Needing advice re possible Mareks

[Katejc]

Signs

• Paralysis of legs, wings and neck.
• Loss of weight.
• Grey iris or irregular pupil.
• Vision impairment.
• The skin around feather follicles raised and roughened.

I'm afraid to say, That looks like it...

I know I’ve read almost every Mareks article out there. But she is healthy. She lays, she eats, she drinks, she kicks the other chickens asses if they try to get near the treats...there’s more to it I think.

 

[Katejc]

So she quit laying for awhile (3-5 days) and seemed to get a lot better as far as balance. I also gave her an entire fish carcass. But then today this. The small one is a soft shell. The regular size one is slightly bigger then her usual eggs.

 

[Katejc]

And today, a pointy egg

We haven’t had her a place to roost as she is in with 2 silkies and in the cold I wanted to encourage them all to sleep together huddled. I put a roost in today and she is unable to hold herself up on it. Like she tries to sit back on her haunches and that obviously does not work for balance. All in all though she is doing way better and her balance is better and she has her tail up a lot more.

I’ve decided to integrate my other chickens. I’ve had them for 4 weeks in quarantine. She has weird symptoms but isn’t dying and neither are the other two, unless its very very slow.

 

[Katejc]

Does anyone know if I can rule out Mareks at this point purely from the fact that this has been going on too long without any decline? I think the eye thing showed up early Jan and the balance started in December sometime? I did some roost practice with her again and she did a bit better on the back of a padded chair but still not great and she goes on her hocks to eat but she doesn't stumble anymore. I want to rule out Mareks but I am not sure if its a lengthy decline or a short one and I cant find too much information on that particular aspect of the disease.

 

[Katejc]

It's hard to be sure about Marek's unless you do tests. Even then, some of the tests can be inaccurate. From what I've read, chickens can show symptoms of Marek's and recover, though they still may have balance issues.

Yes I’ve heard that too. She just has never been sick. Eating, drinking, laying and normal poop so I think after this amount of time its okay for me to rule it out. Unfortunately all the testing requires her to be dead but she isnt sick. Also, I have 6 other birds that are all totally fine. I’m really hoping to rule it out.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Yes I’ve heard that too. She just has never been sick. Eating, drinking, laying and normal poop so I think after this amount of time its okay for me to rule it out. Unfortunately all the testing requires her to be dead but she isnt sick. Also, I have 6 other birds that are all totally fine. I’m really hoping to rule it out.

The fact that it hasn't gotten any worse than stumbling makes me think it would probably be safe to say it isn't Marek's. I'm not an expert on the disease, but I've researched it a lot because I suspect my flock has it. There's a feather test and a blood test that don't require the bird to be dead. Unfortunately, the blood test can be inaccurate and the feather test is expensive. The problem with Marek's is that it can only affect one or two birds at a time, especially in smaller flocks. I don't think you have to worry, just think twice about selling/giving away birds. And, if one dies of an unknown cause, send it for a necropsy.

 

[Katejc]

The fact that it hasn't gotten any worse than stumbling makes me think it would probably be safe to say it isn't Marek's. I'm not an expert on the disease, but I've researched it a lot because I suspect my flock has it. There's a feather test and a blood test that don't require the bird to be dead. Unfortunately, the blood test can be inaccurate and the feather test is expensive. The problem with Marek's is that it can only affect one or two birds at a time, especially in smaller flocks. I don't think you have to worry, just think twice about selling/giving away birds. And, if one dies of an unknown cause, send it for a necropsy.

Thanks. Another possibility is that all my other birds could be vaccinated as I got them from reputable sources except for my silkies, but they still could be. I know this bird wasnt. I hear you on the research, I have done sooo much reading about Mareks but even if she doesnt have it I’m a better bird owner now, and I won’t buy birds out of the trunk of a minivan again!

 

[DobieLover]

I can’t seem to find your previous thread due to the recent changes in BYC, but didn’t we discuss the possibility of the 3rd eyelid being the problem with her eye? Mareks (the ocular form which only is seen in some Mareks cases,) usually causes a dulling of the colored iris and a pinpoint or irregular-shaped pupil.

You got me curious:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-please-cloudy-eye.1344326/

 

[Katejc]

I can’t seem to find your previous thread due to the recent changes in BYC, but didn’t we discuss the possibility of the 3rd eyelid being the problem with her eye? Mareks (the ocular form which only is seen in some Mareks cases,) usually causes a dulling of the colored iris and a pinpoint or irregular-shaped pupil.

Yeah I couldn’t find it either. I watched her blink and even filmed it in slow motion to confirm its not the 3rd eyelid unfortunately. Not sure if I mentioned the unsteadiness in that post?

 

[DobieLover]

Yeah I couldn’t find it either. I watched her blink and even filmed it in slow motion to confirm its not the 3rd eyelid unfortunately. Not sure if I mentioned the unsteadiness in that post?

I posted a link to your first post above.