Yes, it is so easy to stress about these things and you getting stressed and trying to make her drink can stress her.... I went through that in the early stages of Marek's trying to treat birds with Turmeric and St John's Wort and would get so frustrated trying to make them eat their food with the treatment in it, which they got sick of it after the first few days. Then I realised that it is more important to keep them happy and eating than to try to medicate them, so now I will give them lots of nutritious treats and enjoy seeing them wolf them down and not worry about trying to medicate them with something they dislike. It works out better all round because keeping them happy with Marek's seems to be the best therapy.
I had one a few months ago that started hobbling and wobbling and lost confidence in the flock. She went a few weeks and was starting to get picked on and was deteriorating. A few times I saw the other girls chasing her and her losing balance and floundering. I started allowing her to free range around the coop and pen in the garden during the day and putting her in the coop at night. She loved having that "special" freedom and more room to move around without being hassled by the others and access to grass. She would come running/hobbling/wing walking when I went into the garden and after a few weeks of free ranging like that the hobbling slowly disappeared and she was back to normal and actually sassy enough to start throwing her weight around when I put her back in the pen. It was a calculated risk because there was a chance a predator would get her but I was preparing myself to euthanize her anyway, so really she had nothing to lose and everything to gain. She is just starting to come back into lay now and I'm so pleased I took a more chilled approach.
I'm delighted to hear that your girl is looking brighter. I'm pretty confident you will be right about improvement, rather than just imagining it. I find intuition is really quite relevant with Marek's. I had one a few years ago that went months with supportive care and there were a few times when I put a time scale on euthanizing her only to reach the target date and set it back because she still had bright eyes and a will to live, despite being nest bound for so long. It was her second attack of Marek's and it took 4 months for her to recuperate to the point that she could free range again with the flock and although she never totally lost her limp, she was happy and had a good quality of life and laid eggs and roosted just like any other flock member on the highest roost.
I hope your girl makes a similar recovery. It does your heart good to see it.
I had one a few months ago that started hobbling and wobbling and lost confidence in the flock. She went a few weeks and was starting to get picked on and was deteriorating. A few times I saw the other girls chasing her and her losing balance and floundering. I started allowing her to free range around the coop and pen in the garden during the day and putting her in the coop at night. She loved having that "special" freedom and more room to move around without being hassled by the others and access to grass. She would come running/hobbling/wing walking when I went into the garden and after a few weeks of free ranging like that the hobbling slowly disappeared and she was back to normal and actually sassy enough to start throwing her weight around when I put her back in the pen. It was a calculated risk because there was a chance a predator would get her but I was preparing myself to euthanize her anyway, so really she had nothing to lose and everything to gain. She is just starting to come back into lay now and I'm so pleased I took a more chilled approach.
I'm delighted to hear that your girl is looking brighter. I'm pretty confident you will be right about improvement, rather than just imagining it. I find intuition is really quite relevant with Marek's. I had one a few years ago that went months with supportive care and there were a few times when I put a time scale on euthanizing her only to reach the target date and set it back because she still had bright eyes and a will to live, despite being nest bound for so long. It was her second attack of Marek's and it took 4 months for her to recuperate to the point that she could free range again with the flock and although she never totally lost her limp, she was happy and had a good quality of life and laid eggs and roosted just like any other flock member on the highest roost.
I hope your girl makes a similar recovery. It does your heart good to see it.
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