My hen wont stop shaking!

[Caitey]

Hi there, looking for some advice.
I have a 5-6 month old copper maran hen who was noticeably unstable last week. I have had her separated for about a week now. She is very shaky (head and feet) and could not jump up to roost. My fear is that it is Marek's but she does not have irregular pupils, she can still eat and drink and she does not seem to be getting any worse. When I brought her in I put Nutridrench in her water. She has improved about 10%. She seems in good spirits, she coo's back at me when I talk to her. She was very much the bottom of the pecking order so I thought maybe the other hens were starving her to death but she has not improved all that much even since she has food all to herself now. She gets to free range in front of the house for some exercise during the day. She mostly hides in the bushes when I am not around.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi there, looking for some advice.
I have a 5-6 month old copper maran hen who was noticeably unstable last week. I have had her separated for about a week now. She is very shaky (head and feet) and could not jump up to roost. My fear is that it is Marek's but she does not have irregular pupils, she can still eat and drink and she does not seem to be getting any worse. When I brought her in I put Nutridrench in her water. She has improved about 10%. She seems in good spirits, she coo's back at me when I talk to her. She was very much the bottom of the pecking order so I thought maybe the other hens were starving her to death but she has not improved all that much even since she has food all to herself now. She gets to free range in front of the house for some exercise during the day. She mostly hides in the bushes when I am not around.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Welcome To BYC

Can you post a video of her? Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

What do you feed, including treats?

Any lice/mites, infection in the ears?
Crop emptying overnight?

Without seeing it, I would assume the shaking is like tremors(?) which would generally be an indication of a neurological problem. You can try giving vitamin therapy to see if she improves. Give 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a treat of egg.
See that she's eating her normal feed.

Neurological conditions can be caused by many things, but Marek's is a common cause.
Most people report their birds with Marek's do eat and drink well. Eyes don't have to be irregular for a bird to have Marek's either. There's 4 "forms/types" of Marek's

• Skin (cutaneous) - skin lesions/enlarged feather follicles
• Nerve (neural) - which affects the nervous system, paralysis, wry neck, tremors, etc.
• Eye (ocular) - affects the eyes
• Internal organ (visceral) - tumors on the internal organs, muscle, etc.