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

[lalaland]

has anyone ever seen a chicken that high steps? My poor little angelina, who somehow was scalped as a chick and is blind in one eye, has a crooked or weak wing, and whose feathers are crooked and scanty, has just started this strange high step - brings her foot up to her chest before putting it down, and then the next foot - up to the chest and then down.

She can move normally when she is scurrying to get out of the way. Is just towards the end of her molt - many of her brown feathers have come in pure white. She is about 18 months old, the only thing that has changed is her gait.

I'm wondering, of course, if this is a neuro form of mareks?

 

[tridentk9]

has anyone ever seen a chicken that high steps?  My poor little angelina, who somehow was scalped as a chick and is blind in one eye, has a crooked or weak wing,  and whose feathers are crooked and scanty, has just started this strange high step - brings her foot up to her chest before putting it down, and then the next foot - up to the chest and then down.

She can move normally when she is scurrying to get out of the way.  Is just towards the end of her molt - many of her brown feathers have come in pure white.  She is about 18 months old, the only thing that has changed is her gait.

I'm wondering, of course, if this is a neuro form of mareks?

It could be. A lot of this obviously doesn't apply to Angelina but it does explain hypermetric better than I can http://m.petmd.com/dog/conditions/neurological/c_dg_hypermetria_dysmetria

 

[seminolewind]

Thanks again to all of you who offered unwavering support and sympathetic words for my most recent encounter with Marek's.
Although it didn't end well for Pear-Pear, perhaps her very short life will have more meaning to all of us once we get the necropsy results back from the Lab.
I dropped her off at FedEx this afternoon and right now I guess she's on a bus headed for Tulare, CA. Hope she doesn't miss her stop...lol !!!
I either have to laugh at my really stupid little jokes or else I'd just be crying all the time right now. Why does it seem that these things always happen around
the Holidays? I just found out today that my grandma (who practically raised me along with her 4 younger children (my mom's siblings) who were 10 years older than me, while my mom worked and my dad went to war) is probably not going to live out the rest of the month. They say she hasn't eaten anything in the last several days and that you can hear the fluid gurgle in her lungs when she breaths without a stethoscope. That's muy no bueno. If Pear-Pear's necropsy goes like Snowy's did, I should probably have the results before Thanksgiving (yes, for all you doubting Thomas's out there...of this year !!!). Anyway, as soon as I get them I'll let you all know!
Thanks Everybody!
You're great!

Until next time...

-kim-


@seminolewind ...
...have any your birds tested positive for Marek's? I know that 3 tested negative, but how many positive? Just curious! Thanks!

None positive

 

[lalaland]

It could be. A lot of this obviously doesn't apply to Angelina but it does explain hypermetric better than I can

http://m.petmd.com/dog/conditions/neurological/c_dg_hypermetria_dysmetria

Huh. lesions on the brain.....yup, could be mareks. I didn't know there was a name for high stepping.

Also wondering about heat in the coop. I normally don't add heat, except when it gets to -30, then I might add a heat lamp but it just brings up the temp maybe 5 degrees. I aim it at the metal nest boxes so the metal kind of acts like a radiator, although when the coop is that cold, the metal is barely warm to the touch. Anyway, our first arctic blast is coming this weekend and I got to thinking ....would heat be a good thing for a mareks challenged flock?

I would prefer not to - heat lamps make me nervous.

 

[jgoldy2]

I'm so sorry I've lost all of my original chickens and even a vaccinated one. It's awful and there are no words to describe the devastation it can cause. This forum was a lifesaver for me.

I currently have only vaccinated girls who were older when I got them. I hope they all do well.

