Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[KAT Bird]

I went out to check on the chickens tonight and noticed Olivia was not roosted with the rest of the girls. She and Brownie are the sole survivors of my Marek's outbreak over a year ago. Both are unvaccinated and are living with a group of chickens I later purchased that are vaccinated. Of course my heart sank when I picked her up and set her down and she stumbled. I brought her in the house for some TLC and noticed she is having difficulty walking with one leg. I am trying to stay positive, maybe she injured herself, etc. but in the back of my mind it's Marek's....Marek's...Marek's.

Here is what it looks like:

 

[seminolewind]

I went out to check on the chickens tonight and noticed Olivia was not roosted with the rest of the girls. She and Brownie are the sole survivors of my Marek's outbreak over a year ago. Both are unvaccinated and are living with a group of chickens I later purchased that are vaccinated. Of course my heart sank when I picked her up and set her down and she stumbled. I brought her in the house for some TLC and noticed she is having difficulty walking with one leg. I am trying to stay positive, maybe she injured herself, etc. but in the back of my mind it's Marek's....Marek's...Marek's.

Here is what it looks like:

Awww, Miss Olivia is so cute. I don't know how old she is. I would surely wait and see if it's an injury. My last hen did that and I was sure it was Marek's and it turned out to be a rare form of liver cancer. As long as she eats and keeps her weight, I would give her time. Stay positive. How old is she?

 

[KAT Bird]

Awww, Miss Olivia is so cute.  I don't know how old she is.  I would surely wait and see if it's an injury.  My last hen did that and I was sure it was Marek's and it turned out to be a rare form of liver cancer.  As long as she eats and keeps her weight, I would give her time.  Stay positive.  How old is she?

Thanks for your response. She will be two years old in April. We went through a period of two months where she stopped eating from June-July this year. I took her to the vet, she had x-rays, ultrasound and an fecal exam with no known cause for her to stop eating. We treated her with antibiotics, two different ones and I tube fed her several times a day. She finally started to eat on her own again and had been fine up until tonight. She still has an appetite but is having issues with that leg. I gave her a baby aspirin and tube fed her. I have her on a towel on a pet safe heating pad for the night. Fingers-crossed she will improve a bit over night.

 

[seminolewind]

2 years old is possibly a bit old to have paralysis but anything is possible. Older chickens usually waste. Recently I had a wasting pullet and put her on antibiotics and sulfadimethoxine and she recovered. That is experimental-last ditch-lets try anything treatment. But you mentioning it reminded me of it.

As long as she eats, I would just stuff her with food. If she eats on her own, why tube feed her?

 

[KAT Bird]

2 years old is possibly a bit old to have paralysis but anything is possible.  Older chickens usually waste.  Recently I had a wasting pullet and put her on antibiotics and sulfadimethoxine and she recovered.  That is experimental-last ditch-lets try anything treatment.  But you mentioning it reminded me of it. 

As long as she eats, I would just stuff her with food.  If she eats on her own, why tube feed her?

Very interesting! I used Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole first, then Tylan in Olivia when she stopped eating and she recovered. I did it for the same reason, last ditch, try anything.

I tube fed her tonight to get the aspirin in her and make sure she had a full crop before bedtime. I just discovered her tonight and I wasn't sure if she had eaten today. Now that I know something is up and I have her separated, I can monitor her better.

I was hoping the two (nine passed away from Marek's) that survived might be resistant.

 

[seminolewind]

That's a large amount. I had 8-6 week old chicks that died one by one about 2 a week. It was devastating. I've had an 18 month old and a 2 year old get paralysis. They were both necropsied by a local vet, and he didn't see any tumors. I guess he either didn't look well enough, or they were in the nerves.

 

[KAT Bird]

That's a large amount.  I had 8-6 week old chicks that died one by one about 2 a week.  It was devastating.  I've had an 18 month old and a 2 year old get paralysis.  They were both necropsied by a local vet, and he didn't see any tumors.  I guess he either didn't look well enough, or they were in the nerves.

The losses seemed high to me too. This was the first batch of chickens I ever owned and I felt like a complete failure watching them die one after one. I have a four year old and he raised them from chicks with me. It was our project and it turned out awful. I have learned a lot since then and that was less than two years ago. I decided to give it another try and researched vaccination and age of onset, etc. My vaccinated birds are all over 1 yr now. Fingers crossed....

 

[seminolewind]

If those were your first chickens, where did they get Marek's from?

 

[KAT Bird]

If those were your first chickens, where did they get Marek's from?

I have no idea. I assumed they came with it but the didn't show symptoms till point of lay, which coincidentally was also when I put them outside. Brand new coop, on land that I know hasn't has chickens on it since at least 1991 when our home was built.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
I guess I wonder if they really had Marek's unless you added more chickens to what you had. Marek's would have to come from somewhere, and usually someone with a nice same-age flock comes home with another chicken, and the trouble starts. I also wonder why you would have Marek's and not have any symptoms before point of lay.

Were the deaths ever confirmed by a pathologist and a necropsy? If not, you may want to look for other possible answers.