I think my 10 week old chick has marek disease! What to do now?

Missy020219

Songster
Dec 18, 2019
215
264
151
Buick Creek, British Columbia, Canada
I had a broody hen hatch 10 chicks about 10 weeks ago. Yesterday I found one of the chicks sitting in the corner and it’s feathers were all puffed up and it couldn’t walk. I left it in the coop, thinking it might be dead the next morning, but when I went to the coop in the morning it was sitting in another corner, pecking at the ground, but still no able to use its legs. It lays on its side and peeps every now and then like its in pain. I have 20 other chickens that the broody and her chicks have been kept with since the chicks were 3 weeks old. If it is mareks what’s going to happen to my flock?
 
Pictures of your bird? It could be an injured spine, or pelvis. A vitamin deficiency is another possibility.

First I'd rule those out.

Marek's maybe a possibility too.
 
I found one of the chicks sitting in the corner and it’s feathers were all puffed up and it couldn’t walk. I left it in the coop, thinking it might be dead the next morning, but when I went to the coop in the morning it was sitting in another corner, pecking at the ground, but still no able to use its legs. It lays on its side and peeps every now and then like its in pain. I have 20 other chickens that the broody and her chicks have been kept with since the chicks were 3 weeks old. If it is mareks what’s going to happen to my flock?
Sounds like you need to put this chick out of it's misery.
Refrigerate the body and send it to your state lab or agriculture ministry to find out the cause of decline - the testing can determine if it's Marek's or not.

If you want to see if the chick will survive - then go get her and give her care. Work on hydration first. Once drinking, then offer some wet feed. Examine the chick to see if there's any injury to the legs, if there's lice/mites, etc. etc.
If she's in a lot of pain and you don't think she's going to make then put her down, don't just leave her.

Photos of the chick and her poop would be good.
 
8861FCA2-7B10-426E-BEED-10D5721858D4.jpeg
 

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