Help!! Marek's Disease??

[ems chicks]

hello I am new to byc, I am having a problem with a barred rock hen I think it could be merricks but not positive and hoping not, my hen started off with her eyelids kind of swollen or half closed she had a lack of energy and didnt really graze when I threw down cracked corn like she normally did, this went on a few days, then she started to loose controll of her legs but could still use them, I brought her inside and looked at her at this point one eyelid was back to normal and the other almost all the way closed she could not open it, but no bubbles or wheezing. I put her on duramycen and after about three days her eyes were back to normal but no use of her legs at all one goes forward one goes backward toes are curled up its been 7 days now no change. any help would be app restated I'm sorry if some of this is already in this thread there is so much info here.

 

[Haunted55]

hello I am new to byc, I am having a problem with a barred rock hen I think it could be merricks but not positive and hoping not, my hen started off with her eyelids kind of swollen or half closed she had a lack of energy and didnt really graze when I threw down cracked corn like she normally did, this went on a few days, then she started to loose controll of her legs but could still use them, I brought her inside and looked at her at this point one eyelid was back to normal and the other almost all the way closed she could not open it, but no bubbles or wheezing. I put her on duramycen and after about three days her eyes were back to normal but no use of her legs at all one goes forward one goes backward toes are curled up its been 7 days now no change. any help would be app restated I'm sorry if some of this is already in this thread there is so much info here.

Can you do pictures? You haven't said how old this hen is, if any of the others are showing symptoms or whether or not there have been new additions to your flock. What are the birds given for feed? A little more info is needed because there are other disease that can cause paralysis, that can be taken care of with vitamins.

Since I have this in my own flock, your description rings bells that make me believe it could very well be Marek's. There's somethings you really need to do now just in case I am right.

1 Find a local Avian Vet, or at least one that has some experience with chickens.

2 Failing that, find your State Vet's office and ask them for the information needed to arrange a necropsy. http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/AnimalHealth/statevets.aspx A necropsy is going to be something invaluable to you in the future. If this bird dies, you'll want one done on her so there will be no doubt about what you are dealing with.

I am assuming this bird is still drinking and eating, correct? I would be thinking about adding vitamins. Sav-a-Chick works well and can be given in her water. You can also dip small pieces of bread into the mixed packet and hand feed it to her so you know she is getting it into her system.

For your sake, I hope I am wrong. Please get pictures, if you can, of her and any others that have been with her. Body, eyes, skin if you can.

 

[casportpony]

hello I am new to byc, I am having a problem with a barred rock hen I think it could be merricks but not positive and hoping not, my hen started off with her eyelids kind of swollen or half closed she had a lack of energy and didnt really graze when I threw down cracked corn like she normally did, this went on a few days, then she started to loose controll of her legs but could still use them, I brought her inside and looked at her at this point one eyelid was back to normal and the other almost all the way closed she could not open it, but no bubbles or wheezing. I put her on duramycen and after about three days her eyes were back to normal but no use of her legs at all one goes forward one goes backward toes are curled up its been 7 days now no change. any help would be app restated I'm sorry if some of this is already in this thread there is so much info here.

Based on that, and that alone, I would say Marek's, but I am nowhere near as experienced with Marek's as Haunted55 and Seminolewind are.

 

[ems chicks]

She is about 5 months old has not yet started to lay her eyes are normal not bluish grey like i have seen in some pictures, i will try to get some pictures in a little while, i feed her agway starter / grower and occationaly throw down cracked corn. I have had some other birds get sick most loosing balance falling over and turning head but in the past the duramycen has helped them i had one hen wigh leg paralysis but it started with only one leg for over a week then moved to the other i put her on tylan 200 and a vitamin supplement in the water called redcell, she got one leg back, i think the damage is permident to the other, but she gets around ok she seems healthy again. I think i had three birds sick this winter all between 3 and six months of age, but it has been a long tough winter.

 

[casportpony]

Marek's birds can get better, but will usually relapse and die.

 

[Haunted55]

She is about 5 months old has not yet started to lay her eyes are normal not bluish grey like i have seen in some pictures, i will try to get some pictures in a little while, i feed her agway starter / grower and occationaly throw down cracked corn. I have had some other birds get sick most loosing balance falling over and turning head but in the past the duramycen has helped them i had one hen wigh leg paralysis but it started with only one leg for over a week then moved to the other i put her on tylan 200 and a vitamin supplement in the water called redcell, she got one leg back, i think the damage is permident to the other, but she gets around ok she seems healthy again. I think i had three birds sick this winter all between 3 and six months of age, but it has been a long tough winter.

The reason I asked for pics of the eyes isn't just for the coloring, although they can and do change color, it is also for the pupil. It will change shape some/most times, but then again, not always. Now....you saying that some of them would lose balance and turn their head, can you explain this more? I'm thinking this may not be Marek's, but please, don't get your hopes up yet. There are vitamin deficiencies that can cause very similar symptoms as Marek's, as well as a few others I can think of off the top of my head. Aflatoxin poisoning is one. Feed not having the proper nutritional value it's supposed to have, another. The vitamin supplementation along with the antibiotic, you gave, caused improvement, right? We're stepping into grey area here but just based on that, I would say it isn't Marek's. I don't have enough info and am guessing, but I haven't seen you mention any deaths yet either. Nor any wasting of their bodies.

My advice? I would go out and get them a different feed. Maybe a show bird or a game bird food. Mix this into what they already have if that's all you can do, if not change their feed entirely to a brand name one. Purina or one like that. Is the Agway feed Blue Seal? Another thing, how is the poop?

Marek's birds can get better, but will usually relapse and die.

Yeeeeee maybe, lol. A lot of times this is the case. There seem to be 3 markers in their lives, at least from my experience, the 6-8 week mark, the 6 month mark and then the 1 year mark. It's really a weird thing and it's just about like clock work. Mine that didn't die or have to be culled from the initial parallysis, most got better. The ones with the stumbling gait having the most improvement. The ones with full paralysis...I've had a couple come back from it only to later die at the 6 month mark. They are never going to look like the full sized chickens they are supposed to be either. It damages them inside, but again....this is strange as well. The females are stunted, no question. I have one Black Jersey Giant hen left. She is 1/3 the size she should be. Now I have White Jersey Giant roos that started stunted just like her but are now full size. Slight protruding of the keel bone, but still full sized. Weird huh? I'm wondering if it may be due to the different hormones. I lost a few of the roosters during the intial onset of the disease but by far many more hens. At the 6 month mark, again it was the females hit the worse with almost 100% mortality. [1 male to 6 females.] I'm coming up on the 1 year mark in May. We'll see.....

 

[casportpony]

Interesting, I've seen it more death in my roos than hens, but it's about 50/50 with the ocular changes, but with those changes, I see very few deaths.

 

[Haunted55]

Interesting, I've seen it more death in my roos than hens, but it's about 50/50 with the ocular changes, but with those changes, I see very few deaths.

Yeah it is because not only being the opposite, here once I have the occular changes, it's done. Either total blindness and incompatible with life, or the pupil gets funky and then I usually just find them dead. Everyday I do an eye check of everyone of the birds I have left. So far so good...

 

[casportpony]

East Coast - Ocular changes = death
West Coats - Ocular changes = possible life past two years

Very odd!

 

[Haunted55]

I think it's got to do with the mutations of the Marek's I got hit with. The worst is that 90% of these birds were immunized, some with at least one type of vaccine and while the rest with all 3. Whatever it is is bad, very bad.