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

[dawg53]

Quote: Old farts disease? I resemble that remark! LOL

 

[Haunted55]

Old farts disease? I resemble that remark! LOL

LOL! Why yes...I do believe you're right!

 

[Nambroth]

I dont know im guessing raccoon or opossum got in coop. Killed three beheading them scalped and took the eye and beak from one left alive ( i had to put her down if you saw it you would get sick and i am a nurse) and this one this is what happened and left one alone. So i now have only two. Do i put her down is she in pain? What is the hard things sticking out is it beak, cartilage, bone, i dont know Im so sick to my stomach

I had a bird with a badly broken beak, but not this bad. You will get different answers all across the board about chickens and how they feel pain, so I can only offer my experience and opinion-- there are a lot of nerve clusters this deep in the beak and it is my thought that she is undoubtedly in pain. She probably won't regrow her beak because of how far up the wound is (think of the beak like a thick nail-- the cells that generate new beak are deep in there, and your poor girl has probably had them damaged or removed) but it's not impossible. I didn't think my hen would but she did. If you want to save her you can try, but she will probably always be a special needs bird and will need help with her life. Special bowls and maybe segregated meal times and soft foods depending on how she heals. At a minimum she'll need antibiotics and careful monitoring to make sure she doesn't get infection... a wound this bad can easily spread to a bone infection. If you can get your hands on metacam and administer it it would help her pain. It really depends on why you are keeping them-- if you don't want a special needs bird, cull her. Without a lot of help her quality of life would probably be poor, and that's no way to raise any animal.

I'm really sorry this happened to you, I know it must seem a nightmare!

 

[schnebbles]

How is your chicken today Klenkskluckers? any decision on what to do for her?

My girl is about the same as last night, she's sitting up well, drinking a lot, not eating much today but I'm sure she will. Still having the left leg trouble though. she kind of gave up trying to walk much I think. Of course, she's on the couch with me so maybe not inclined to walk on the couch.

She pooped a bit ago, shes only going 1x or so a day, didn't go yesterday. It was still runny, but it didn't get all stuck to her vent. It looked a little better than previous poos.

She had her 3rd steroid dose this morning and I'm supposed to wait til Tues for the next dose.

I don't think it's Mareks, does anyone agree/disagree? She is sitting with her wings out quite a bit but I think it's helping her to balance. I'm going to get a pic of her and post just so you can see her.

 

[seminolewind]

Schnebbels, I have yet to see a Marek's bird look sick until the very end when starvation kills them. I know that some paralysis and looking sick can be botulism, but how long would they live with botulism? Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a possibility if you have mosquitos that carry it in your area. Counties or states usually have a site that maps out where there's positives for certain diseases.

 

[schnebbles]

I'll have to find that map. Right now her only issue is the leg. I'm sure that pic looks worse because she was kind of sleeping.

 

[klenkskluckers]

I had a bird with a badly broken beak, but not this bad. You will get different answers all across the board about chickens and how they feel pain, so I can only offer my experience and opinion-- there are a lot of nerve clusters this deep in the beak and it is my thought that she is undoubtedly in pain. She probably won't regrow her beak because of how far up the wound is (think of the beak like a thick nail-- the cells that generate new beak are deep in there, and your poor girl has probably had them damaged or removed) but it's not impossible. I didn't think my hen would but she did. If you want to save her you can try, but she will probably always be a special needs bird and will need help with her life. Special bowls and maybe segregated meal times and soft foods depending on how she heals. At a minimum she'll need antibiotics and careful monitoring to make sure she doesn't get infection... a wound this bad can easily spread to a bone infection. If you can get your hands on metacam and administer it it would help her pain. It really depends on why you are keeping them-- if you don't want a special needs bird, cull her. Without a lot of help her quality of life would probably be poor, and that's no way to raise any animal.

I'm really sorry this happened to you, I know it must seem a nightmare!

