Japanese Bantam lost her Balance today. Need Advice. UPDATE

[rhino533]

My 1year old Japanese Bantam seems to have lost her balance today. She still eats and drinks but she walks around like she's a bit drunk using her wings sometimes for balance. Yesterday she was totally fine. I've read other posts and this is some info people wanted to know:

- she eats/drinks fine
- her but is a little messy/wet.
- It's rained in the last 3 days and the humidity has been around 90% (Temp about 32c-35c)
- I've seen her eating worms quite a lot of worms around the yard
- She hasn't been around and puddles but has been around wet dirt
- She has been around composting leaves and natural compost
- She just had the symptoms today
- other chickens in her coop seem fine
- she has no bugs (lice flees etc) that I can see.
- I dewormed her about a month ago
- She also eats snails around the yard
- Her head sometimes moves around like she might be spinning (like when your drunk)
- She live mainly in a fenced in area but gets let out to roam every 2 days

Do you think this is Mareks disease? or do you think it might be something else? Could of see eaten a plant that might of poisoned her? Any help would be great. THANKS!!!

 

[TwoCrows]

It does sound like Mareks disease and if she has this, it is contagious. Check out this list of common poultry diseases and try to diagnose her yourself.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Normally chickens know not to eat poisonous plants unless they are starving. So I doubt she is suffering from a poisoning. If these symptoms do continue, it might not hurt to separate her from the others if she gets really ill, just incase she is contagious.

I hope she gets better.

 

[rhino533]

Quote:
Yeah I moved her right away this morning. I was worried my other chickens could catch it. Thanks for the link. How long does it take before you know if she's going to get better or worse? Do chickens usually die from Mareks? do any get better?

 

[rodgis]

I had joined and asked a question about my Silkie hen who had just started laying a couple weeks ago. She was straggling around, unsteady on her feet, wings hanging, panting. I gave her antibiotics, she laid her first soft-shelled egg. Well in a few days a hard egg, and every few days the same symptoms. Laid another soft-shelled egg 2 days ago after looking like she would die! Finally i took her to the vet today because she was again straggling. He says Calcium deficiency from the eggs (3 in 2 weeks?), gave her a shot and some vitamin and calcium suppl. So we'll see. When I got back to the feed store, they said just to hang a shell from an abalone in the cage, like you do with birds! Well, after paying for the shot and fancy vitamins, thanks! LOL. I live in the Philippines and haven't had chickens since I lived in Massachusetts in the early 80's. I'm hoping this will fix her problem. Also to massage her legs with warm water to improve the circulation, as calcium depletes bones and affects their circulation, just like with people. Interesting.

 

[rhino533]

UPDATE: She has taken a turn for the worse. Tonight she can't move or control her neck. She's stopped eating, drinking and has no control over her body. Her pupils are big and stay big even in the light. She just lays on her side with her eyes closed and she hardly opens them. I pick her up and he head just falls forward and when she tries to correct her neck it falls all the way back. I'm pretty certain she will be dead tomorrow. Her feet are a bit scaley too and she has turned pale. When i move her feet they are totally limp and lifeless. I'm 99.9% sure it's Mareks Disease. I'm going to vacinate all my flock tomorrow and clean the pen out really well.

 

[TwoCrows]

I am sooooo sorry about your hen.

 

[cindylo]

Hugs from me too. So sorry for your loss.

 

[rhino533]

Update, she died last night before midnight. She couldn't move at all and could harly open her eyes. She might of been blind. She also had some trouble breathing and her skin around her comb and feet looked flaky.

Does Marek's Disease usually kill a bird that fast? She showed symptoms in the morning yesterday and by 11:30pm that evening she died. The day before she was running around the yard like all the other chickens enjoying her self. It's surprising how quick she showed symptoms and died. Could it of been anything else? But she defiantly has all the symptom Marek's describes. Now what's the best thing to do to keep all the other chickens that were with her from getting it? I'm going to thoroughly clean the cage and disinfect it. I'm also going to buy the Marek's vaccination today and vaccinate all my chickens. Any other ideas?

 

[TwoCrows]

Mereks can kill them unexpectedly, and quickly. Unless you had a necropsy done on her, you will never be sure. So I would disinfect everything that she came in contact with, including the grounds. Take some bleach and vinegar, about a cup each and mix with a few gallons of water. Drench the entire area she lived in. I would do this after all the chickens have gone to bed. You can do the same with ammonia, 10% solution in water and it will kill EVERYTHING, including all cocci in the dirt.

It is probably a good idea to vaccinate the rest of the flock just in case.

I am so sorry about your loss.