunted55]

I have a flock of 34 in addition to this guy and I sure hope they dont get it too, but I read that by the time you know what it is usually all the others have already been exposed and will most likely be 'carriers' if they dont get it themselves...I have a hen who has 6 baby chicks 2 weeks old and I'm so hoping they dont get it. I read it's particularly hard on chicks. Stuey if 4 years old ,..he started out with a limp on one leg and bcuz I have 3 other roosters I thought one of them put the thump on him, you know? Thennnn he started dragging the leg....that's when I brought him inside....after a few days the other leg became totally paralized...that one has since started 'waking up' and he has weird little tremors in it...he doesnt seem to be in pain and I've become pretty efficient at walking around with a rooster on my hip...I try to give him lots of attention because even though the dog crate is a jumbo one he's still IN there without contact other than me and a dog or two peeking in at him occasionally. He's in the living room where there's the most activity to watch. Everyday I think 'well maybe I should take him and just have him euthanized' and then I pick him up and he's so alert and so happy for the attention and he actually LIKES the vanilla flavored pediasure...I also try to get him to eat by giving him things he loves like grapes, bread soaked in milk, cantaloupe, corn...anything he'll eat ... he doesnt want the crumbles so I knew he needed more than just grapes to live on so thats when I got the pediasure to be sure that he gets more nutrition. He was looking a little dehydrated when he was just eating the fruits and things even though he was also being fed the pediolyte but since I put him on the pediasure his comb looks hydrated .He also has the actual herpe type sores, one on each leg up at the top where the feathers start. I doctor that 3 times a day with neosporin and I keep his 'bed' real clean so that he doesnt get poop in the sore. Sure hope he makes it poor little dude. He was the alpha rooster too and I can tell him hens miss him. I have taken his crate out on the deck when it's warm out and not windy. His hens literally get up on top of his crate and some peek through the door and air holes at him...
How long did your hen have it before she started feeling better?? I've been doctoring Stuey for a week now.
Thank You so much for your help.

Lol, I know what it's like, trust me. Right now I have a Muscovy in the giant dog crate in my livingroom and A Dark Cornish in a smaller one.

Can you get some pictures of him and put them here? Pictures help a lot when trying to help someone. I'd really like to see his overall and the sores on his legs. To be honest and I am saying this without 'seeing' him, this doesn't sound like Marek's to me. BUT! It could be, that's why I asked for pictures. At his age, it's not a likely disease to get if the rest of your flock isn't showing symptoms. Now if he has already had exposure in the past, then yes, it could be coming out and causing this. Like I said, I'm working in the dark here.

I really think you need to get him back onto his regular feed as well. I don't have the pediasure here so I am not sure of the ingredients but if it has any form of milk in it, it isn't a really good idea to continue giving it to him. Emergency...yes, constantly...no. The same with the fruit, it's good stuff but he needs the grains to make his gut work properly. A better bet right now might be to get some Sav-a-Chick or another poultry vitamin and put it into his water. You can also use pieces of bread dipped in the mix or mix in some of the crumbles to make a mash for him. Whatever he doesn't eat in a day needs to be changed out so mix small batches. Scrambled eggs are another thing you can try. Again, no milk. The thing is, he needs to be as normal as possible.

 

[Mr Peeps Mama]

