Need assistance with a lethargic ill chicken. Possibly respiratory problems, Wry Neck or something else?

[Persony Person]

Marek’s disease can present itself in various ways. Sometimes only one chicken gets sick at a time, though they all carry it. There are different forms of Marek’s, and only one of them involves gray eyes. Here’s a thread about a rooster I had with suspected Marek’s, he had similar symptoms to your hen https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rooster-losing-balance.1332429/.

Yeah, ok. Reading and watching that, I am content with the Marek's explanation. Looks like similar paths of deterioration for your rooster and my hen. Only with my hen it appears to be much more aggressive. Yesterday she was able to walk, but with difficulty as you can see in the video and today she was totally immobile, not even enough strength to move her head off her body. Looks like now she at a state of total neurological failure (inability to move anything in her body despite being alive).

I know have I have exaggerated before saying "she won't survive the night". But given all the information presented and her current state, it would be accurate to state this now

I don't have an injection needle to provide her with B12.

The only way to know will be a necropsy. I know funds are tight, so I would say if another bird gets sick after this one, you really need to get a necropsy done.

If a 2nd chicken gets the similar symptoms then I will convince my parents to look into getting one sorted, though I would have no idea where to start in the UK to get a necropsy. Looks like here you need to go to a vet first and like I said, we are not financially capable of doing that.

 

[casportpony]

I am not convinced that it is Marek's from what I have been reading. Isn't Marek's contagious? All the other chickens are perfectly fine.

It is contagious, but not in the way something like a respiratory infection is.

Her eye colour has always been brown apparently would be grey if she had it.

Ocular Marek's affects the eyes, and gray is just one of the way it presents.
This hen had ocular and neural Marek's


Didn't necropsy this one, but pretty sure it was Marek's


This one had ocular, visceral, and cutaneous Marek's.


Gray eye


Pin point

If you want to learn more about Marek's you should read this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[Persony Person]

So a quick update:

It turns out that she was not paralysed at the time when I last posted. We mistook paralysis for unconsciousness. We decided to put her in one of our sheds, where there is more room, still warm and is still isolated from the other chickens. Day 7, when we thought she was finished, we were shocked to see her moving around and even managed to eat on her own as well as drink. Her responses to stimuli was better.

But since then it has been downhill again. She has been very slowly moving around with her head always resting on her body, twitching almost constantly. Starting yesterday, she has this very strange lunge/kick up behaviour which is shown in the video, starting at 1:37.

We are pretty sure she has Marek's now, thanks to the information you have all provided. None of the other chickens are showing any symptoms. We are not going to keep trying to treat her, as from reading, it is a terminal condition once it has kicked in. As long as she can still eat and drink on her own, then we will keep providing her with those essentials.

 

[Persony Person]

So it is Day 26 now of her first showing symptoms of this supposed virus. We let her out back with the other chickens shortly after the last video. She appears to be A LOT more mobile and has considerably more energy, not just dozing off in a corner or the side of the courtyard or sitting in her temporary home. She was sitting with some of the other chickens fully awake, meaning she is socialising again which was a great sight to see. Today was the first time I have seen her directly eat off of the ground (Though still with difficulty) and the first time I have seen her clean herself since the first sign of symptoms. She still has times where she wants to doze, but the frequency of wanting to do so has decreased significantly.

She still has difficulty using her neck often still leaning her head on her body possibly more of a result of general pain rather than something to do with the neck itself. She still isn't perfect with her balance and often still moves in circles and is still the slowest walker out of them all. She has learned to control those strange jumping spasms that you can see in the video in the previous post and the spasms are now associated with shaking her head a lot. Her ability to manage and control the problems she knows she is experiencing is fascinating. Very smart chicken.

Her vent area is still has green around it, but I have noticed it is also darker, black in colour, suggesting that might be back to normal for poo? I need to do more observations on this.

