Marek's, but 2 weeks past and still alive

[Brenda Cor]

I have a RIR 5 months old +1week, 3.5 lbs. I found her laying on her side , it appeared that her leg may have been injured also her head was turned to the side but not turned upside down. I thought Marek's or the Rye neck syndrome. She was still able to eat and drink. After a week was standing and would walk in circles or leaning against wall and would lose balance especially when lowering head to eat. Brought her to the vet : no broken bones but seemed weak and would fall forward and feathers would puff out. She would cry squawking at night even up to 1:00 am we would here her which is weird because it is the time to sleep. Now just over 2wks have past and she seems better and last night was the first night that we didn't hear her squawking. I don't know if I should let her back in run with rest of hens now or if she had Marek's or some kind of neurological problem. I am afraid for my other hens , they all seem fine. 18 hens and 1rooster. Any helpful suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

It might be Mareks, but since she has improved, it is possible that she had suffered a head injury or vitamin E deficiency. If you place her back in the coop with the others, I would put her in a crate with food and water for a few days to see how she gets along. Then you can try some supervised visits. When chickens show odd symptoms, many times the others will attack them. Is she walking normally now and holding her neck okay? Is she eating normally. What type of feed do you use? Vitamin E 400 IU can be given orally once a day to treat wry neck, and give a few bits of scrambled egg for selenium.

 

[Brenda Cor]

Thank you for replying. It does seem that she is walking better and head is on straight. Also she is not falling over . She has been eating and drinking fine thru all this. I had started to give a little Brewers yeast and a little egg also. And since I started the Brewers yeast she seems remarkably better. She is in a separate house and pen that happens to be in the same run as the other hens. I have been abit nervous about this , is she in too close a contact with the rest of the hens. But thank God they are not exhibiting any of these signs. But Marek's leads to death correct? And she is not deteriorating. So thinking maybe it was not Marek's. ?!?