Hen that had meriks as a chick and made it!

[bettyboopgirlie]

Hello,
I was wondering if any one else had a chick with meriks live? I lost all but 1 chick to meriks 6 months ago. I was told that it was meriks because they were walking around like they were drunk and falling over and eventually perishing. I had one Red Sex Link chick who made it we gave her a antibiotic that is mixed in the water and somehow it cured her. We do see side effects from the illness such as a deformed beak , she is also very small only 8-10 inches tall. I am worried that she will be egg bound and die if she starts laying what do you think? She is 6 months old now. Is it possible she wont lay eggs?
Becky

 

[speckledhen]

If it was Mareks, she isn't cured, just the symptoms. She is now a carrier of the disease. Read the article below from Univ of FL. I dont know if she will lay or not, sorry.

Marek's Disease
Synonyms: acute leukosis, neural leukosis, range paralysis, gray eye (when eye affected)

Species affected: Chickens between 12 to 25 weeks of age are most commonly clinically affected. Occasionally pheasants, quail, game fowl and turkeys can be infected.

Clinical signs: Marek's disease is a type of avian cancer. Tumors in nerves cause lameness and paralysis. Tumors can occur in the eyes and cause irregularly shaped pupils and blindness. Tumors of the liver, kidney, spleen, gonads, pancreas, proventriculus, lungs, muscles, and skin can cause incoordination, unthriftiness, paleness, weak labored breathing, and enlarged feather follicles. In terminal stages, the birds are emaciated with pale, scaly combs and greenish diarrhea (see Table 2 ).

Marek's disease is very similar to Lymphoid Leukosis, but Marek's usually occurs in chickens 12 to 25 weeks of age and Lymphoid Leukosis usually starts at 16 weeks of age.

Transmission: The Marek's virus is transmitted by air within the poultry house. It is in the feather dander, chicken house dust, feces and saliva. Infected birds carry the virus in their blood for life and are a source of infection for susceptible birds.
Treatment: none

Prevention: Chicks can be vaccinated at the hatchery. While the vaccination prevents tumor formation, it does not prevent infection by the virus.

 

[mypicklebird]

You chick symptoms do not sound like Marek's to me, more like toxin or diet deficiency. Crooked beak is not something I have ever heard of as a sequela to Marek's. cross beak aka scissor beak (look it up for pictures) may be what you have in your hen- that is often genetic or early trauma. Antibiotic wouldn't have cured Marek's, as it is a virus. One of those cases that the chick survived/got somewhat better, but the antibiotics were incidental or you were not treating what you think you were.

If all but one chick died and the remaining one is stunted small with a deformed beak, you certainly had something unpleasant on the farm.
I wonder could it have been something missing the diet? Severe disease can stunt the growth of the survivors, but I wonder if you had rickets or another vitamin deficiency. What were you feeding? What are you feeding? How old were the chicks when they first started getting sick and dying? No symptoms beyond falling over?

 

[speckledhen]

As a side note, notice that I said IF Marek's is what they had, then your bird is a carrier. The problem is that many diseases have similar symptoms and without real testing, you have no way of knowing for certain what they had. If it's an egg-bourn disease like MG, you probably should try to find out for certain.

 

[steffpeck]

I don't think it is Mareks. I had a pullet that we put down today that had Mareks, and she couldn't even stand, she couldn't handle any weight on her legs at all, she would fall right to the ground and on her side.