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

[KAT Bird]

I'm so upset I keep crying - my Sassy boy is sick now.  I know he'll die and I just can't stand it.  I am done with chickens.  I might move to Florida and can't take them anyways.  I don't know what to do with them.  No one wants mareks carriers.  I only have one who isn't vaccinated and he'll probably die next.  this is devastating, that's all I can say right now.  He's just sitting out there with his tail down - his comb is flopping a little and isn't bright red.  

Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. I know how it feels and it is terrible.

 

[KAT Bird]

thanks Karen - we were so busy all week (in FL) and I have to leave tomorrow  i like it here!   I'm not as happy with the ee's as I'd hoped. The white one (Elise) has no muffs.  

Are your vaccinated birds doing ok?

 

[schnebbles]

they are all fine so far. I wish I knew someone who could take them if I move. thank you, I don't even want to go out and check him, I know I'll cry.

 

[seminolewind]

Can your boy have something other than Marek's? Like cocci or ate something bad or has an infection?

 

[schnebbles]

karen - I don't know. I don't see him making it through tomorrow. I got home yesterday around 7 and I suspected a problem. This morning I was sure. I could get (is it corid?) to treat for cocci. I don't know what he could have eaten, my husband took care of them and only gave scratch and food. I doubt he got something from the yard, no idea what if that did happen. His comb is looking purplish. I'll try anything to save him, he's special.

as much as I've read, I don't recall how to look for infection. He's not limping, eyes look normal, but my last d'uccle passed very fast with no mareks symptoms, I just assumed that's what it was and she just didn't limp. I know tumors can form anywhere.

 

[seminolewind]

Purplish comb? Is he gasping or congested? Are you sure he's not overheated from the weather?

 

[schnebbles]

No, he's breathing fine and it hasn't been very hot. I think Saturday might have gotten up to 85 and Sunday wasn't hot and neither was yesterday. I looked again and his one eye "might" look a little off but I really can't tell.

 

[KAT Bird]

Can your boy have something other than Marek's?  Like cocci or ate something bad or has an infection?

I always suspect Marek's when my birds are acting off. But in a few cases in my unvaccinated birds it wasn't. One somehow found and ate a screw in the yard and one had egg yolk peritonitis. I had a necropsy done on both and neither had any tumors. I have one now that hasn't eaten on her own in two months, I have been tube feeding her twice a day. She has been on antibiotics for over 10 days now and she is starting to pick up and eat food on her own. Marek's is such a tough disease because the symptoms are so varied. Some last a long time, some go fast. It really is heart wrenching and once you have had it, you always suspect it is a factor.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:

I think the only thing all my "Marek's" birds had in common was that they all looked happy and even with paralysis, never looked sad. Until the end when they sleep a lot and have bright green poo. It was also easy to miss that they weren't "connecting" with the food, but looked like they were eating.

 

[Nambroth]

I think the only thing all my "Marek's" birds had in common was that they all looked happy and even with paralysis, never looked sad. Until the end when they sleep a lot and have bright green poo. It was also easy to miss that they weren't "connecting" with the food, but looked like they were eating.

Same thing here. They seem bright, and act curious and interested in things like food, but don't connect or attempt to eat it if they do get a piece of food. They just drop it. The only time I've seen 'suffering' is when my rooster couldn't get enough oxygen (actually his heart had tumors growing through it) and was turning purple. That distressed him, and I knew it was time to help him go.