Help!! Marek's Disease??

[John Clarke]

hi everyone. I'm (obviously) new here and also to chicken owning. I have four birds, Isa browns, and they are now 8 months old. At first they were bought purely for the eggs, cheap free range eggs but since then they've become our 'girls' and often amuse us. They're like naughty kids at times and always crowd around me when I walk in amongst them.

Well, last week, one of my girls went lame in her left leg. I thought, after reading this thread all the way through, that it's MD as her left leg sticks straight out but her right leg is fine. She was one sad looking chook, off her feed, her comb looked paler and she would just lie wherever you placed her. After much reading and watching of YouTube videos I thought that I had better put her out of her misery but I'm chicken (sorry) and wasn't looking forward to doing the deed. I separated her from the others and put her in a basket on the deck at the back of our house. I read somewhere that giving vitamin B12 might help so being a Sunday I waited until next day so I could go and buy some. Since then, her comb is back to it's former colour, she's able to hop around the garden and is feeding. Also, her poo looks normal. The only problem, so far as I can tell, is her left leg. Because of her lameness, she can't scratch or dust bathe. Oh, and since last week she's stopped laying. Because she appears to be well otherwise I'm now even more reluctant to do the deed.

Her name is Jessica Hennis, a play on Jessica Ennis the British Olympic team runner.

So, my question: is it MD or something else and if MD does it get worse? It's now winter here in Sydney and has become chilly so wondering if the drop in temperature might be a cause but night time temp rarely drops below 10oC.

 

[seminolewind]

John

It's hard to say it's Marek's because you got all 4 together (?). Unless they came from a place that had Marek's. I would keep on giving the vitamins. It could be an injury.
In the paralysis or leg cases I've seen, they seem happy but get more paralysis or symptoms like gray eye, or they can't aim and pick up food. Or they waste. I have not heard about a Marek's that just affected one leg and that was it . It's like a cancer and keeps affecting more and more of the bird. So don't write her off yet. If she can eat and drink, I would wait.

 

[seminolewind]

Can you please check out this video of my hen?

She's 11-12 wks old and started showing signs of this at maybe 4-5 weeks. She eats, drinks and gets along well. She is only slightly smaller than the others her age. At first we thought she dislocated her leg hopping up/down to the roost in the brooder. The rooster watches out for her.

Thank you.

I Yelnad, I agree with Polarbearpilot and Namroth. For having it 5-6 weeks, I would think there would be a deterioration from then, more paralysis, wasting, gray eye, or not able to aim at food and pick it up.

 

[John Clarke]

Thanks Seminolewind. That was a quick reply, I thought with most members being in the US that I would have to wait a while.

Yes, it is only her left leg and for the time being she has been isolated from the others as a precaution.

 

[Haunted55]

Thanks Seminolewind. That was a quick reply, I thought with most members being in the US that I would have to wait a while.

Yes, it is only her left leg and for the time being she has been isolated from the others as a precaution.

I agree with Seminolewind, waiting at this point isn't going to hurt and if it is Marek's, the others are already exposed anyways. Rather than just the B12, you might want to think about a Super B Complex vitamin instead. This has them all. B12 is great for anemia and some of the neurological function needed for walking but there are others in the B family that have a greater affect. A good probiotic wouldn't hurt either as immunity/resistance begins in the gut.

I have had birds come back from one leg involvement. Some as Seminolewind pointed out, developed the eye change and died soon after, but I still have a few who did not. They are over a year now and are going strong. If your bird has stopped laying, check her for egg binding. She may be having problems because of the possible Marek's or just plain old laying issues. A human calcium tablet, 500mgs, crushed and added to her water for a few days could only help if it's just a laying issue. Warm baths with gentle massage from her belly back to her vent. I just use the finger tips when doing this.

 

[John Clarke]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try, that is once my own foot gets better so I can get out as my gout has flared up maybe in sympathy for my poor girl.

. Just hope no one suggests that I be put down.

