Last chance hen. Mareks? Cocci? Help!

[speckledhen]

Once I had a chick who was hit hard by cocci. He never developed as well as the other males in his age group. He was the only one hunched up and showing weakness, which is what alerted me to treat the group in the first place. I thought I'd lose him, but I didn't. He eventually recovered, but never grew to his full potential. Plain active culture yogurt is a good probiotic, but there are other packaged ones you can find at the feed store for this purpose. There are show bird conditioners with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and probiotics together you could give the entire group, but they'd do her the most good, I bet.

 

[seminolewind]

I had a BO cockerel that was treated for cocci with several others. Except he took months to catch up in size, probably due to the intestinal damage that SpeckledHen and Sonew talked about. But after treatment, he never looked sick, just small.

I may just try treating your hen again with something different.

Marek's is not always paralysis or tumors. I've had 6 spread over the last 2 years that had wasting away over a period of months, starting with a mis-diagnosed roo that must have had Marek's. They looked like they were eating , just not enough. Half of them had a history of treatment for cocci. What got me thinking of Marek's in my flock-after 2 years- was that I had hatched 10 chicks under my birds but the eggs were gotten by mail. The eggs don't carry it. So it had to be my flock. 7/10 chicks, half had the wasting. The other half had the paralysis. One by one.

Wasting away is the most common symptom. Paralysis is the most noticeable. Or they can even have no symptoms at all. The only way to know would be a lab necropsy. Marek's is probably the most misunderstood disease. It can affect any nerves, most commonly the wings or the legs. Some of mine seemed to have some digestive nerve paths affected. It can also affect the respiratory nerves. Some of mine had a sporadic gasp. There's just so many different symptoms.

If you have any chickens that were exposed to any other chickens , vaccinated or not, you can have Marek's in your flock. She may peck at the treats, ground, food, but is she really eating it? Is her crop full or empty at night? Does she separate herself from the flock, hanging out outside the group?

Still, my first move would be treating her with a different cocci treatment. Separate her and see if she's really eating and drinking.

Sorry.

 

[sherylreno]

Quote:
Quick cook type oatmeal with buttermilk is perfect to get her energy up and has pro-biotics in the buttermilk, it works wonders and is cheap. Cook the oatmeal first and then mix in the buttermilk.

 

[mysweetgypsy]

Is there another way to test for Mareks, other than necropsy, yikes! I'll try the oatmeal and buttermilk. Thanks!

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
No there isn't

 

[henpeckedmuch]

Does any one know if vit B12 will hurt a chicken? I'm new to chickens but if she were a human I'd Dx her as having some form of anemia.

 

[mysweetgypsy]

Well that's not an option yet so we'll go for the oatmeal treat and I'll try to find some fancy show chicken suppliment.

Thanks so much for all the help!!!

 

[mysweetgypsy]

Quote:
Hmm. Is there a suppliment someone can suggest that covers B12? Any suppliment you swear by? Even a homemade suppliment?

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

They sell B12 at my local coop. It is in liquid form aobut 13 buck. If I am not mistaken it is made for poultry.

 

[seminolewind]

Sonew is right. There's no test, no cure.
I would have sent a bird in for necropsy, but had no doubt whatsoever that my flock had it.
I could trace the "mysterious" deaths back to the only live chicken I had bought. The rest were hatched on my property.
First one died with classic paralysis-misdiagnosed. He was in the flock with the Marek bird. He also had been treated for cocci a month prior, which weakened his system.
The chicks hatched from eggs bought outside my flock , by my silkies died one by one with paralysis or wasting away starting at 8 weeks old.

I hope your hen has cocci , and not Marek's. I would hate to find out otherwise. I will keep my fingers crossed for you!