progressively lame poult

[dmmcdougal]

We have four, month old poults that we got one week ago for our 4-H projects. They have been eating well on 28% protein game bird starter. One was slightly smaller than the others and was lame on one foot about three days ago. I chalked it up to an injury, as the other three had figured out how to jump up to a shelf/roost and she wasn't able to. I examined her foot/leg and didn't see anything obviously wrong. I worked as a vet tech for 15 years, and felt fairly confident that nothing was broken or displaced in anyway. Now she is totally down and not using either leg. In fact, she even lays to the side a little bit and is splaying her wings out for balance. Today I have been moving her to the waterer, feeder, etc to give her chance to eat. But she is not mobile. She is not splay legged at all. But her legs are not strong at all. They seem to have good tone, but she flaps to try to shuffle along with a little assistance from her legs. Not good, I know. She is on clean, deep shavings, so her breast is okay, but that is only a matter of time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have access to veterinary drugs, but none of my vet friends really have experience on knowledge about these birds. I was thinking of maybe some inflammatory medication/steroids? Puzzling......
Thanks!

 

[DeGarmom]

There are some good site here on the web if you would care to search..... I found a couple in the past few minutes. Marek's disease can be transferred to turkeys , and the symptoms can show up at 4 weeks.
The other signs can include :





Paralysis of legs, wings and neck.
Loss of weight.
Grey iris or irregular pupil.
Vision impairment.
Skin around feather follicles raised and roughened

I hope that isn't what it is. I have found that the internet seems to trump the vet when it comes to sick bunnies and birds when it comes to information. (unless vet is a bunny or bird keeper themselves)

Good luck!