Missing belly feathers, wobbly legs...so confused

[KRack]

Taking steps backwards. She's worse off today, using her wing for support, and barely eating or drinking.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that she is worse. Let us know how she gets along. Are you giving any vitamin E?

 

[KRack]

Sorry that she is worse. Let us know how she gets along. Are you giving any vitamin E

No, just the B complex. She's getting some vitamin E in the eggs I'm feeding her, but I'm not giving any extra. You think I should?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, it sounds like she has neurological issues. 400 IU of E daily is about right for most chickens. Mareks also could be a reason for issues.

 

[KRack]

Yes, it sounds like she has neurological issues. 400 IU of E daily is about right for most chickens. Mareks also could be a reason for issues.

Ok, I'll try it. Thank you!

Never expected such an emotional rollarcoaster ride with owning chickens.

 

[KRack]

Does anyone know if with Marek's it can cause inflamed knee joints in chickens?

I have my sick black star inside who seems to be declining instead of improving, using her wings for full support now, barely able to hobble around. Appetite is better last night and today, and she's still very alert, but still overall seems to be declining. I have a road island red outside who is limping, and when I checked her over again I noticed the leg she limps on has an inflamed knee (idk what else to call it?) joint. It feels hard, not squishy. No obvious injury or cut or anything. I'm wondering if she had an injury that healed wrong or if Marek's can possibly present in this way?

I think she's been limping for months but she hides it very well and when I examined her before because I thought I saw her limping, I was only checking her feet and legs that I could see, I didn't think to check her joints. So it's hard for me to say if this is new or not.

Trying to figure out if I need to isolate her as well.

 

[Eggcessive]

If only one hock is swollen and hard, I would wonder about it being an old injury, sprain or fracture that has scar tissue. If both were swollen and ankles were swollen, then a bacterial or viral joint infection might be the problem. Mycoplasma synovitis is one that is common in poultry. Mareks doesn’t seem to cause swollen joints to my knowledge. There is testing available for Mareks that cannbe done on blood obtained at home, and sent in for a PCR Mareks test. It involves trimming a toenail too short to collect blood. Here is a link for one lab that does this test:
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf

 

[KRack]

If only one hock is swollen and hard, I would wonder about it being an old injury, sprain or fracture that has scar tissue. If both were swollen and ankles were swollen, then a bacterial or viral joint infection might be the problem. Mycoplasma synovitis is one that is common in poultry. Mareks doesn’t seem to cause swollen joints to my knowledge. There is testing available for Mareks that cannbe done on blood obtained at home, and sent in for a PCR Mareks test. It involves trimming a toenail too short to collect blood. Here is a link for one lab that does this test:
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf

This is great, thank you! It is just the one hock.

I guess the lab work might be better than an autopsy (blanking on the name...necroscopy?), because then I might have a better idea if recovery is possible. I don't want her to suffer, but I don't want to give up on her too early either.

Is lab work what you would do? Do I just send the blood in tupperware or something?

 

[KRack]

So I plan to take my chicken to have a necroscopy on Monday unless she makes a miraculous recovery. My question is, if the rest of my flock is vaccinated, is there a good chance they'll survive?She was vaccinated too, but is a runt, so I'm not sure if this matters.

I'll try to only get vaccinated pullets going forward, I suppose, depending on the Mareks results?

 

[chickfused]

How did this turn out?