My rooster was paralyzed for 2 weeks or so??

[Chickie Pia]

I had a scare with my RIR rooster where he couldn't move his left side of his body at all. Even his comb was to the side. It was as if he had had a stroke. It took 2 weeks and antibiotics and my own sort of physio to get him well. He couldn't stand, eat or drink :-(But I am happy to say he is running around the garden as happy and healthy as ever

What could it have been?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Eggcessive]

Hi again. It could have been transient paralysis from Mareks disease. Sometimes they will develop weakness on one side, then it will go away. Later in life they may go on to develop tumors. Did he have the Mareks vaccine?
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/search/disease/502

 

[Chickie Pia]

No he has had no vaccines. I have a RIR hen and 12, 8 week old chicks from him too. :-(
Should I vax all my chickens against Mareks too. My Orpington's and brahma's have been vaxed, but not the seabrights or the RIR's.
Can I vax the ones that have already been vaxed too, or do they only need to be vaxed once? Would it harm them to be vaxxed again?
Thanks again for your help!

 

[realsis]

They should only be vaccinated once as far as I understand. You might want to do a little research on that because I have heard of some vaccinating again to boost but I'm not certain about the details on this. If the birds have been exposed vaccine will do NO good. Exposure would be outside or contact with adult chickens. This is why they are vaccinated at hatch BEFORE exposure. Ideally the bird should be vaccinated at a hatch then kept from exposure (outside and adult chickens) for at the very least 14 days to give the bird time for immunity and antibodies to develop in their bodies. If they are vaccinated and NOT given the time to develop the antibodies before exposure they can catch the virus before the antibodies become active. So if your chick's have been outside or around adult birds it's too late for the vaccine . They have already been exposed and the vaccine won't do much good. However if you bring new chick's to your property (mareks can live on land for years) then you will want to vaccinate them and keep them from exposure (outside and adult birds ) for at the very least the 14 days (longer the better) so their bodies can build the antibodies and immunity. After they have been given ample time for the antibodies to develop then they can be exposed. However the vaccine is not 100% effective that and breeding for resistance is our only defense against mareks as of now. So any chick's brought on to the property should be vaccinated and given the quarantine time to build resistance. The birds you have now have already been exposed to outside and adult birds so vaccinating them would not work. However just because they were exposed that does NOT mean they will become symptomatic. What is DOES mean though is that they are likely carriers of the virus and although not symptomatic themselves, can infect other birds with the virus. This is why any new babies should be vaccinated. Mareks IS EVERYWHERE that is why the vaccine is given so young. Because once the chicken is outside or around adult birds it's considered exposed. Even if there are no cases of mareks in the flock.mareks is so prevalent it can travel miles in the wind and like I said is everywhere. Even if there are not cases of mareks in the flock just being outside is considered exposed. I myself even though I've not had mareks in my flock vaccinate my babies and give them that quarantine time to build antibodies BEFORE I let them outside. Ideally you will want to vaccinate before they go outside or are around adult birds because it's a race to see which will get to the bird first. The antibodies from the vaccine or the virus. This is the best we can do now in the lines of protecting our flock although not 100% effective. Hopefully in the future something will be made available to the public that can offer 100% protection but as of now this is all we can do. I hope this was helpful and I wish you the best.

 

[Wyandottes7]

No he has had no vaccines. I have a RIR hen and 12, 8 week old chicks from him too. :-(
Should I vax all my chickens against Mareks too. My Orpington's and brahma's have been vaxed, but not the seabrights or the RIR's.
Can I vax the ones that have already been vaxed too, or do they only need to be vaxed once? Would it harm them to be vaxxed again?
Thanks again for your help!

Vaccinating older birds is usually not very effective with Marek's Disease. By that time, they have almost always already been exposed to the disease. If this rooster had Marek's, your other birds have already been exposed, and vaccinating will have little effect. The Marek's vaccine should be given at one day old, as at this point, birds have usually not been exposed to the disease yet.

It wouldn't harm your birds to be vaccinated/vaccinated again, but it may not help.

 

[Chickie Pia]

All of the other chickens are fine. Is there a window period till they show symptoms etc?

 

[Nambroth]

If you suspect Marek's disease (which, it could be, or it could be something else), please feel free to give this link a read. It also goes over all of the questions you have about vaccinating!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

I am in the USA so some of the info might not do you any good (such as where to buy vaccines, etc) but the general information should apply.

 

[Chickie Pia]

Thanks alot!!