please help - broken wing? or Marek's?

[ranchokelly]

I've posted already but didn't get any response, so trying again…. 3 month old pullet has been having trouble walking the past week, with one wing hanging down so low she trips on it. Today i found her twice on her side/back unable to get up. I bought some vet tape and tried taping the bad wing in place, going around her body and trying to leave the other wing free. She's having such a hard time of it, and I don't know if I'm doing the right thing.
Also I had 5 die from Marek's 2 years ago, and supposedly these were all vaccinated (but they were also supposedly hens and half were roos). I would see the progression of stumbling and losing control of one leg and then the other, so I'm super worried that could be what it is.
I can't tell if there's a problem with her legs, or if she gets so upset that she curls up her feet and lays there. Because the she gets up and manages to walk. I had her inside for a while, but she seemed so stressed (and pooping super watery poops) that I put her back with her buddies at dusk.
I want to save her if possible, but don't want to cause more suffering if it's a lost cause.

 

[fried green eggs]

Unfortunately Marek's vaccines don't protect them completely. It sounds like your hen has the normal symptoms that go with Marek's disease. It's heart breaking to deal with.

 

[ranchokelly]

I'm praying it isn't another case of Marek's. I hadn't noticed problems with the wings of the others that got it. I've read that a broken wing won't affect their balance, but it seems to me it would. In this case, the long wing feathers were poking between her legs, making it hard to walk. The fact that she keeps falling over and then can't right herself seems particularly bad. I had to take her out of the coop this morning. She crams herself with two others in a small space meant for laying, so I thought that's how she might have gotten injured.
Yesterday I couldn't get her to drink or eat anything, and she had some poops that were pretty much all water. I figure that's bad, too! Luckily got her to eat some oatmeal mash with yogurt and some tomato this morning - with vigor once she got going! She's managing to follow her buddies around the yard today, but rests most of the time.

 

[ranchokelly]

Anyone know if you can safely trim/cut the long end feathers of the wing? She worked off her vet tape wrap, and seems a little more mobile without it, except those long wing feathers keep tripping her.
I went out for a few hours and came back to find her on her side unable to get up, baking in the sun.
I believe a necropsy is the only way to tell Marek's?