Thank you for your opinions. I took her to vet last night did get pain meds and antibiotics they said possible she will survive like this. This vet called specialist who than told me she looks like depending on healing that she can be a canidate for prosthetic beak. I said o come on i love her but really if anyone gettn beak reconstruction than I will. Lmao i cant believe he was serious!!! I will decide tues when we go back to dr if i am keepin her or putting her down. My reasons for wanting her is because out of all our chickens Cleo was mine she was a wild child and everyone knew cleo because she was always the troublesome. I love her. Funny thing I am a nurse of pediatrics and take care of lots of disabled children but if her quality of life is not of norm than i wont make her suffer of course not!!!! I keep her in house with me for now at night in day i let her free range with my last chicken left Miss Chikadee. Poor thing knows when Cleo goes shes alone. Shes been by cleos side protecting her not a problem with peckin. Today they stayed on pourch outside kitchen all day Chickadee wouldnt leave Cleo side not even to eat so i had to put her food by her while i hand syringe fed Cleo. So sad!!!

 

[klenkskluckers]

Cleo with Chickadee protecting her sister

 

[Nambroth]

Thank you for your opinions. I took her to vet last night did get pain meds and antibiotics they said possible she will survive like this. This vet called specialist who than told me she looks like depending on healing that she can be a canidate for prosthetic beak. I said o come on i love her but really if anyone gettn beak reconstruction than I will. Lmao i cant believe he was serious!!! I will decide tues when we go back to dr if i am keepin her or putting her down. My reasons for wanting her is because out of all our chickens Cleo was mine she was a wild child and everyone knew cleo because she was always the troublesome. I love her. Funny thing I am a nurse of pediatrics and take care of lots of disabled children but if her quality of life is not of norm than i wont make her suffer of course not!!!! I keep her in house with me for now at night in day i let her free range with my last chicken left Miss Chikadee. Poor thing knows when Cleo goes shes alone. Shes been by cleos side protecting her not a problem with peckin. Today they stayed on pourch outside kitchen all day Chickadee wouldnt leave Cleo side not even to eat so i had to put her food by her while i hand syringe fed Cleo. So sad!!!

How sweet. I have two chickens that are close friends like this, and it's funny-- one of them is also named Chickadee.

Yes, beak prosthesis is a real option! I know a lot of people here would laugh or roll their eyes at the thought. It obviously is not practical for a livestock bird... no one wants to mess with the expense and the special needs. But it is a genuine option if you want to do it. Time will tell if she will survive, or regrow, or what-- chickens are amazingly resilient sometimes. And sometimes they just aren't-- I know, not very helpful is it? But you should never let anyone make you feel bad for spending your time or money the way you want, and that includes saving your hen if she is spunky and she seems to have a good quality of life. No one but you can see and judge that, so I trust that you will make the best decisions you can!

Beak prosthesis is something I did consider myself, but my hen ended up re-growing her beak after all. They have done it for many other types of birds.. parrots, eagles, hornbills, and so forth, and many of them go on to live well with the adaptation. It is expensive, though, and it usually requires a minor surgery to insert a piece for the prosthetic to attach to. If she means a lot to you and you want to do it, do it. If you don't want to or can't afford it, no one would judge you poorly either way. I think most of us here have had that special bird we'd try to take the extra steps to save if we could. Sometimes we can't. What matters is that you care enough to help her, either to end suffering or to heal! All my best to you and your hen.

 

[Nambroth]

By the way, here is an old photo of my broken-beaked hen. She did this when she was pretty young, which may have aided the healing process.

The line I drew in black is where her beak broke. The blue line is where the broken piece additionally split open right through (we could see daylight through it). It snapped right off, and was facing straight upward. The only thing holding it on was a bit of the horn part of her beak, making it look like a hinge. As you can see it broke off very high indeed, and we thought she'd never regrow it.

The pink stuff is some dental acrylic which my vet applied to hold the broken piece of beak shut, to help promote healing and to keep the actual break cleaner. We also hoped it'd help her eat. It did, after a few days the metacam helped her pain and she started eating soft foods again.



Today, two years later, she bites harder than any of my other hens! You'd never know she broke it.

Here she is now (with my Chickadee):