Sorry to hear that, when we saw my hen was sick we took her away from her friends, although she passed she was not contagious to her friends

 

[jgoldy2]

Thanks again to all of you who offered unwavering support and sympathetic words for my most recent encounter with Marek's.
Although it didn't end well for Pear-Pear, perhaps her very short life will have more meaning to all of us once we get the necropsy results back from the Lab.
I dropped her off at FedEx this afternoon and right now I guess she's on a bus headed for Tulare, CA. Hope she doesn't miss her stop...lol !!!
I either have to laugh at my really stupid little jokes or else I'd just be crying all the time right now. Why does it seem that these things always happen around
the Holidays? I just found out today that my grandma (who practically raised me along with her 4 younger children (my mom's siblings) who were 10 years older than me, while my mom worked and my dad went to war) is probably not going to live out the rest of the month. They say she hasn't eaten anything in the last several days and that you can hear the fluid gurgle in her lungs when she breaths without a stethoscope. That's muy no bueno. If Pear-Pear's necropsy goes like Snowy's did, I should probably have the results before Thanksgiving (yes, for all you doubting Thomas's out there...of this year !!!). Anyway, as soon as I get them I'll let you all know!
Thanks Everybody!
You're great!

Until next time...

-kim-


@seminolewind ...
...have any your birds tested positive for Marek's? I know that 3 tested negative, but how many positive? Just curious! Thanks!

So sorry to hear that kim

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
I have often wondered about the chickens in the north. I live in Florida, so it's the heat problem here.
When I lived in NY, my one rooster and 2 horses were all together locked up and tolerated some nights at 0 degrees. Not many. Minus 30 makes me think about bringing them in the house, LOL!!!! That's awful cold. I don't think I'd want my birds under 0 degrees, but that's me and I truly would not know how to handle minus 30. I know one member long ago who had bantams in Canada and they would all live in cages in his mud room/back door in the winter and let out during the day.

 

[jgoldy2]

I have often wondered about the chickens in the north. I live in Florida, so it's the heat problem here.
When I lived in NY, my one rooster and 2 horses were all together locked up and tolerated some nights at 0 degrees. Not many. Minus 30 makes me think about bringing them in the house, LOL!!!! That's awful cold. I don't think I'd want my birds under 0 degrees, but that's me and I truly would not know how to handle minus 30. I know one member long ago who had bantams in Canada and they would all live in cages in his mud room/back door in the winter and let out during the day.

I live in Colorado, and we are getting hit by a snow storm currently, so all the chickens are in the barn with the lights on in order to get eggs, the chickens stay decentaly warm, but we only started this last year, before the chickens stayed in the coop all winter, most thought it was miserable, however my old girl Buckety a cochin bantam that a coyote this fall loved the snow, she would go out of the coop all day, and died during a rainstorm this fall however she lived 10 years

 

[schnebbles]

jgoldy - I haven't read all of the recent posts here but if your hen died of mareks and was around your other chickens at any point, they all have been exposed. It doesn't kill everyone at the same time. I lost mine over months, even close to a year or more.

 

[mightymax]

I just love anything having to do with UC Davis. They're so awesome !!! Pear-Pear was just delivered to them earlier today, and already I have an emailed report on the
preliminary findings of their gross observation of her carcass. Bacteriology, biotechnology and histology are all in progress but are pending, so I'm still awaiting word on
whether or not it was Marek's Disease that killed her. However, somewhat noteworthy was the discovery that she had roundworms. Not that I find roundworms to be very
noteworthy in and of themselves because since my chickens free-range daily. having worms just seems to come with the territory. (can't completely eradicate them, just try
to manage them) No, what I find noteworthy is the fact that it is time for me to worm the flock and has been for several weeks now, but I've been intentionally putting it off for
the mere reason that I didn't think the harsh chemicals would be good for Pear-Pear in her compromised state...lol !!! I don't really know why I find that so funny...but
I do.!!! Read that in the report and just started LMAO !!! I guess I was thinking...Well, that figures...here I've got MDV running rampant in my flock, making me crazy (and mind you,
it's not just your ordinary, run of the mill type of crazy either. Nooo, it's the hair pulling, banshee screaming kind of crazy your mama warned you about type of crazy) trying to figure out some way to help and comfort them, and then there goes one of my favorite hens, Pear-Pear, up and dying of a worm infestation !!! All in the name of protecting her fragile immune system

...How Ironic

!!! As a wise man (my dad) used to say, "No good deed goes unpunished". Story of my life...God, I'm laughing at the thought again, right now thinking
about it...lol !!! Maybe I'm ill, or have finally lost it, or better yet...maybe I'm what my grandmother referred to as a little 'touched' !!! Whatever it is I have, it'll have to keep til morning, because this girl has got to get some sleep !!!

Until Later Today!?!?

-kim-