possible mareks? please help!

[littleredhen77]

please help!

i recieved 12 chicks about 6 weeks ago from tractor supply, there are 6 americaunas and 6 new hampshire reds. they were all fine and healthy up until about 4 days ago when i noticed the smallest of the reds was kind of limping. the next day i noticed she was mostly laying down and kept getting trampled by the others so i put up a divider in the tote they are living in until they are big enough to be outside full time. she seems to have trouble walking and almost stands on her tip toes like shes trying to prevent her back toes from touching. after standing for a minute she drops down and lays. when i pick her up she curls her toes and doesnt seem to walk to uncurl them when i set her back down. sometimes when shes laying she stretches one of her legs out to the side but she never does the one forward one back thing im seeing everywhere in the pages im reading about mareks. im also unsure if my chicks have been vaccinated.

I would like to know if there is anything i can do for her other than what ive done already, she is seperated by chicken wire from the others, but if i try putting her in a seperate tote completley she cries and cries because she cant see the others. during the day i put them all outside in a pen and she tries to keep up, but mostly lays there and watches. she still eats and drinks, she preens her feathers, but seems to be growing much slower and sleeping more. ive been reading for days and i dont know what it could be, because if its mareks she wouldnt be walking at all, am i correct? this chick can stand and walk though she kinda hobbles a bit and then lays back down..

any help would be appreciated! id like to think she will make it, and that its not mareks. :'(

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/217/vitamin-b2-deficiency/
Does she look like this?

You might try some vitamins to see if it helps? Some people use poly vi sol no iron (baby vits) and others get the poultry vits from the feed store.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=poly+vi+sol

 

[littleredhen77]

she doesnt look that bad, ill try to post a picture, sometimes she sits up nice with her tail up like shes on a tiny nest, but sometimes shes a little on her side with her leg sticking out..

 

[littleredhen77]

 

[littleredhen77]

 

[littleredhen77]

is it possible for her to bounce back? im making sure she eats and drinks, her eyes are still bright and shes very tame..im wayyyyyy to soft hearted to even consider putting her down. even if it means giving her special treatment her entire life..i just would like to know if anyone has heard of or had a chicken go back to being normal after these kind of symptoms :'(

 

[littleredhen77]

Hello again! If anyone is still reading this and has any input, here's an update. 'Little red' is about 3 months old now, and she still seems about the same as before. She likes to be around the other chickens but she has grown much slower and is quite a bit smaller than the 11 others she shares a coop with. She spends most of her time sitting down, but neatly, not with her legs splayed out like typical Marek's pictures show. I do catch her laying on her side with her legs out once in awhile though. When she's outside she dust bathes, eats bugs, she will stand up and walk a bit but she hobbles and flaps her wings then ends up plopping down to sit and watch. There is one other red who seems to want to mother her.. Since they've been moved to their coop, I have the next box I built sitting on the floor since they're too young to lay I thought I'd leave it down low for them to check it out for awhile. Little red and her buddy sleep in one nest together every night while everyone else uses the perch. Today it was kind of rainy off and on..I opened the coop and let them out before I went to work at about 630am, but when I got home at 7pm everyone was outside except little red. She was still in her box and from the droppings in there it looks like she was there all day. I'm worried about her still, even though she's survived this long so far she's not getting better, or even growing much. While I don't mind having a chicken that might require special care, I would rather have her get better and become more able to walk around and enjoy herself. :-\ I'll add pictures of her in a minute. Thanks for reading! Anyone who has had similar experiences please share! I'm worried sick about her every day while I'm stuck at work, and I work 6 days a week!

 

[littleredhen77]

 

[clmontessori]

All of the symptoms you have mentioned are the exact same things our 4 month old Americauna. Last week she was walking with a slight limp and then the next day was unable to even get up. Her toes curled up as well. We sent a few videos to our state veterinarian and he said it definitely looked like Marek's. It's so sad to watch. Her appetite is fine so right now we have her in a dog kennel so she can eat and drink without the other chickens taking her food. We've decided to give her some time and see if anything changes as apparently a B2 deficiency can be mistaken for Marek's. At this point we are convinced it is Marek's. Here is the video of ours so you can compare. So sorry to hear about your chicken. It is a very sad thing to watch.

 

[brummie]

little red, clmon, how are you chickens doing? Any updates with what happened? I've got about 4 chicks that are beginning to do the same thing as described by littlered, so I would greatly appreciate it if you guys could now offer some help/advice after your experiences. Thanks.