Life after Merricks

[SamWerner]

Ok, so I have not had the best of luck since starting my life with chickens in April of this year. I lost one of my really nice girls 1 week after getting her because I was told she had a neurological disorder...not Merricks....then just a month ago and almost 4 months after her, I had her sister start limping around...I thought she had hurt her leg and thought I will give her a day to see if she just pulled something...next day it was no better and maybe a bit worse....so I took her to the vet...by the time the vet got in the office she had wing droop and was not very coherent. He suggested I take her to NC State Vet in Raleigh to have a neucropsy done on her to make sure that it was Merricks, which he suspected it was....it broke my heart but I drove the two hours there just to let them take her away...she was pretty much lifeless by that point....an agonizing week later I get results and it was Merricks.

So they tell me that I should cull all my birds for the safety of everyone else....but I live in an HOA neighborhood where no one has a farm near me, and only one neighbor has chickens on another street and she had never even heard of Merricks...nor does she vaccinate. By the way, all my birds were supposedly vaccinated...which I know is not a guarantee. SO I decide not to!

Here I am a month later (just this last Sat) with one of my girls wobbling, losing balance and not using one of her legs....I immediately swooped her up (like a good momma does) and put her in a large box in my living room (on my coffee table of all places)....yes I want everyone to pay attention to her. I am a holistic momma...we do not use chemicals in my home, and we use essential oils instead of medications. So I started diffusing Oregano, Rosemary, and Clove right beside her immediately and rolling frankincense on her head and legs. All the oils that are known to be antiviral and tumor killers. I also have kept polyvisol in her water, along with electrolytes and a touch or oregano....

She has NOT declined since...no wing drop...she did have head twitches the first couple days, but we are down to very few a day...she is still very tired, but today she has been up and hobbling...I think she even got so mad with her limp leg that she hopped across the box!

So now my story comes to this....say I have cured her...or at least helped her fight the sickness to be a survivor.....does she get back the use of her leg? Does anyone know if this can be reversed and if not...am I crazy to think I can make her a splint for her foot? I know everyone here loves their babies, and I want to know from you all....will she ever be able to walk around without the use of her leg? Anyone else would tell me to cull her...and have since day one...but I refuse to give up! If I can cure myself of tumors and my friends of cancer with EOs why not this helpless sweet bird.
Thank you for your advice and suggestions!

 

[Noobchick]

Marek's disease is in the environment, everywhere in the environment. Long story short, there is no way to 100% keep your birds away from it. Vaccines also aren't 100% failsafe; some birds develop Marek's even after being vaccinated. It's just one of those things with keeping chickens.

What can you do? Just what you are doing. I don't know that herbs, oils, etc will be effective against internal tumors but if it makes you feel better to feel like you're doing something, it probably won't hurt anything to keep doing so.

Unfortunately this is one of those times in chicken keeping where mostly you have to wait and see if things get better. Those who will develop Marek's will do so, over the course of months or a couple years. Those who have natural immunity will survive and you can build your flock from there.