Sure I will post some pictures in awhile...I just got him all settled back in his crate. BTW I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who brings their poultry in when theyre sick.
I saved one of my polish hens with kitten formula and pediolyte when she got into some type of poison...she didnt lay when she was sick so there werent any eggs to toss...He wont eat...even moistened lay crumbles or hen scratch...he is pooping and it's not completely normal but it's not the worst I've seen in a sick chicken for sure. He also does this thing with his neck where it's almost like an involuntary movement...hard to describe but it's definitely neurological, I'm 95 % sure of it. Everything I've read talks of blindness and how theyre eyes turn gray...his whole eye isnt gray but when he moves his eyes it looks like the white part might be turning...He cant use his legs though he squeezed my fingers last night with the leg that was paralyzed first...I can tell he has feeling in the leg that was the last to go paralyzed but not sure of the other one....honestly I dont think he's feeling anything with it.
I have had 2 hens that appeared to just drop over dead a couple months ago...1 was older and 1 was only 5 months old...they didnt do what this one is doing,, though...BUT I had a hen...5 years old that I brought in and got her well after she had had an egg broken inside...a few months later she started having problems again and she was drooping and kind of looking like when she had the egg broken internally but she didnt respond to the treatment as before so I took her to the vet and he drained all the fluid off her under side...she had a seizure type episode and it paralyzed her legs...he kept her overnight and the next morning she was up moving around like nothing had happened. He said he thought she had a stroke. I've read alot about the mareks and I'm thinking she might have had it because 2 months later she was paralyzed again and she died that night. So it's possible that it's in my flock...But I will get you some pictures of him...I'd like to get you a shot of him doing the involuntary thing with his neck and also his one leg has 'tremors'....all in all just a very weird thing going on with him. I think if I wasnt feeding him what I'm feeding him he wouldve died before now because he wont eat or drink on his own. I honestly think I'm going to call the humane society tomorrow and see what they think and also see how much they charge to put him down. My vet wants $65 to euthanize. I just dont want him to suffer on if there isnt a chance of him getting well, you know?

 

[Mr Peeps Mama]

Sure I will post some pictures in awhile...I just got him all settled back in his crate. BTW I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who brings their poultry in when theyre sick.
I saved one of my polish hens with kitten formula and pediolyte when she got into some type of poison...she didnt lay when she was sick so there werent any eggs to toss...He wont eat...even moistened lay crumbles or hen scratch...he is pooping and it's not completely normal but it's not the worst I've seen in a sick chicken for sure. He also does this thing with his neck where it's almost like an involuntary movement...hard to describe but it's definitely neurological, I'm 95 % sure of it. Everything I've read talks of blindness and how theyre eyes turn gray...his whole eye isnt gray but when he moves his eyes it looks like the white part might be turning...He cant use his legs though he squeezed my fingers last night with the leg that was paralyzed first...I can tell he has feeling in the leg that was the last to go paralyzed but not sure of the other one....honestly I dont think he's feeling anything with it.
I have had 2 hens that appeared to just drop over dead a couple months ago...1 was older and 1 was only 5 months old...they didnt do what this one is doing,, though...BUT I had a hen...5 years old that I brought in and got her well after she had had an egg broken inside...a few months later she started having problems again and she was drooping and kind of looking like when she had the egg broken internally but she didnt respond to the treatment as before so I took her to the vet and he drained all the fluid off her under side...she had a seizure type episode and it paralyzed her legs...he kept her overnight and the next morning she was up moving around like nothing had happened. He said he thought she had a stroke. I've read alot about the mareks and I'm thinking she might have had it because 2 months later she was paralyzed again and she died that night. So it's possible that it's in my flock...But I will get you some pictures of him...I'd like to get you a shot of him doing the involuntary thing with his neck and also his one leg has 'tremors'....all in all just a very weird thing going on with him. I think if I wasnt feeding him what I'm feeding him he wouldve died before now because he wont eat or drink on his own. I honestly think I'm going to call the humane society tomorrow and see what they think and also see how much they charge to put him down. My vet wants $65 to euthanize. I just dont want him to suffer on if there isnt a chance of him getting well, you know?
Oh and I wanted to say that when he first came down with this he did have the 1 leg forward and 1 leg back...and I kept putting his legs under him the correct way and then I'd come back in awhile and there he would be again 1 forward 1 back...he stopped doing that after a few days. I have been putting neosporin on his sores but it doesnt really look any different than when I started doing that in the beginning of his illness. He also had scaley leg mites but that has cleared up since I have doctored it and doctored it over the week he's been inside. He does have some scabs on the front of one leg....I noticed in the symptoms the dark crusty scabs was also a symptom...may or may not be from mareks...might be from the mites...but the mites are gone.