my Chicken Just died, she was paralized and could only move one wing and her head.

[mcintyrelr20]

What type of diease could this be? I know it isn't marek's because she was vaccinated.

Thanks! -mcintyrelr20

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

Sorry to hear that your chicken died.
Can you give more information about her....
Age?
Breed?
Symptoms including how they first appeared and length of suffering? ie. did you just find her paralysed one day or was there a slow progression over days or weeks. Was she still interested in eating and drinking? Did she have any signs of respiratory disease?
What do you feed?
Do you free range?
Is there anything she could have eaten to poison her including dead/decaying animals.

The vaccine is not a guarantee that they will not get Marek's and there is no certainty that she was properly vaccinated. Unfortunately the vaccine is what is called an imperfect vaccine. It should help prevent the more serious/fatal symptoms of Marek's like tumours but not actually prevent the disease being contracted. Also vaccinating small wriggling chicks with a tiny needle on a production line can lead to failures....human error can never be eradicated.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. While Mareks seems like a possibility, Rebascora is right about asking for more information. There are other diseases that can look like Mareks, and there have been many people here on BYC with Mareks in birds who were supposedly vaccinated. Sorry for your loss, and we look forward to reading your response for more info. If you still have her body, please refrigerate it in a plastic bag in case you may want to send it in to your state vet or poultry lab for a necropsy.

 

[mcintyrelr20]

She Was A Golden Easter Egger, and she was around 11 months old. She never layed a egg, and the starting symtom was 3 weeks ago when she couldn't move her left wing. They other hens free range every day, but for the last few days before the symtoms severed (She Died on Wensday febuary first), she stayed in a roost in our coop. Once the symtons severed, she could only move one leg, so we seperated her from the rest of the flock. The next morning, (january 31st) she could only move her right wing and her head, and she had white pastey poop. She was breathing normal, with no nasel discharge. She never had any tumors though. She never had tremors either. -mcintyrelr20

 

[mcintyrelr20]

We had 2 other hens die with similar symtoms. one died on the 3rd of november and the first chicken died on october 12th.

The symtoms were almost identical.

 

[rebrascora]

Well, the time scale rules out botulism as the paralysis would probably have become fatal within a few days.
The fact that you have had others die with similar symptoms makes Marek's all the more likely. I would even guess that this chicken may have had a previous attack earlier in the year which she recovered from sufficiently quickly that you didn't notice. I've had them lame one day and fine the next and then a few months later, a second more serious attack of paralysis. Were the other chickens that died juveniles as well?
Curious to know where you got them from if they were all vaccinated for Marek's. Did you add any new birds to the flock a month or so before the first chicken died (August/September time perhaps)?

 

[mcintyrelr20]

We added one new chicken from a county fair in new hampshire in the first week of october. There were around 200 other chickens there.

 

[mcintyrelr20]

All the chickens at that fair were vaccinated for marek's and coccitiocous. The bird we bought was a salmon faverolle.
The bird that died two weeks later was a Deleware pullet. The bird that died in november was a Deleware as well. I can't remember how old they were when each of them died, but they were the same age as the other 3 birds.

 

[lilmillefleur]

it was likely mareks. A county fair...sounds very suspicious.

 

[rebrascora]

That is most likely your culprit then. It has been exposed to all those other chickens from all over the place coming to that fair and Marek's is an incredibly common and widespread disease. It would have been an easy matter for that chicken to either already be a carrier or to have become infected at the fair and then passed it to your other chickens.

Quote: There is no way that that statement can be guaranteed or verified(chickens don't come with vaccine passports), but even so, the vaccine does not prevent them from getting Marek's or passing it to other birds.

There was a study a couple of years ago that even suggested that the vaccine may be responsible for more virulent strains of Marek's that are now being experienced.
I speak as someone who has Marek's in their flock, so I've done a lot of research on the subject.