Need Help! Does my paralyzed orpington have Marek's or something else?

[PunkinPeep]

I am SO sorry to hear that! I have no experience and very little knowledge on the subject. I think it sounds like Marek's, but i definitely don't know.

Really sorry.

 

[dlhunicorn]

If the sleepiness is unrelated to the limping -my younger flock (of 15-19 week olds) has been spending time being integrated with the older flock (7-9 months old). They have been being picked on some, but I haven't seen any injuries happen.

>you also mentioned in another post about her having trouble "keeping up" > her breed is a heavier bird and as the weakest part o a bird are its legs (simply being chased about and such can cause injuries) it might have something to do with that.

Keep her cool and if you can get a good complete poultry supplement like AviaCharge 2000 (available online for purchase from McMurry or Strombergs) then I urge you to do so. Giving a supplement in periods of heat or cold stress is always recommended.
Worming her with ivomec Eprinex would also be my advice (and the rest of your flock too)​

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

At first, I thought it might be an injury, but over the course of the week, it has now progressed from a sore leg that she could still walk on to a paralized leg. The leg and foot won't move at all, even when I am handling her or trying to move it.

I want to give her the flush, but am unsure as to whether or not I need to give her molasses with water (or pedialyte) by itself and then wait to feed her a mash or if I should give her some molasses in her food (like I mentioned in my last post). One of the links I saw on someone's post about poultry botulism said that you can mix the epsom salts with their food. Does this mean the molasses will still work as a flush when given with food or should I feed it to her separately? How often?

She is still swallowing - she ate a couple bites of crumbles out of my hand this morning.

 

[antiemm]

I lost a pullet about the same age as this one yesterday. She started out with very similar symptoms. I have 55 chickens who forage on 5 acres all day and come in at night so I am not exactly sure when her symptoms started. I can recall seeing her sitting around puffed up and sleeping alot for at least a week. I noticed her limping a few days ago but that could have started sooner. Once I noticed and isolated her she got worse really fast. Like yours she was eating fine until I confined her but unlike your pullet her leg(s) were never completely paralyzed.

For two days I was treating her with Tylan and a electrolyte/vitamin mix. She ulitmately began to have seizures and died.

I have looked all over the internet and found no disease with these particular symptoms. Marek's seems to be the closest and as it is a virus that attacks the nervous system I suppose symptoms could varie...?

I am interested to see how this turns out for you. I have another pullet who seems to be exhibiting some of the same symptoms. Pleas keep updating the post and let us know how she is doing.

Good luck and I hope she is recovering at this moment.

Take care,
am

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

dlhunicorn - She didn't any trouble keeping up with the flock. She was actually at the top of the pecking order with the 7 younger pullets I have (ages 17-21 weeks). You might be referring to my post about me integrating them with the older pullets (ages 7-10 months). She was getting chased around a little, but no more than the others and not excessively. The two pens connect and when the younger ones retreat to their original pen, they get peace. It's rare for the older ones to pick on them in the babies pen.

Thanks for the advice - I am giving her vitamins now and trying to keep her stress levels down. She is staying inside mostly, but yesterday we put her cage outside so she could be near the others. I've also fed her a couple times with her original flock. I hold her up and she will eat a little bit of food with them. I thought this might help her not to lose her standing in the flock when returned (if returned). If they keep seeing her, they should accept her back okay.

antiemm I'm sorry about your pullet and hope you don't lose anymore. It's weird how slow this is progressing (whatever it is). She seems the same today as yesterday and the day before. Her leg has been completely paralzyed for a few days now, but both wings still work great. When I carry her, she flaps them both.

She is still eating & drinking, but not much. I took her out to feed her 5 times yesterday and she never ate very much - usually a few pecks of crumbles and then I feed her the mash (listed in a previous post) with a dropper and the pediatric electolytes (for her drink). Each time, she would only eat about 1/3-1/2 of what I had prepared before closing her eyes and stopping.

She looked very cute sleeping last night with her head tucked back under her wings - At least I know she is not having any neck troubles.

 

[SC_Hugh]

Two vets in your area:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=6972

I hope she pulls through...

--Hugh

 

[Jacob42]

This sounds like an issue we had with our polish this summer. She became very weak and could not stand, then started to lay on her side and push herself around. It was terrible to watch and we thought for sure it was going to be the end of her. We forced her to drink duramycin 10 and gave her crumbles and yogurt mixed with the meds, the whole problem took one week to run its course, but the green poop was a good idacator that she was getting what ever it was out of her system. She quit pooping for awhile then a lot of green poop. Eventually she regained strength and was back to her old self. I hope you hen will also be able to pull thru.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

My pullet is still alive, but looking worse - both legs now seem to be paralyzed (2nd leg stopped working a couple of days ago), although when I was cleaning her bum (since she can no longer move away to poop), one of her legs was twitching. She's also not eating hardly at all on her own - just a few bites a day.

I keep thinking it might be Marek's, but thought that Marek's affected one side first - (like the leg, than the wing). Both her wings work equally well. She flaps them just fine everytime I try to open her mouth to give her a dropper of mash.

Even if she doesn't make it, I need to know what she has, so that I know what to do with the rest of my flock. I have some pullets that I was going to sell, but don't want to infect someone else's flock.

I updated my original post (the questionaire) today.


Edited to add - Besides moving her wings, neck & head, she also shakes her tail - but she seems so stiff when I pick her up - the bottom half of her (her two legs) don't work.

I just finished giving her a second dose of the mash - about 11 dropperfuls. She won't eat on her own and seems to hate being fed. She won't even drink when I put her beak into the water dish - I give her pediatric electrolytes by mouth (force feeding). She sleeps most of the time, but looks around alertly if she hears a noise.

 

[kassy68]

I had this happen on one of my 3 week old lav orpingtons.. I hatched here.
All others are still doing great at 7 weeks..(minus all 8 are roos..LOL)
But my little one was fine that I saw the day before and then the next morning she/he was by itself away from the light.. I moved him over and got him warmed.. wings worked great, he ate and drank but could not keep his balance to walk. As the next day hit he lost movement in the one leg completely , and the next day the other lay.. by the end of the 3rd day.. when he was too week to eat we said it was enough.. He ate up until the last day when given food and water.. he pooped nice poops.. nothing but the lack to walk.. Never seperated.. but I did put him in a gallon ice cream bucket kinda propted to keep him upright .. Hope someone eventually finds out what this is... Good luck.. She's a beautiful girl.. (maybe a spider bite or something easy)

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I never thought of a poisonous bite. We have scorpions here in AZ, but I've never seen one near our place and I've lived in this house for 8 years (doesn't mean they aren't here though).

I know your little chick didn't get Marek's because it was too young.

I don't know if Splash ate something bad, got bit, contracted Marek's, or.....? I really don't want it to be something contagious and hope it is a bite or something like that (although I hope she gets better and doesn't pass like your poor baby).

I have 18 pullets right now, eleven of them are 8-10 months old & the other seven (her buddies) are 17-21 weeks old. They live in two runs that connect and all 18 free-range together, so whatever she has, they've all had a chance to be exposed to it, but she's the only one that has developed any problems.