Please help! Chicken gets paralyzed...

[kris1990]

Hello,BYC! We have a rooster who started off limping with one leg and his wings down and went to limping with both legs. And he kinda looks like he's drunk and can't stand on his feet. We are keeping him separate and we are giving vitamin E. He has appetite and drinks water.
We had another hen that had the same and her progressed to being weaker and weaker,until one day her whole body paralyzed. We continued hand feeding her and giving her water few times a day,until she died in her sleep.
Can someone help me what this could be? And if there is treatment.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be Mareks disease, but poisoning, botulism, or eating moldy feed could be other possibilities. The only reliable Mareks testing that can be done is to get a necropsy performed by your state poultry vet lab, and have them test for Mareks. I am so sorry that you may lose your second chicken to this possible disease. Make sure your rooster is near food and water. Please consider your other birds carriers, even if they don't get symptoms. Let us know what happens or if you need contact info.

 

[rebrascora]

How old are the affected birds. If they are adolescent in the 8-25 weeks range, then the most likely cause is Marek's disease, for which there is unfortunately no recognised cure.
It is a very common and widespread virus that is all too easily contracted. A good vitamin supplement, good nutrition and physical support in the form of a chicken sling or hammock, when they are no longer able to keep themselves upright, is the best that you can do and I euthanize them when they no longer have an interest in food, as they go downhill rapidly from there. I have had some make pretty miraculous recoveries from very debilitating paralysis from it, but they will be susceptible to future and usually more prolonged and probably fatal attacks in the future. Unfortunately if I am right, your whole flock must be assumed to be carriers although some (hopefully most) will not develop symptoms. Some strains are more virulent and fatal than others.
I agree that a necropsy is the best way to go, so that you know for sure what you are dealing with.