Lethargic and a bit off balance hen

[roheryn]

We are, sadly, a Mareks flock. But I haven’t lost a bird in 6 months. This week I noticed my younger hen (Ayam Cemani, just turned 2) awkwardly landing when she jumped off the kennel to greet me. Thought maybe it was her just being excited about treats. But noticed it again the next day, then watching her, saw her off balance. That put the dread right in my bones. Could she STILL get Mareks after all this time? I immediately gave all three birds Vitamins (Rooster Booster B-12+K) in their water, and am hoping against hope that she is just vitamin deficient. We feed standard Layena, plus limited mixed grains and sometimes fruit/veggie scraps. We've never had a nutritional issue, but it has been a very very wet winter in California.

What I am seeing yesterday and today is her sometimes sitting back on her hocks, tail down, occasionally using a wing to steady herself. She is a smaller bird, but she feels light to me. She still jumps on the kennel to greet me, still eagerly enjoys the treats, and gave me an egg yesterday. She can go up the ramps to bed, but did not perch the last two nights. Just snuggles in the bedding next to the others on the perch.

Reading other posts, I will get some vitamin E and mix it with scrambled eggs, continue the vitamin B+K and maybe add some nutridrench. She is not isolating, and has a good demeanor. Really really hoping this is some vitamin thing or other.

Am I really still this unlucky? Am I going to lose this one too? I've read most of the major Mareks posts... but just in case this isn't Mareks, is there something I can do for her?

 

[coach723]

Vitamins are your best bet at this point. See if that helps, watch her to see if anything else shows up. Make sure her crop is functioning normally. I've had a couple of birds get a little gimpy but not progress to full paralysis. I don't cull unless I have to since they've all been exposed anyway, but I only hatch from non-symptomatic birds. I've also had some with apparent neurological issues (and yes, your mind always jumps straight to Marek's) that did resolve with vitamin supplementation. So it isn't always Marek's. I had one that appeared to develop epilepsy, very weird. Did random seizures for a few months, and then stopped. I've no idea what caused it, she's still here and seeming fine now. Many of my symptomatic Marek's birds have continued to lay for quite some time. Most of my birds have occular symptoms or visceral tumors on necropsy.

 

[roheryn]

Thanks! Should I separate her? Should I give all three vitamins? The other two are 4 years old, made it through the Mareks nightmare, and seem quite healthy.

 

[coach723]

I would just supplement the one that is having issues right now. The b's are very safe and extra will be excreted, some of the others, like E can be overdosed, so need more caution.

 

[roheryn]

How much E can be given? I added maybe 1/16 tsp to a scrambled egg, and she didn’t eat all of it. Her friends helped finish the dish

 

[coach723]

A one time thing isn't going to cause a problem, long term dosing is the issue. A couple of weeks of supplementation to the one with issues is OK. You can poke the capsule and squeeze it into her beak.

 

[roheryn]

I've been doing the vitamins, water supplements and nutridrench with scrambled eggs for 3 days now and she is getting worse. She still seems bright, still not isolating, but she is often falling over now, walks with difficulty and uses her wings a lot for balance. How quickly should the vitamin supplement regime work?

 

[coach723]

That is very hard to say, it depends on the actual cause. I usually try to give them 2-3 weeks, unless of course things are just going downhill rapidly. It's really a very personal decision. Some people just don't have time to deal with a chicken that's ill, some will try everything possible, so no one right answer. No one will fault you, whatever you decide. When you have confirmed Marek's in your flock, that is obviously always a possibility. You can go for long periods with no real illness and then you'll have a bird get symptomatic. That bird may just be more susceptible via genetics or immune system differences, if it turns out to be Marek's. Necropsy is always the best way to know for sure. There is also a lab in Texas that can do a blood test on a live bird if you want confirmation that way, I will link below. The Marek's virus can survive for a very long time in the environment, years. It's in the dander that they shed, and while you can clean that from surfaces, it's impossible to remove it from the soil. It will survive a long time, even if all the birds are gone.
Many of us have Marek's positive flocks and manage it as best we can. Many of us are trying to only breed our birds that show no symptoms, in the hopes that over time we will have a more Marek's resistant flock. That is not an over night accomplishment, and there are no guarantees. I no longer buy breeds that I know are known to be more susceptible, and this year am adding some Egyptian Fayoumi's, which are supposed to be more resistant to it. Doesn't mean that they are immune completely and can't get it at all, but the incidence should be lower. And my cross bred birds seem to be more resistant than my pure breds, so if I get a pure bred anything, I try to breed them with something else. But my goals are enjoyment and eggs and healthy birds with some longetivity, so breeding for a standard is not my priority. If I wanted to show birds and have them meet their breed standard, that would be a different story altogether.
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf
This is a very long thread, and sometimes wanders off topic, but there are shared experiences there about people dealing with it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...r-resistance-to-mareks-disease.894589/page-95

 

[roheryn]

Thanks, I'll continue her vitamins, but may need to bring her in and give her a sling. I work from home so have the time to care for her, and my daughter is older now, and has grown up with the birds, learning a lot each time we have to deal with issues. So, unless she continues to deteriorate or it becomes obvious it is Mareks, we will treat her. If it becomes clear this is Mareks, I'll take her to UC Davis, where they will humanely euthanize her and do a necropsy. I am painfully familiar with this route, but I am glad to be so close to have that option. I'll keep this thread posted on how she does.

 

[coach723]

Best of luck with her. I hope she improves, but I also know all too well how it feels when they don't.