hi
i am losing my birds one at a time. i took the last one to the vet and she didn't think it had mareks. she said to confirm i would need to see the exotic vet and the expense of that was probably prohibitive....£140 for a consultation plus the cost of a post mortem ...i didn't ask.
anyway i have lost 8 so far. i bought 13 legbars and skylines from the same seller. so far only these have died. they were in quarantine for 3 weeks and during that time i lost one to sour crop.
over the following 10 weeks i have lost one at a time with various symptoms. one had some respiratory issues that started with one eye being shut. the other 6 have become lethargic, dropped wings emaciated most of that 6 have had ataxia all have been less than enthusiastic about eating and most of the time sit huddled. none have shown stiffness or the leg forward leg back presentation which seems odd to me if it is mareks.
the chicks were 5 weeks old when i got them and joined my mixed aged flock when they were 8 weeks.
none have grey eyes or funny shaped pupils.
today i noticed one of my 8 month old pekin has a spongy crop. it is huge. other than that she seems fine. have isolated her to treat her crop issue. i know mareks can cause this. she is not from the same seller.
does anyone with experience of mareks have any thoughts? i thought it seemed more like Lymphoid Leucosis but have since decided my victims have died mostly before the age when this surfaces. i know mareks can take varied forms but to have none show paralysis seems odd.
the birds were all treated with a vitamin tonic for a week a fortnight ago.
thanks
First off, can you do pictures. They make it easier for us to 'see'. There are tests that can now be done with a feather from a suspected bird. I will have to find the link for it and post it later.
Now are they showing any of the signs of coccidiosis? Lethargy does sometimes go along with Marek's but it's usually at the end. My birds' even though paralyzed in the roadrunner position, one leg forward, one back, were happy and bright right to the end. No lethergy, just no way to move. marek's is infamous for allowing secondary infections to assult the birds. respiratory, cocci, especially the coccidiosis. We were just talking about this on another thread and I have since found documentation proving that Marek's stops the bird's natural ability to ever become immune.
A vitamin tonic, I take it this is a regular multi vitamin? What you need from the sounds of it is a Super B Complex vitamin pill, crushed and added to a gallon of water or whatever the equivelent is there. It's the Bs they need right now. Not sure what you have available there but you want a vitamin that is all of the Bs in a fairly high doasge. The Bs are water soluble so they aren't a problem unless these birds are totally imobile.
Have you given an antibiotic at all? It sounds like this might be a good idea about now. Again, no clue what you are able to get there.
From what you've described so far, I don't think it's Marek's either. I could be wrong but let's start with the simple things first. Check their poop...what does it look like? Is it normal green with white cap? Is it runny and kind of a mustardy color? Is there blood? If any of this is true along with the huddling, I would say coccidiosis. This will cause emaciation as will internal worms. It will also put them off their feed as they feel miserable. Think of humans with food poisoning, 'bout the same. Corid, brand name or amprolium, the drug is what you would want for that unless you still have birds showing respiratory symptoms and then I would go right for a sulpha drug. I use Di-Methox, brand name or Sulmet, again brand name. If it's internal worms you need one of the wormers that will take care of them all. Here I use Safeguard for sheep, which is fendazole. I realize you do not have the ability to get the drugs as we can in the US. If you have a Vet who is willing to work with you,you may be able to get the drugs needed from them. If not, if you have a pet store that carries medications for fish, you can find the drugs there or order through a US business. I am so sorry I can't be more help with this. This yankee girl just doesn't know what you can and cannot get OTC in the UK. Either way, if you think it may be coccidiosis, don't bother with the vitamins yet. thiamine is the one needed by the coccidia to reproduce and you wouldn't want to give it to them while treating. Afterwards is soon enough.