 

[John Clarke]

Well, the B complex seems to helping her as she's more active even if her leg is not better. Hopefully that will come but she seems ok other than that. You can see that her left leg just sticks out but she's able to hop.

 

[Haunted55]

I am glad she is showing improvement! None of the others are showing symptoms at all, correct? Now I don't see where they came from, as Seminolewind also brought up. If they came from a private person or farm, and not a hatchery, it might not be a bad idea to ask the people these birds came from about their flock history. There are a few things, that will come through the egg, that can mimic Marek's symptoms of paralysis. Getting the history may be a hard thing to do because a lot of people don't like to admit there's something wrong. Some will also have no clue they have something. Always ask and if any of the answers include 'cold' or 'allergies', 'went off their feed and died, never knew what was wrong'......... walk away from the chicken. Chickens don't get colds. They have 'cold' like symptoms but these are from a disease that they then become carriers of, if they survive. Quite a few of these can be passed to the young either as an active disease, which will normally kill them in the egg, an inactive one that can blow up later in the bird's life or as a resistance, with no shedding later on. Trouble is, you never know what you are going to get.

Again, even if this is Marek's in the end, I agree with Seminolewind that they may have come from an infected farm or breeder and this one didn't get as much of a resistance as it needed. Doesn't mean that this bird won't recover, from what you said, the vitamins are helping. I would continue with them for a bit. How much of the B Complex are they getting daily?

 

[John Clarke]

Yep, others are fine, no indication of anything being wrong but this one was fine the day before. We got them from a hatchery which has a good name as I know others who have bought from them.
The tablet I'm giving is about a fifth of a tablet, crushed up, that I bought from the local pharmacist. Should I have got them from a vet so the dose is more appropriate for a chicken?

 

[Haunted55]

Yep, others are fine, no indication of anything being wrong but this one was fine the day before. We got them from a hatchery which has a good name as I know others who have bought from them.
The tablet I'm giving is about a fifth of a tablet, crushed up, that I bought from the local pharmacist. Should I have got them from a vet so the dose is more appropriate for a chicken?

Nope, you don't need something from a Vet, the human tab is just fine. If you are just using 1/5 of the tablet, you can continue with this indefinitely. I was thinking you were using either half or whole pill in a gallon or half gallon of water.

If the bird came from a hatchery, was vaccinated for Marek's, chances are it's not Marek's. If the birds were not vaccinated, it could be. Seminolewind described this disease perfectly. She said it's like fighting a ghost. I purchased chicks from TSC last spring and ended up with Marek's in my flock. Did it come in the chicks I bought or could it have been introduced by someone there handling them? Yes, either is a possibility. I was lucky, in that I was able to trace the disease back to it's source. A lot of people can't. The worst thing about Marek's is the virulence of the strain you may find yourself dealing with. The one here is bad, real bad. Even vaccinated birds died and in fact were the hardest hit. Now in your case, I really don't think this is something you need to worry about. You need to be watchful, but not constantly worrying. I think you have a bird who for whatever reason has a hard time getting the vitamins that he needs to absorb in the gut. He may or may not get over this, there's a good chance that he will, but he could also pass this on to his chicks. Operative word is 'could', not will. Just something to think about for later and no I am in no way trying to discourage you from hatching chicks from him. If it's 'sickness', they'll have immunity. If it's a genetic flaw, they may not get it, or it could be changed because of the hen. Just something to file away for later.

If you haven't already tried it, a good probiotic may help. If you can get his insides working properly, this may just go away completely and never return. Human or animal, doesn't matter as long as it's one with live, active cultures. Yogurt isn't the best way to get them either. I personally use something called Floragen 3. This is a super duty probiotic and has to be kept in the fridge because these are live and there are millions of them in one capsule. Again at a pharmacy, behind the counter. A little pricey at $14.00 a bottle but it has a decent shelf life and you can use it as well. Just for your information as well, you cannot over populate the gut with probiotics. The body, human or animal, is a wonderful thing and will only keep what it needs from these. No chance of overdose with this.