Mareks?? New to all of this

[lardeb3495]

I'm new here, I'm one year into chicken ownership/addiction....I have a 5 month old EE, Condor (my husband named her...). She's been acting/walking funny the past couple weeks. When this started, at night instead of roosting with the rest, she would park herself in a nesting box, arrange hay, etc., so I figured she's just getting ready to start laying eggs. Last Thursday she was having a lot if trouble getting around. Friday morning she couldn't walk or come out of the coop.
So Friday afternoon I took her to the vet (had to deal with an old man laughing at me and my kids saying "I ain't never seen no chicken at a vet before"). Right away my vet said she is starving, checked her temperature, 107.4. His thought is she has had an infection and wasn't eating and had become too weak to walk. So he gave her a shot and sent us home with Baytril.
I have Condor in the house in a crate. I put Pedialyte and probios in her water. She's drinking and eating (layer crumbles, tuna, hard boiled eggs) real well. She tries to sit up but her legs won't work. She can move, bend and flex them. If this is Mareks, what chance does she have of getting better and walking again? I have 19 other chickens, and, of course, 18 eggs (ducks and chicks) in an incubator (first time trying the incubating). My vet is coming out here on Wednesday for my horses spring shots, if I have to make a decision.....

Debbie

 

[Farmer Pete]

My chicken showed the same symptoms you are describing last year. She made it for about 2 months, but eventually she died. I don't know if this is Mareks or not, I'm still trying to figure it out, but if it is, that is a hard disease to beat. Read up on it on this site, it has a lot of good information, and keep me posted. Good luck!

 

[lardeb3495]

Did your chicken loose leg function and regain any of the function in the 2 months? I don't want Condor to suffer, but I also never give up on any of my animals that are sick or injured. I'm not sure how long I should give her. If she's never going to be able to walk again and her only hope is to lay here in my kitchen in a dog crate, I would rather euthanize her. But if there is a chance that she can walk again and be able to go outside and free range again, then I want to give her that chance.

 

[Farmer Pete]

Yes she did regain the ability to walk for about a week, but she lost it again. I would say don't give up on her, the chances may not be good but there is always that possibility. It may take a while for her to come back and I hope she will. My chicken lost all her weight and her ability to walk, and she did come back slightly. I would say don't give up there is always hope. Good luck.

 

[lardeb3495]

Yes she did regain the ability to walk for about a week, but she lost it again. I would say don't give up on her, the chances may not be good but there is always that possibility. It may take a while for her to come back and I hope she will. My chicken lost all her weight and her ability to walk, and she did come back slightly. I would say don't give up there is always hope. Good luck.

Thanks!!!! Right now I just want some hope for her! Right now I'm watching her trying to sit up on her own and she's doing it a little. She's not laid out flat on her side at least.

 

[Farmer Pete]

You might try feeding her yogurt or oatmeal. I didn't do this with mine but it supposedly helps egg bound chickens, so it may help her too. However I have read that you should give it to them in a separate dish so they have the choice to eat it.

 

[Nambroth]

This does look like Marek's, but it might not be. It's so hard to try to diagnose things over the internet!

Anyhow, please go to this link and scroll down to the question "Are there any other diseases that look like Marek's?"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

See if anything else matches. There are things you can try treating for. If it is Marek's, there isn't much you can do besides supportive care.
If she is eating and drinking well, there is a chance she may recover enough to live normally again. Some do, many do not. It is a tough choice especially if you do not know for sure if it's Marek's... or one of the treatable diseases that look like it! It is your personal choice on what to do.

The FAQ also answers many other questions about this disease.

If you suspect it might be something else (for example, lead toxicity) it is up to you to decide what to do. Testing can get expensive. There is no wrong answer-- the choice is yours.

If it were my hen, and I suspected Marek's, I would probably get her eating a Vitamin B supplement. You can give her human B-suppliment; just break up the pills into smaller portions and give her some each day. It's a water soluble vitamin so you won't overdose her. Super-B complex is the best, or you can also try nutritional yeast flakes, just check the package to make sure it is high on Thiamine and B-12. B vitamins will help with the (slow!) repair of nerves if she indeed has neurological Marek's and has nerve damage.
I also offer small amounts cold-pressed coconut oil, because I always have it on hand, as it is supposed to help with the absorption of vitamins. I don't know if this really helps, but it can't hurt.

Respectfully, I question if your vet really has much idea about birds. It sounds as if he is applying his knowledge of mammals to your chicken, which can lead to some incorrect assumptions. Normal chicken body temperature can range from 105.0–109.4 so your hen was well within normals. Did he do a blood panel to check for white blood cell counts?

