Help! Mereks Disease

[BamBamber]

Hello all new here I decided to join as I haven't had much luck all over Internet just wanted double check with you guys and see what else it could be. Firstly I'm looking after 7 hens for my grandparents they went away last week. I know one is a polish bantam but not clued up to be honest. On the first day of feeding them i noticed one of the hens was like sat down in a corner slightly on its side and this is normally one that pecks. I thought nothing of it. Came back next day and it was on its back with legs in air and i thought it was dead but realised it was moving. So i picked her up took her outside n have her her own food /water incase it had been like that all night. She ate n drank.. It walked normal but her wings were like low to the floor unlike the others and looked drunk basically no other way to describe it. She then fell on her back again 3/4 times in 10 minutes. It's now day 5 since it happened and everyday same thing. I've been taking her out to make sure she gets food /water. There is also a LOT of poo stuck to the bum. More than normal.. Can that stop eggs being produced? What could it be? I really don't want her suffering. Any help or advice is appreciated. And my apologies for lack of knowledge.

Josh

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Any moldy feed or bedding?

 

[BamBamber]

Hi the bedding wasn't in the best of shape. My grandad is getting on now he's looking for someone take them on as he struggles to keep on top of them

 

[seminolewind]

It could be a number of things. It could be mold or fungus. It could be moldy food. She's eating and drinking normal?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hi the bedding wasn't in the best of shape. My grandad is getting on now he's looking for someone take them on as he struggles to keep on top of them

Mold in their environment can cause the "drunk" look, droopy wings, and can also cause quick deaths, gasping, and partial paralysis/immobility. I saw all those symptoms when my chickens ate some feed that had molded on the ground. You are only seeing some of those things, so I am not sure you are dealing with the same thing I dealt with.

Not saying it isn't something like Mareks or another problem, but for sure mold can cause problems. Vitamin deficiencies can cause things like this too, so I would very quickly put a poultry vitamin pack in their water just in case. Also you may want to consider vitamin E defieciency:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/218/vitamin-e-deficiency

http://www.apa-abayouthpoultryclub.org/Edu_Material/VITAMINS.pdf

http://www.apa-abayouthpoultryclub.... SYMPTOMS FOR DIAGNOSING POULTRY DISEASES.pdf

 

[seminolewind]

Agreed. Right now one of my hens tested + for aspergillosis and - for Marek's. She should have been + for both. I'll have to send some blood of some other hen.

 

[americe]

Thanks for posting about St John's Wort, aka Hypericum perforatum, treatment for Merek's Disease.
My 7-month-old rooster started staggering and couldn't walk. He had been vaccinated against Merek's as a chick, but an avian vet informed me that it was still possible for vaccinated chicks to become infected.
The vet said his symptoms were most consistent with Merek's and that I should expect that my rooster would die in a matter of days, given that there is no available treatment. She described disease progression: gradual paralysis involving the gut and the diaphragm. The vet said she had never known a bird with Merek's to survive. Sounds a slow and painful death, and I mourn for those who have suffered that fate.
I kept my rooster in a cage in the house with space heater nearby -- keeping temps around 75 degrees.
I fed him 1.5 mL Rooster Booster (vitamin B and vitamin K supplement) and 0.5 mL St Johns Wort twice a day, morning and evening.
I chose an alcohol-free, glycerine-based St John's Wort tincture manufactured by Herb Pharm.
In less than a week, my rooster was walking normally again.
And while I can't be sure that the St John's Wort was the real cure in this case, I at least felt I was doing SOMETHING to try to help. I am very grateful!