Is this Marek's?

[betsycam]

I have been having rotten luck with my flock lately! First, I had one RIR drop dead off her perch, no symptoms leading up to it, laid an egg the day before. Then, I had another one get pale comb, droopy tail, lethargic, pasty butt and then dead. That one ate and drank up to the day before she died, but had lost a lot of weight. I have her in the fridge hoping to take her in for a necropsy if they'll do it this long after death (died Friday morning). We've had visitors so haven't had a chance...

Then, yesterday, when I opened up the coop, I found another RIR laying on the coop floor. She is unable to right herself and can't hold her head normally, sort of lolls off to the side. When I picked her up she was strong and flailed, but just couldn't coordinate herself to stand. Her legs feel very warm. Her right foot seems paralyzed but she can lift her right wing. She is moving her head around and looking around. She can't seem to take food and water when I hold them up to hear face, so I have syringed water into her mouth and force-fed her a little bit of egg. The previous day she was normal so this was acute,

I can't see any sign of injury to her head. She doesn't have good control of her neck/head. She is currently breathing with her mouth partly open and occasionally making nibbling movements with her mouth. No diarrhea other than that she has pooped herself a little bit.

I am going to give her a baby aspirin in case of head injury/fever.

The first RIR that died was acquired separately, but the second two came together as pullets and I doubt they were vaccinated for Mareks. Does Mareks come on suddenly or is there usually a gradual build-up of symptoms?

 

[countrygirl345]

The paralysis does come on quickly, so you need to seperate that chicken. It is very important that you keep them seperate, because it is likely to be mareks. Hopefully the rest of your chickens will be ok, but I wouldnt keep my hopes up about the sick one. It sounds pretty bad.