Merrick‘s

[Maddi rodriguez]

I have had many chickens die from Merrick‘s disease. So far 3 chickens have seemed to stay healthy and started laying. But the rest I’m worried will get it. I have 6 silkies 1 of them for sure came in contact with one of my older ones that had Merrick‘s. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with the chickens at first but then separated as soon as I figured it out. Just today I found another silkie with the same symptoms. I’ve tried deep cleaning the coop and giving them medicated food. Is there anything I can do to help prevent it from spreading anymore?

 

[LaFleche]

What exactly is wrong with your Silkies? Try to describe the symptoms in detail.
There are other causes that resemble Marek's, so seeing chicks struggle for equilibrium or limping does not always have to be Marek's.

Did you send the dead chickens in for necropsy or how do you know that is was Marek's that caused their death?

 

[LaFleche]

I’ve tried deep cleaning the coop and giving them medicated food.

Medicated feed can help to prevent coccidiosis, but only if you do not feed anything else on the side, so no treats at all.

 

[Maddi rodriguez]

What exactly is wrong with your Silkies? Try to describe the symptoms in detail.
There are other causes that resemble Marek's, so seeing chicks struggle for equilibrium or limping does not always have to be Marek's.

Did you send the dead chickens in for necropsy or how do you know that is was Marek's that caused their death?

My first few chickens that showed these symptoms I took to the vet and she thought they had parasites so she prescribed some medication for them and we gave them the medicine for a week and there was no signs of improvement. She said the only other thing she thought it could be was mareks. The chickens I have had die from it started squatting then slowly lost movement in legs and got to the point they couldn’t even keep themselves up. Their poop was super running and green. The one I found today is barely moving and won’t open her eyes for more than a few seconds. She can walk still but super slowly and has been laying on my lap for the past hour moving just a little bit every once in awhile.

 

[LaFleche]

My first few chickens that showed these symptoms I took to the vet and she thought they had parasites so she prescribed some medication for them and we gave them the medicine for a week and there was no signs of improvement. She said the only other thing she thought it could be was mareks. The chickens I have had die from it started squatting then slowly lost movement in legs and got to the point they couldn’t even keep themselves up. Their poop was super running and green. The one I found today is barely moving and won’t open her eyes for more than a few seconds. She can walk still but super slowly and has been laying on my lap for the past hour moving just a little bit every once in awhile.

What kind of medication did the vet give you to treat what she thought were parasites?
Did she take a fecal sample to determine what kind of parasites?

 

[LaFleche]

Where do you live (climate, parasites, bugs)? Did you check your chickens for external parasites like lice or mites?
Did you check their coop for poultry mites or poisonous spiders etc.?
Did you trim back the overgrown crests of your Silkies to allow for unobstructed view? Their overgrown crests can leave them disoriented and literally blind, so they would not find the feed and slowly starve to death.

In case another one dies, I would recommend to send it to your state vet lab to have a necropsy done. This will be better than just guessing, and help you to know what you are dealing with and how to go about it in the future.

 

[Maddi rodriguez]

What kind of medication did the vet give you to treat what she thought were parasites?
Did she take a fecal sample to determine what kind of parasites?

Yes she did take a fecal sample. This is what we were given.

 

[LaFleche]

Fenbendazole is a dewormer, so she must have found some worm eggs in the fecal sample she took.

For how many days did you administer this dewormer to your chickens?

 

[LaFleche]

Silkies in particular can suffer from an innate issue with vitamin uptake and often need a supplementation on a regular basis to prevent the consequences of an ongoing deprivation.

Supplementing them with Vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, Selenium and Vitamin D3+K can often help.

 

[Maddi rodriguez]

Fenbendazole is a dewormer, so she must have found some worm eggs in the fecal sample she took.

For how many days did you administer this dewormer to your chickens?

We gave it once a day for about a week. One passed away in that time and the other 2 weren’t improving. That’s why she said it was very possible it could be Mareks. That was a few months ago so I thought whatever it was would be gone by now. But I guess not.