Marek's help

[cluckey]

Thats a good point. I will put some out tonight and keep it out for them. It would be great if it was just a calcium problem rather than Mareks!

 

[MrsBachbach]

Hmm thats an interesting thought. They are on layer feed and once a week i'll put oyster shell crumbles out for them too. Maybe I need to put them out more or make it so she eats them. I'll give it a try! Thank  you!

I have a couple of hens that will not eat the oyster shell. When breeding season comes I put them on a higher protein feed, but it lacks sufficient calcium. I keep some of them penned this time of year, so I know who is laying what. Sure enough, eggs start breaking in the nest box. She still refuses to eat the oyster shell. So, I end up cutting a calcium pill in half and puttin it down her throat every other day. Egg shells hardened up. Some hens just don't take in the calcium they need, even though they clearly need it, and it is available to them in other forms.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Thats a good point. I will put some out tonight and keep it out for them. It would be great if it was just a calcium problem rather than Mareks!

That would be great, but not always the case. Could be other vitamin defiency too or some other disease. Not all paralysis, leg problems, are mareks, but many are. I saw dehydration cause a loss of use in one hens toes also. She was missing for over a week, we thought her gone, but one day when moving tin against side of shed, there she was! Squeezed tight against side of building and unable to move. Obviously near death, hungry and thirsty. I don't know how she survived. I guess the ability to go without food and water when broody, kept her going though this period. Anyway, with some care, she recovered, but lost use of a few of her toes.

 

[cluckey]

wow, poor little hen! I hope dehydration wasnt the cause of this. She got her last dose of anti-inflammatory meds last night so hopefully she will recoop and start eating or she will get worse and then i can narrow down the diagnosis to Marek's. I never realized chickens could be so sensitive to different vitatmins, minerals and such!

 

[KayTee]

I have a couple of hens that will not eat the oyster shell. When breeding season comes I put them on a higher protein feed, but it lacks sufficient calcium. I keep some of them penned this time of year, so I know who is laying what. Sure enough, eggs start breaking in the nest box. She still refuses to eat the oyster shell. So, I end up cutting a calcium pill in half and puttin it down her throat every other day. Egg shells hardened up. Some hens just don't take in the calcium they need, even though they clearly need it, and it is available to them in other forms.

That's interesting to know, MrsBachbach - I wonder why your girl doesn't like eating oyster shell? Have you tried mixing oyster shell in with the feed, or would she carefully pick around it and only eat the feed? You obviously care about your girls - going to the trouble of dosing her every other day

I am curious though - why do you put them on a higher protein feed during breeding season? I have heard about using it during moulting to help them grow back feathers more quickly, but what difference does it make at other times?

 

[MrsBachbach]

That's interesting to know, MrsBachbach - I wonder why your girl doesn't like eating oyster shell?  Have you tried mixing oyster shell in with the feed, or would she carefully pick around it and only eat the feed?  You obviously care about your girls - going to the trouble of dosing her every other day

I am curious though - why do you put them on a higher protein feed during breeding season?  I have heard about using it during moulting to help them grow back feathers more quickly, but what difference does it make at other times? 

I don't know why she won't eat the oyster shell. Every year I always seem to have one or two hens that don't touch it and shells end up thin. I usually keep it in separate dish since extra calcium is not good for the roosters.
I use higher protein feed to help with chick development. Many breeders recommend starting them on higher protein feed a couple of months before you start collecting eggs to hatch. I've noticed hatches are also better during warmer months when chickens free range and can get the bugs and greens they like.

 

[cluckey]

So it's been almost 2 weeks. My chicken is still gimpy on her leg. Her toes are straight and she can stand with both legs straight underneath her as they should. She just has a slight limp when she walks. So after a week and a half in the garage at night and out during the day I let her stay the night in the coop with the rest of the flock. She needed a little help getting on the roost but did it. In the morning she was the only one still Roosting. I don't think she felt confident in jumping down. So I helped her and her right toe was pretty curled under and she spent the day sitting outside hardly getting up to move. I was sure this was the end of the line so I brought her inside for the rest if the day and night and figured on Monday I'd decide her fate. Well she is now back standing straight and walking with a slight gimp again. I'm still utterly confused if this is mareks or not.I'm ok with having a gimpy chicken but she is still not eating much. Her crop is never full on a good day. She drinks and pecks at her food a bit. She eats scrambled eggs like nobody's business. I've tried wetting he foI'd as well as yogurt and other substances but nothing except the eggs are working. My vet is completely useless. She has no idea except to say mareks. But it just doesn't add up. Anyone have any similar experiences?

