Help! Presents like Mareks but how?

[cluckfan]

My beautiful 13 week old Julibee Orpington roo has symptoms like Mareks but has never been outside near my flock and has only been with his girl since I hatched them. The rest of my flock is fine. I had another bird in the distant past show the same symptoms but it was not Mareks, the lab said trauma? Anyway I moved the pair into a larger cage in my warm garage and the only problem was the roo was freaking out about the roost bar. The first brooder cage is what I took them out of. He would try to roost and loose his balance and fall off. This bird was perfect before I moved him and the next day he was down. His legs are out in front of him but he is bright eyed and eating anything I offer him. He is under a heat lamp as well. Whenever he tries to stand he just can't get those legs in front of him to do so and just flops around. I do not handle my inside birds before washing hands etc. No one else has problems. The pullet in with him is fine. I remove her to feed him (she is a pig) but I put her back because he appears to get depressed without her. I have given him nutri drench, sugar water, his regular food and all the dried mealworms he wants. I was thinking about baby vitamins tomorrow. I offer him food several times a day and he eats and drinks each time. I don't know what else to do. This is day 5 of this....

 

[seminolewind]

The only way to know 100% is a necropsy with a state run animal disease lab.
If you have Marek's in your flock, the first to die is usually a new young bird. If your flock is several years old or more, they can be carriers and have resistance, and you would never know.

I hope you can relate to this; I found Marek's in my flock and since then I had 2 batches of hatched chicks that were vaccinated day one by me and quarantined for weeks. At 1.5 years old, 2 have died of Marek's even vaccinated. Someone here brought up a very good point. I may vaccinated and quarantine, but my house is probably filled with Marek's for a few years now. Those 2 batches could have been exposed too early because there is nothing in my house that is safe from the dust I've brought in over the past years.

You can not do anything about the ones who are symptomatic if it's Marek's.
With your bird in the past, a few years ago, vets and public labs did not know what to look or to even think Marek's because it was never really a backyard problem till over the last few years.

Hope this helps

 

[seminolewind]

Here's a good thread to follow https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741957/not-an-emergency-mareks-in-the-flock/1600_50

 

[cluckfan]

I called the vet again this morning and they finally found the lab results on the bird that was sick in the past and they said it was a cancer. So here I am again wondering.. He is still eating and will give him vitamins,,,,,,,,

 

[seminolewind]

That's a tough one. Marek's is a cancer causing virus. Surely there's cancer that is not Marek's.

 

[cluckfan]

Yep They said it was not contagious . Poor fellow is still down but eats every time I put it in front of him.... Just don't know how much time to give him. I do not want him to suffer
but have also read that even if he survives he may not be good for breeding???