Is this mareks?

[samshan21]

Hi, today I walked up to my coop and I see my rooster on his back and he was twitching. Luckily he was still alive and I was holding him but he wanted to walk around and every time he was walking he was limping. He would fall on one side. He has not been acting his normal self lately though. I did separate him and he is eating and drinking but I don’t know what this is and how I could treat it. Can anyone help?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Pictures, & video will help us help you.
Sounds more like he hurt himself though.

 

[microchick]

I'm sorry your rooster is having problems. I've been dealing with Marek's disease in my flock for over 4 years so hopefully I can help.

Old is your rooster? Marek's usually hits at the earliest around 9 weeks. The one juvenile that I had that succumbed to the classic Marek's scissor paralysis was just 9 weeks old when it hit. Usually it starts with a limp in one leg that progresses rapidly with the leg becoming useless. The toes will curl and when the bird rests, it will either extend the leg in front or behind it. When the other leg becomes affected, the resting stance will be with one leg stretched in front and one behind thus the scissor appearance.

The bird will eat and drink as normal. Some birds (I only had one who did the scissor paralysis) will not appear sick until later. Mine began to die between the ages of one and two years. Some contracted infections but most developed neurological disorders or tumors/cancers that killed them or caused them to be put down.

The only way you can get a definitive diagnosis is with a necropsy or with definitive symptoms like full paralysis or the development of 'gray eye' which is ocular Marek's disease. I was able to get my birds diagnosed by my husband who is a retired eye doctor and was able to diagnose herpes infections in my bird's eyes.

There is no treatment for Marek's disease. You can support with vitamins and take a 'wait and see' position with them. Rarely, birds will spontaneously recover from the paralysis only to die later from cancers/tumors or from weakened immune systems.

I agree, pictures or a movie would help a lot.

 

[samshan21]

Pictures, & video will help us help you.
Sounds more like he hurt himself though.

I'm sorry your rooster is having problems. I've been dealing with Marek's disease in my flock for over 4 years so hopefully I can help.

Old is your rooster? Marek's usually hits at the earliest around 9 weeks. The one juvenile that I had that succumbed to the classic Marek's scissor paralysis was just 9 weeks old when it hit. Usually it starts with a limp in one leg that progresses rapidly with the leg becoming useless. The toes will curl and when the bird rests, it will either extend the leg in front or behind it. When the other leg becomes affected, the resting stance will be with one leg stretched in front and one behind thus the scissor appearance.

The bird will eat and drink as normal. Some birds (I only had one who did the scissor paralysis) will not appear sick until later. Mine began to die between the ages of one and two years. Some contracted infections but most developed neurological disorders or tumors/cancers that killed them or caused them to be put down.

The only way you can get a definitive diagnosis is with a necropsy or with definitive symptoms like full paralysis or the development of 'gray eye' which is ocular Marek's disease. I was able to get my birds diagnosed by my husband who is a retired eye doctor and was able to diagnose herpes infections in my bird's eyes.

There is no treatment for Marek's disease. You can support with vitamins and take a 'wait and see' position with them. Rarely, birds will spontaneously recover from the paralysis only to die later from cancers/tumors or from weakened immune systems.

I agree, pictures or a movie would help a lot.

I will get a video tomorrow. He is a year old.

 

[samshan21]

I'm sorry your rooster is having problems. I've been dealing with Marek's disease in my flock for over 4 years so hopefully I can help.

Old is your rooster? Marek's usually hits at the earliest around 9 weeks. The one juvenile that I had that succumbed to the classic Marek's scissor paralysis was just 9 weeks old when it hit. Usually it starts with a limp in one leg that progresses rapidly with the leg becoming useless. The toes will curl and when the bird rests, it will either extend the leg in front or behind it. When the other leg becomes affected, the resting stance will be with one leg stretched in front and one behind thus the scissor appearance.

The bird will eat and drink as normal. Some birds (I only had one who did the scissor paralysis) will not appear sick until later. Mine began to die between the ages of one and two years. Some contracted infections but most developed neurological disorders or tumors/cancers that killed them or caused them to be put down.