 

[rebrascora]

One of my Marek's pullets has good days and bad days and sometimes she stands with the foot flat and other days it is curled and she sometimes struggles to stand at all and that bad leg goes backwards in a classic Marek's splits posture. If she is under pressure/excited she is worse. I am starting to see a pattern of her getting worse the day before she lays an egg but it's not exclusive to that. Mostly I keep her in sick bay with my other Marek's pullet who doesn't seem to fluctuate at all and just hops about. I feed them mostly what they like as I think it is better for them to be happy eating than not to eat.. Mostly soaked/fermented mixed corn and some fermented layers pellets sometimes with some scrambled eggs mixed in and some meal worms. They have access to oyster shell too. The mixed corn and meal worms get eaten without any encouragement of course, the fermented layer feed will get wolfed down if I coax them to eat it by holding bits of it to their beaks but will be picked at and mostly ignored if I just leave it for them. I used to leave them dry pellets but they just ignored it or pooped in it. They will however stand and demand that I give them more mixed corn/meal worms and make a big fuss if they think the rest of the flock is getting something they are not. I do think there is an element of social interaction and competition with eating that encourages them, which a lone sick bird lacks, so perhaps feeding your girl in a cage where she can see the others eating might help... if it is Marek's, they are most likely exposed to the virus already, so I'm not sure there is much to be gained by quarantining the sick bird.
I'm back to giving them Turmeric and black pepper mixed with scrambled egg and fermented feed and I'm including garlic this time which seems to be going down well. They will most likely eat it for a week or so and then get sick of the turmeric and turn their beaks up at it. I knock it on the spices on the head for a week and then start again. I'm now 6 months or so into this Marek's situation in my flock and only lost one so far.

At the moment their quality of life is still good enough to persevere. Their combs are bright and upright and they are bright eyed and alert. I put them outside when the weather is warm and fine and they really enjoy getting some grass and sunshine and fresh air. That definitely does them good. I never thought I would get eggs from them but I get about 2 or 3 a week from these 2 girls. It's not about the eggs though as they definitely don't pay for the time and effort of looking after them. It's just about caring for my chickens and giving them the best life I can.

I hope some of my experience above will help your girl.

Best wishes

Barbara

PS. My sick bay is a caged area within the hen house so that they are safe from being picked on/bullied but still remain in contact with the flock.

 

[cluckey]

Thank you Barbra! That is very helpful to hear. I cant believe they are 6 months into this! You might be right about the not eating b.c of stress and not having influence of the other chickens. I put her out in the coop today with the other chickens and i'll just have to see how she does. Eventually she's going to have to either make it with the rest of them or not. My husband is getting pretty tiered of having a chicken living in the garage when we have 10 acres of farm land. I agree with the "they are already exposed" theory too. I figure this is my second bird in 3 months, if it is Mareks, then everyone has been exposed to it already, so gimpy chicken may as well join the crowd. I'm hoping the loss will only be these two weslummer chickens and everyone else stays healthy. It helps to hear that someone else has very similar issues to what I am experiencing! Thank you!

 

[MrsBachbach]

So it's been almost 2 weeks. My chicken is still gimpy on her leg. Her toes are straight and she can stand with both legs straight underneath her as they should. She just has a slight limp when she walks. So after a week and a half in the garage at night and out during the day I let her stay the night in the coop with the rest of the flock. She needed a little help getting on the roost but did it. In the morning she was the only one still Roosting. I don't think she felt confident in jumping down. So I helped her and her right toe was pretty curled under and she spent the day sitting outside hardly getting up to move. I was sure this was the end of the line so I brought her inside for the rest if the day and night and figured on Monday I'd decide her fate. Well she is now back standing straight and walking with a slight gimp again. I'm still utterly confused if this is mareks or not.I'm ok with having a gimpy chicken but she is still not eating much. Her crop is never full on a good day. She drinks and pecks at her food a bit. She eats scrambled eggs like nobody's business. I've tried wetting he foI'd as well as yogurt and other substances but nothing except the eggs are working. My vet is completely useless. She has no idea except to say mareks. But it just doesn't add up. Anyone have any similar experiences?

Well, I've read there are other diseases or conditions that can affect the legs like Mareks does. MS comes to mind. You can read up on them here:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/

The only other thing I can relate is my small parrot had leg issues last year. She seemed to lose use of a foot. Was falling off her perch, etc. I thought gout which is usually associated with a high protein diet I think? Anyway, the vet didn't think so, but she did tell me to get the bird off of the commericial seed diet it was on. My bird would only eat the sunflower seeds, peanuts out of a bird mix, leave everything else. She told me to put her on the cereal type parrot food. Well, parrots don't take to changes in their diet, they will refuse to eat, so I had to put her on human food to transition. Anyway, the bird was not getting enough protein in her diet and was malnourished. After a few months of getting human food, she recovered and regained use of her foot and feathers looked great again. I'm just saying this to suggest maybe it could be a nutritional issue with the bird. Maybe.