Marek's Disease Limp? With Video

[ChickyChickyNeighNeigh]

Hello!

This is my first post, so I apologize if I do anything incorrectly.

We have a barred rock that is 5 months old. Around the two weeks ago she seemed to be limping on her left leg. She would walk on her toes so it seemed like there was pain in the base of her foot that she was not wanting to put pressure on it.

We cleaned it completely, but there were no bumps, cracks, wounds, thorns, nothing. To be safe we did daily epsom salt soaks, covered the whole foot in Neosporin and wrapped it, and kept her seperate from the other hens so she would rest. At first, it seemed to get worse. Like her other foot was tired from carrying all the weight so she stopped walking altogether and she was panting.

It seemed like she improved, not panting and was putting more weight on her legs so we moved her back to the coop. She still didn't really walk but seemed to be in less distress with the other hens than by herself.

Today, it seems like she is getting worse again. When she stands up she puts a lot of weight on her wings to balance herself.

The interesting thing is she is still eating, still drinking, still laying, and at night she gets into the coop and roosts by herself and comes out in the morning. She has not lost weight. Her poop is normal.

She has laid double yolked eggs every time so we have been giving her a vitamin supplement (both directly and in water) for a couple days in case it is a vitamin deficiency.

There are three other hens in the same coop, they are all healthy.

I attached a video, this is all taken about 5 minutes apart. At the end, she flew up to the roost herself. My husband placed her in the coop, but then she flew up to the roost inside the coop by herself also.

I have never seen anything like this and appreciate any insight!

 

[azygous]

What is your location on the planet? What has the weather been like since she began showing symptoms?

She's a little too old for the onset of classic symptoms of Marek's, but unfortunately she is just the right age for onset of Lymphoid leucosis symptoms.

But let's not jump to conclusions. This could be a simple vitamin B deficiency. Or it could be heat related. Two things you can do that don't need a definite diagnosis is to give her a bowl of sugar water - one cup water with one teaspoon sugar and a pinch of salt and baking soda. The other is to start her on vitamin B complex (people vitamins) one tablet daily for the next several weeks.

The first treatment will resolve the symptoms right away if they are heat related. The second will take four to six weeks to see improvement. If there is no improvement after six to eight weeks and if the symptoms worsen, they you should suspect the avian virus.

 

[ChickyChickyNeighNeigh]

Thank you so much!!!!

We live in Oregon and did notice the limp after it had been over 100 for a few days. We did everything you said and will wait and see! Thank you!

Out of curiosity, is there benefit to dosing electrolytes during really hot days somehow? Like adding the above mixture to their water?

 

[azygous]

Yes, you may add electrolytes to the water, but only for a few days. The minerals can build up in the system and cause problems. However, most chickens do okay during a heat wave if they have shade, plenty of cool water, and damp places to burrow into to transfer their excess body heat. Also, by dampening the substrate of their run, you can create evaporation, especially if you use a fan. This can lower the air temperature as much as ten degrees at soil level.

Most of us only use the electrolytes as a first aid for an individual that is showing symptoms of heat sickness. I've only had two heat victims in sixteen years, and we get some pretty hot days.