The only way you can get a definitive diagnosis is with a necropsy or with definitive symptoms like full paralysis or the development of 'gray eye' which is ocular Marek's disease. I was able to get my birds diagnosed by my husband who is a retired eye doctor and was able to diagnose herpes infections in my bird's eyes.

There is no treatment for Marek's disease. You can support with vitamins and take a 'wait and see' position with them. Rarely, birds will spontaneously recover from the paralysis only to die later from cancers/tumors or from weakened immune systems.

I agree, pictures or a movie would help a lot.

Is there any way I can do something so my flock does not get it?

 

[microchick]

Unfortunately IF he has MD, the genie is out of the bottle. Your flock would be considered exposed and carriers.

Marek's disease is carried on the dander of birds and shed through their skin. Every time one fluffs up its feathers and gives itself a shake it is shedding dander. It's impossible to avoid if an uninfected bird lives with an infected one.

One article I read said that MD is so wide spread in the US that if every flock was tested, they would all be showing that they are exposed. The trick is, either birds are vaccinated when they are just day olds or you have birds that are proven resistant to the disease. Even vaccinated birds if exposed to the disease can become carriers that never exhibit symptoms of the disease. But they can carry and distribute the virus to other birds.

Think Typhoid Mary.

Having MD in your flock feels like the end of the world but isn't. Yes, birds die. I lost 2/3rds of my flock but currently my flock has recovered to almost 50 birds in the past three years. They are all carriers, all exposed but at the moment I have been able to breed my resistant birds so I'm not seeing as many deaths as I was.

 

[samshan21]

Pictures, & video will help us help you.
Sounds more like he hurt himself though.

I'm sorry your rooster is having problems. I've been dealing with Marek's disease in my flock for over 4 years so hopefully I can help.

Old is your rooster? Marek's usually hits at the earliest around 9 weeks. The one juvenile that I had that succumbed to the classic Marek's scissor paralysis was just 9 weeks old when it hit. Usually it starts with a limp in one leg that progresses rapidly with the leg becoming useless. The toes will curl and when the bird rests, it will either extend the leg in front or behind it. When the other leg becomes affected, the resting stance will be with one leg stretched in front and one behind thus the scissor appearance.

The bird will eat and drink as normal. Some birds (I only had one who did the scissor paralysis) will not appear sick until later. Mine began to die between the ages of one and two years. Some contracted infections but most developed neurological disorders or tumors/cancers that killed them or caused them to be put down.

The only way you can get a definitive diagnosis is with a necropsy or with definitive symptoms like full paralysis or the development of 'gray eye' which is ocular Marek's disease. I was able to get my birds diagnosed by my husband who is a retired eye doctor and was able to diagnose herpes infections in my bird's eyes.

There is no treatment for Marek's disease. You can support with vitamins and take a 'wait and see' position with them. Rarely, birds will spontaneously recover from the paralysis only to die later from cancers/tumors or from weakened immune systems.

I agree, pictures or a movie would help a lot.

He was not limping as much but his left wing is kind of down

 

[samshan21]

Yesterday he would fall to one side

 

[microchick]

I watched both videos.

Odd. He seems to be walking pretty well but definitely has a droop to that left wing.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that from my experience with the disease, this doesn't look like Marek's disease to me.

I've only had one bird with the paralysis and it progressed. The others died before the age of 2 from neurological problems, seizures, cancers or tumors.

What's going on though? I'm going to put a shout out to @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock and @casportpony and see if they can help cause I'm fresh out of ideas.

Unless, any chance that he got into anything toxic?

 

[samshan21]

I watched both videos.

Odd. He seems to be walking pretty well but definitely has a droop to that left wing.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that from my experience with the disease, this doesn't look like Marek's disease to me.

I've only had one bird with the paralysis and it progressed. The others died before the age of 2 from neurological problems, seizures, cancers or tumors.

What's going on though? I'm going to put a shout out to @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock and @casportpony and see if they can help cause I'm fresh out of ideas.

Unless, any chance that he got into anything toxic?

He has also been lethargic the past weeks has not crowed in a week.