Help with Mareks

[kukupecpec]

So I think I've got Mareks but I'm only seeing symptoms in chicks a week or so old. The chicks are all hatched inside (from my own flock, just started hatching their eggs a couple months ago and have had a great hatch rate but very high mortality after hatch between weeks 1 and 2, some have made it, I have one chick I kept from the first hatch and she is nearly 3 months, looking great and still in with the other itty bitty babies because she doesn't have a friend her age and she takes care of the babies, teaching them how to drink and where to get food and they a snuggle under her wings) and haven't ever gone out to the yard with my other chickens. It started with just my silkie X serama chicks and now my older serama chicks are starting to show leg paralysis. It starts slow, just sorta droopy wobbly chick, and then slowly the legs become completely paralyzed and stick straight out to the front, then the chick dies. It's always one chick at a time and it takes a few days from the first notice of droopiness to death. These chicks are dying between 1 and 2 weeks old. I'm not positive what it is but it seems to be "contagious" as one by one they come down with it. I've been reading thread after thread for a few hours now and posted earlier with questions and following all the links I can find and I still need some help. They seem maybe too young for mareks? These are serama chicks, the eggs they are hatching from are a little small even for serama so I don't know if it could be something else related to that? I did have a temp spike while incubating but everything else went pretty smooth.
I don't know what to do. I don't want to pass it on to my grown flock most importantly so I'm unsure what to do about these chicks. I've got more hatching in a few days too so I want to get this taken care of as soon as possible so I don't lose everyone.

 

[ten chicks]

So I think I've got Mereks but I'm only seeing symptoms in chicks a week or so old. The chicks are all inside and haven't ever gone out to the yard with my other chickens. It started with just my silkie X serama chicks and now my older serama chicks are starting to show leg paralysis. I don't know what to do. I don't want to pass it on to my grown flock most importantly so I'm unsure what to do about these chicks. I've got more hatching in a few days too so I want to get this taken care of as soon as possible so I don't loose everyone.

More information is needed,describe exactly how they are walking,how they are acting. How many have this issue? What feed are they on,look up vitamin deficiency in chicks and leg issues in chicks.

 

[kukupecpec]

I was editing my post for more detail when you replied sorry about that!

 

[DaveOmak]

Here is some info that describes what to look for..... Sounds like it could be Marek's...

http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf

 

[ten chicks]

I was editing my post for more detail when you replied sorry about that!

Have they ever been treated for Coccidiosis? The timeline fits and the sudden deaths,they only thing is the paralysis,not usually a symptom unless it is b/c they are weak. Any other symptoms such as fluffed feathers/lethargic/runny/watery poop(may or may not contain blood,depends on which strain it is)not eating/drinking,general look of unwell. Have you seen any of these symptoms?

 

[kukupecpec]

Have they ever been treated for Coccidiosis? The timeline fits and the sudden deaths,they only thing is the paralysis,not usually a symptom unless it is b/c they are weak. Any other symptoms such as fluffed feathers/lethargic/runny/watery poop(may or may not contain blood,depends on which strain it is)not eating/drinking,general look of unwell. Have you seen any of these symptoms?

They still have lots of energy, they get leg paralysis and then they flap their wings like mad to scoot around and get water. once their legs are completely useless they stop eating, but they will drink right up until death. Not fluffed feathers are runny poop that I can tell. Definitely no bloody poop. They haven't been treated or vaccinated for anything so no cocci treatment. Really the only symptom is the leg paralysis. The current chick is the 6th one to show this.

I did have 2 chicks a little over a week ago show what I thought was wry neck. And I've had lots of chick deaths after hatching between weeks 1 and 2 that seem to happen suddenly, the only warning is the particular chick will usually "cry" for the 24 hours or so before dying. They peep super loud and always seem to be thirsty. I have been hatching in waves, so I get new hatched chicks almost every week, been doing this constantly for a few months. All of the hatches have had very high mortality between weeks 1 and 2, the brooder is cleaned every week or so when it starts to look dirty or smell, but with new chicks added every week it's not really sanitized between hatches or anything.

 

[ten chicks]

This is puzzling,i am not sure about Mareks as you have no Mareks in flock and eggs are from your own birds,but anything is possible. I would look at either a vitamin deficiency or coccidiosis as a starting point.

What feed are they on?

 

[kukupecpec]

This is puzzling,i am not sure about Mareks as you have no Mareks in flock and eggs are from your own birds,but anything is possible. I would look at either a vitamin deficiency or coccidiosis as a starting point.

What feed are they on?

Right? Lol that's why I'm hoping someone can help. It SOUNDS like mareks to me, but they are so young and I don't think it came from my big birds. My neighbors have chickens too but then I would suspect my grown birds would have it too? I just don't know. I've been hatching chicks for 18 months, pretty much constantly, most from shipped eggs and for a few months in middle I was hatching my EE eggs. I have been trying to build a nice little serma flock that I can sell eggs and chicks from. All my parent birds are from shipped eggs, I've had all of them for at least 6 months now. I never EVER had problems with chick health until I started hatching my OWN serama eggs. I'm just so frustrated I can;t figure it out. Nothing at all has changed from hatching and caring for shipped eggs and their resulting chicks or my EE chicks. I know serama are notoriously hard to hatch but my hatch rate has be upwards of 95%, it's just the CHICKS causing problems.
They are on the same layer crumble that I feed my whole flock, the grown ups just get some scratch, corn, sweet feed and table scraps and whatever fresh herbs I have extra mixed in to theirs.

 

[ten chicks]

I would put chicks on chick feed,layer is not really advisable for young chicks. Switch their feed and see if you notice an improvement. Chick feed is designed for young birds and contains all the nutrients/vitamins their body requires,plus they do not need grit with chick feed ,but do require grit with anything other than chick feed.

 

[kukupecpec]

I would put chicks on chick feed,layer is not really advisable for young chicks. Switch their feed and see if you notice an improvement. Chick feed is designed for young birds and contains all the nutrients/vitamins their body requires,plus they do not need grit with chick feed ,but do require grit with anything other than chick feed.

Could that really be it? This is the first time I've ever had a problem like this and I've always fed chicks the same thing as everybody else. Chick feed is twice as expensive as the layer which is why we don't use it in the first place.