Mareks or vitamin deficiency?

[plasmachicken]

My chicken cannot walk with her legs. She is a salmon faverolle and was always bullied away from her food. Thats why i think it might be a vitamin deficiency. She was never vaccinated for mareks though. How do i know if she has mareks or not

 

[coach723]

How old is she? Have you ever had Marek's confirmed in your flock? How many birds do you have in how much space?
First thing is to try supplementing vitamins. If she's been kept from food that may very well be it. I would crate her, get her eating and drinking, give her a super B complex vitamin once a day (human ones - regular not time release). You can give her some cooled scrambled egg, see if she'll eat that. If she's being kept from food and water then you may need to add more of both, to give her more opportunity. The higher ranking birds can only guard one at a time. While she's crated I would monitor droppings, make sure they are normal. Make sure crop is functioning normally, check her over for lice/mites or any wounds or injuries. Just a general health check looking for anything.

 

[plasmachicken]

How old is she? Have you ever had Marek's confirmed in your flock? How many birds do you have in how much space?
First thing is to try supplementing vitamins. If she's been kept from food that may very well be it. I would crate her, get her eating and drinking, give her a super B complex vitamin once a day (human ones - regular not time release). You can give her some cooled scrambled egg, see if she'll eat that. If she's being kept from food and water then you may need to add more of both, to give her more opportunity. The higher ranking birds can only guard one at a time. While she's crated I would monitor droppings, make sure they are normal. Make sure crop is functioning normally, check her over for lice/mites or any wounds or injuries. Just a general health check looking for anything.

Thank you. She is around 6 months old. I have her separated from the flock with her own food. I also ordered some b complex for her

 

[plasmachicken]

Thank you. She is around 6 months old. I have her separated from the flock with her own food. I also ordered some b complex for her

I've never had mareks in my flock before but i do know that she is not vaccinated for it.

 

[coach723]

I would do the vitamin supplements and see what happens. There are a lot of things that can look like Marek's but are not. If she doesn't improve with supplements, then it's time to consider other things. Was she laying eggs before this? Do you know when she last laid?

 

[plasmachicken]

I would do the vitamin supplements and see what happens. There are a lot of things that can look like Marek's but are not. If she doesn't improve with supplements, then it's time to consider other things. Was she laying eggs before this? Do you know when she last laid?

She wasn't laying any eggs before. I don't think she would have any problems with eggs. I've checked her vent and it's clear.

 

[RoyalChick]

You can use the B vitamins for people from the pharmacy. B2 is the one most associated with leg paralysis and it is very safe to give so you don’t need to get paranoid about dosage.
In my experience it takes a few days of quite high doses to see a real difference, and then it can be like a miracle.
I hope your chicken gets better.