To me from generally observing her, this is the best shape she has been since Day 1 of the illness. I know from reading the Marek's mega-thread that there is such a thing as “Come and go symptoms”, but I am hoping that isn't the case and that she can develop some form of resistance. She clearly wants to live and is working hard through her pain to do so.

 

[JDChickChat]

So it is Day 26 now of her first showing symptoms of this supposed virus. We let her out back with the other chickens shortly after the last video. She appears to be A LOT more mobile and has considerably more energy, not just dozing off in a corner or the side of the courtyard or sitting in her temporary home. She was sitting with some of the other chickens fully awake, meaning she is socialising again which was a great sight to see. Today was the first time I have seen her directly eat off of the ground (Though still with difficulty) and the first time I have seen her clean herself since the first sign of symptoms.

She still has difficulty using her neck often still leaning her head on her body possibly more of a result of general pain rather than something to do with the neck itself. She still isn't perfect with her balance and often still moves in circles and is still the slowest walker out of them all. She has learned to control those strange jumping spasms that you can see in the video in the previous post and the spasms are now associated with shaking her head a lot. Her ability to manage and control the problems she knows she is experiencing is fascinating. Very smart chicken.

Her vent area is still has green around it, but I have noticed it is also darker, black in colour, suggesting that might be back to normal for poo? I need to do more observations on this.

To me from generally observing her, this is the best shape she has been since Day 1 of the illness. I know from reading the Marek's mega-thread that there is such a thing as “Come and go symptoms”, but I am hoping that isn't the case and that she can develop some form of resistance. She clearly wants to live and is working hard through her pain to do so.

I am so happy to hear this!!! Praying for her!!! Please continue to keep us posted on her progress ❤❤❤

 

[Persony Person]

Also aside from some occasional head shaking from most of them (similar movements to a sneeze, without actually sneezing). All our other chickens still appear to be ok. It is most notable on our chick called "Splosh" and another hen called "Whitey 3", so if they start showing similar symptoms to Stupid head 4, I will use this thread to update on their progress.

 

[Persony Person]

Also got more information about the breeds she is derived from. She is essentially a Cream Legbar and White Sussex bantam hybrid. To me, she is unique and irreplaceable, which is why I am desperate to try and save her. She could have had chicks in February, but we decided against it due to population concerns, her general youth and the possibility if most of them were roosters. If I knew she would have had this disease then we would have let her have them. She would be a great mother.

She has been doing ok today, it was raining hard so she was soaked like everybody else and got into cover just fine. Similar to yesterday but with rain.

It is also quite sad when she sees something on the ground that she wants to eat, standing there for well over a minute struggling to get her neck down far enough and just as she is about to push through and get it, one of the other chickens snatches it away from her. Not very nice.

 

[Persony Person]

Day 33 now, and its not looking good. Yesterday I noticed her head spasms were becoming more intense. She has slowed down again. Today, I found her upside down with feet in the air, shaking intensely. Her ability to balance herself has fallen drastically, she can barely move on her own, but can still do so, somehow managing to eat and drink on her own. She has a very strong drive to survive. Also she is tending to fall backwards onto her head when having a drink of water for example. She is also started doing that strange neck drooping again.

I think the paralysis stage is coming.

 

[LaFleche]

Honestly, if she was my beloved chicken I would have put and end to her suffering some time ago, as she was obviously suffering a lot even at the time you made the video.

When there is nor cure for the ailment/disease and the animal is just suffering I think it is the ultimate proof of love to put them out of their misery.

 

[Persony Person]

Honestly, if she was my beloved chicken I would have put and end to her suffering some time ago, as she was obviously suffering a lot even at the time you made the video.

When there is nor cure for the ailment/disease and the animal is just suffering I think it is the ultimate proof of love to put them out of their misery.

I have never had a chicken that has been determined to live as this one, so that means I am not going to euthanize her yet. I am only going to consider it when she gives up herself or really is incapable of feeding and drinking, or is totally immobile. She is none of those yet, likely close to the 3rd one, but not yet.