PLEASE HELP -- Does our chicken have Marek's? [**VIDEO**]

[Northwinds]

Our sweet 3M old back copper maran pullet started showing leg weakness two days ago, and now she is having trouble walking and is showing somewhat of a foot extension. She was from a private breeder, and I just learned was not vaccinated against Mareks. Breeder does not seem to have it in his flock. We live in a city not near other chickens and the other 3 pullets in the coop so far seem fine.

Her symptoms are the following:
- gaping/ mouth open
- occasional sneezing when eating
- can't stand well on own
- lots of trouble walking / sways
- loosing balance, possible wing displacement
- still eating/ drinking, though possibly not at normal levels
- possible beginnings of toe curling?
- hard to tell yet if weakness is progressive


She does not show the following
- wheezing
- eyes and eyes are clear - no graying of eyes
- crop seems OK
- no evidence of mites
- no evidence of lesions on feet or foot or leg swelling
- poo looks normal (no mucus etc)
- mouth looks normal, no foul breath smells
- we tried to perform the q-tip throat swab for gape worm, but didn't see any evidence of red worms or anything of color on the tip.

We have isolated her and are considering trying fenbendazole in case it's worms. Another possibility from looking on line might be aspergillosis from eating mold? It has been raining here quite a bit. We started giving her a couple of drops of Poly-vi-sol liquid baby vitamins (no iron)/day yesterday to try to help her nutrition.

Any help would so much appreciated. We are new to keeping chickens and it would heartbreaking to lose the first of our flock- not to mention the possibility of them all (!) to Mareks' or another disease.

 

[Sylvestor12]

When she sneezes does it sound strangled or gurgly? If it does, try picking her up and tipping her head down and see if she pukes out any liquid. That might help a little if she does puke up stuff. It sounds like the neurological form of Marek's. Sorry for your bird!

 

[swtjuly6]

I had a chick doing the same thing...it was Mereks but I done alot of reseaching and thier is a cure and it worked for my hen. Go to Walmart and get a bottle of St. John's Wort and a eye dropper. Brake open the pill and disolve it in water(about 5-8Tblsps) Get the eyedropper full and give it to her twice a day for 10days. My chick could not walk and now she is as normal as she was before she got sick. Hope this helps.