 

[lardeb3495]

Thanks!!!! My vet didn't do blood work or anything....he's a country vet...really good with cows....amazingly compassionate...but I don't know of any vets near me that specialize in birds or anything...
I have vitamin B-12 (2500). My daughter made Condor a scrambled egg and I crushed the pill and sprinkled it on. Condor does look like she's feeling better this evening. She sat up all by herself (sat in her feed dish, but he did it on her own!) a little bit ago (photo attached!), and she also just started preening for the first time that I've seen.
From what I'm reading, my guess would be Mareks. I got her at a feed store that hatches their own chicks. I did get a certificate from the feed store that their facility is tested for whatever. 7 of my other chicks came from TSC last year (those were our first ones). One of the TSC chicks, Penny, a Red Star, was limping about 2 months ago for several weeks. I assumed that she had an injury, muscle or something, now I'm wondering if that was Mareks also. She's totally fine now. She never stopped laying or anything.
I'm now concerned about my chicks/ducks that we have in the incubator. I'm guessing the smart thing to do will be to vaccinate them when they hatch?????
[QUOTE="Nambroth, post: 13083930, member: 0"]This does look like Marek's, but it might not be. It's so hard to try to diagnose things over the internet!


Anyhow, please go to this link and scroll down to the question "Are there any other diseases that look like Marek's?"
[URL=https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq]https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq[/URL]

See if anything else matches. There are things you can try treating for. If it is Marek's, there isn't much you can do besides supportive care.
If she is eating and drinking well, there is a chance she may recover enough to live normally again. Some do, many do not. It is a tough choice especially if you do not know for sure if it's Marek's... or one of the treatable diseases that look like it! It is your personal choice on what to do.

The FAQ also answers many other questions about this disease.

If you suspect it might be something else (for example, lead toxicity) it is up to you to decide what to do. Testing can get expensive. There is no wrong answer-- the choice is yours.

If it were my hen, and I suspected Marek's, I would probably get her eating a Vitamin B supplement. You can give her human B-suppliment; just break up the pills into smaller portions and give her some each day. It's a water soluble vitamin so you won't overdose her. Super-B complex is the best, or you can also try nutritional yeast flakes, just check the package to make sure it is high on Thiamine and B-12. B vitamins will help with the (slow!) repair of nerves if she indeed has neurological Marek's and has nerve damage.
I also offer small amounts cold-pressed coconut oil, because I always have it on hand, as it is supposed to help with the absorption of vitamins. I don't know if this really helps, but it can't hurt.

Respectfully, I question if your vet really has much idea about birds. It sounds as if he is applying his knowledge of mammals to your chicken, which can lead to some incorrect assumptions. Normal chicken body temperature can range from 105.0–109.4 so your hen was well within normals. Did he do a blood panel to check for white blood cell counts?
[/QUOTE]

 

[lardeb3495]

Don't know if the picture of Condor sitting up came through or not, so here it is again!

 

[Nambroth]

Thanks!!!! My vet didn't do blood work or anything....he's a country vet...really good with cows....amazingly compassionate...but I don't know of any vets near me that specialize in birds or anything...
I have vitamin B-12 (2500). My daughter made Condor a scrambled egg and I crushed the pill and sprinkled it on. Condor does look like she's feeling better this evening. She sat up all by herself (sat in her feed dish, but he did it on her own!) a little bit ago (photo attached!), and she also just started preening for the first time that I've seen.
From what I'm reading, my guess would be Mareks. I got her at a feed store that hatches their own chicks. I did get a certificate from the feed store that their facility is tested for whatever. 7 of my other chicks came from TSC last year (those were our first ones). One of the TSC chicks, Penny, a Red Star, was limping about 2 months ago for several weeks. I assumed that she had an injury, muscle or something, now I'm wondering if that was Mareks also. She's totally fine now. She never stopped laying or anything.
I'm now concerned about my chicks/ducks that we have in the incubator. I'm guessing the smart thing to do will be to vaccinate them when they hatch?????

If you suspect Marek's, yes, it would probably be in their best interest to vaccinate them within 36 hours of hatching if you can. There are no risks to the vaccine other than physical ones-- meaning if you hurt the chick with the needle. So it is your decision. It would give any new chicks the best chance against the virus if you have it on your property. If you do vaccinate, I recommend keeping them in isolation/quarantine from any existing chickens for a minimum of 3 weeks to allow immune resistance to properly develop.

If the feed store tests, it is only for a few diseases. NPIP certification does not test for Marek's disease.

As for your vet, I am sure he is a fantastic general vet! It's just that avian psychology is different than the mammals most vets are used to, and applying mammal ideals to chicken medicine is not always the best. I don't doubt that he's a great vet, I just meant that if he is not trained to work on birds, he might be grasping at straws. I mean him no disrespect!