Mareks? Vitamin deficiency?

[carolthom]

I have a 7 week old Ranger that lost his ability to walk 2 days ago, so I brought him in and put him in a sling. Since then he hasn't gotten and worse, but I don't know if he's gotten any better either. He acts like a normal chicken otherwise, he eats and drinks great and fights me when I put him in his sling. He can use his legs, they seem pretty strong when he's thrashing around when I'm trying to put him in his sling. When he does try to use his legs he's always got them too far back, like he's pushing himself forward. Any ideas what it could be? I've read that Mareks will cause a chicken to go downhill pretty fast once they get to this point, so would this rule out Mareks since he isn't getting worse? He's on 24% Dumor chick feed and I started adding vitamins to his water yesterday.

 

[RodNTN]

Before jumping to conclusions like diagnosing him with Mareks, I would try some vitamins and see if they help his weak legs.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is he a meat bird? Vitamins are a good thing to try for leg problems. Mareks symptoms can show up in birds between 3 and 25 weeks old, but if he is a meat bird, they can have leg problems very young.

 

[carolthom]

Yes, he is a meat bird.

 

[Chickem707]

I have this exact problem, what was the outcome?