Hi!
I bought six pullets from TSC (our feed/equipment, greedy corporate, but convenient and seductive, store) about eight weeks ago. Two Wyandottes, two Marans, one Americauna and one Polish. They have lived alone, together, since. They were mostly in a brooder area inside, as our winter storms hung around very late this year.
About eight to ten days ago, the polish began to exhibit symptoms that I associate with Marek's. She at first lost control of one leg, then a few days later, the other. She has always been smaller than the others, but I don't think she got picked on too much. At the first sign of trouble, I removed her to a pet carrier in my room, where she remains.
I braced myself for the onset of the disease in the other pullets. They have been together from day one, which was when they were shipped to TSC. As of today, nothing. The other girls are fine, and growing very quickly. So, I got to wondering about that. I realize now that, with one exception, every bird I have had, that I thought had Marek's, was Polish.
I adore chicken's. I like them all! I will take in sick, wounded or just unwanted chicken's, because I can't stand the way they are discarded like paper towels. "What? It's just a chicken!" Is a phrase that makes me wish I could inflict pain with my mind! Oh, how they would writhe! Ahem. Anyway.... I have had, I believe, five cases of "Marek's" in five years. Four polish, and one silkie. In each case, the sufferer lived nearly a year (the silkie lived two), in isolation, being hand-fed and watered two or more times per day. It is the best I can manage. Then, suddenly, it gets much worse, very quickly, and then they die. Never has there been a second case at or close to the same time. Weird, right?
When the silkie came down with the condition, because he was my daughter's favorite, I did more than usual searching to find the cause. Because his symptoms began with apparent blindness, I did not think of Merek's until he began to lose control of his neck. He actually was able to walk, right up until the end. His problem was that he could not eat, because he could not direct his beak to the food. So my job was to gently put his head in the feed dish and or the water dish a few times a day. At that time, I posted here about his symptoms, and got a pretty reasonable explanation. Apparently, birds like polish and silkie have thin skulls. He may have gotten pecked on the crown, which caused brain damage, which caused his symptoms. That makes perfect sense to me. However, when I think back on the other birds who have had it, particularly this one, it is hard for me to believe that that was the case. So I wonder, could there be a nutritional deficiency? Or some toxins in the environment that these birds are particularly susceptible to? Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I wish I had sent one or more of them off for necropsies, but did not. I hope to be able to effect a cure on this little gal, once I find out what the deal is. In the event that I do not, of course, I will send her off for post-mortem exam.
I am sorry if this topic has already been hashed out. I am not really good at insite searches for some reason. If so, will someone please direct me to the threads?
Has anyone else had this issue? Will you tell me about it? THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!
I bought six pullets from TSC (our feed/equipment, greedy corporate, but convenient and seductive, store) about eight weeks ago. Two Wyandottes, two Marans, one Americauna and one Polish. They have lived alone, together, since. They were mostly in a brooder area inside, as our winter storms hung around very late this year.
About eight to ten days ago, the polish began to exhibit symptoms that I associate with Marek's. She at first lost control of one leg, then a few days later, the other. She has always been smaller than the others, but I don't think she got picked on too much. At the first sign of trouble, I removed her to a pet carrier in my room, where she remains.
I braced myself for the onset of the disease in the other pullets. They have been together from day one, which was when they were shipped to TSC. As of today, nothing. The other girls are fine, and growing very quickly. So, I got to wondering about that. I realize now that, with one exception, every bird I have had, that I thought had Marek's, was Polish.
I adore chicken's. I like them all! I will take in sick, wounded or just unwanted chicken's, because I can't stand the way they are discarded like paper towels. "What? It's just a chicken!" Is a phrase that makes me wish I could inflict pain with my mind! Oh, how they would writhe! Ahem. Anyway.... I have had, I believe, five cases of "Marek's" in five years. Four polish, and one silkie. In each case, the sufferer lived nearly a year (the silkie lived two), in isolation, being hand-fed and watered two or more times per day. It is the best I can manage. Then, suddenly, it gets much worse, very quickly, and then they die. Never has there been a second case at or close to the same time. Weird, right?
When the silkie came down with the condition, because he was my daughter's favorite, I did more than usual searching to find the cause. Because his symptoms began with apparent blindness, I did not think of Merek's until he began to lose control of his neck. He actually was able to walk, right up until the end. His problem was that he could not eat, because he could not direct his beak to the food. So my job was to gently put his head in the feed dish and or the water dish a few times a day. At that time, I posted here about his symptoms, and got a pretty reasonable explanation. Apparently, birds like polish and silkie have thin skulls. He may have gotten pecked on the crown, which caused brain damage, which caused his symptoms. That makes perfect sense to me. However, when I think back on the other birds who have had it, particularly this one, it is hard for me to believe that that was the case. So I wonder, could there be a nutritional deficiency? Or some toxins in the environment that these birds are particularly susceptible to? Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I wish I had sent one or more of them off for necropsies, but did not. I hope to be able to effect a cure on this little gal, once I find out what the deal is. In the event that I do not, of course, I will send her off for post-mortem exam.
I am sorry if this topic has already been hashed out. I am not really good at insite searches for some reason. If so, will someone please direct me to the threads?
Has anyone else had this issue? Will you tell me about it? THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!