Rooster has become Lame.

[LLHomestead]

Howdy all, I have read a lot about this symptom.. and I fear it may be Marek's. Rooster was fine 4 days ago.. he developed a limp.. that has progressively gotten worse.. now he just drags his leg around... He still crows.. and hobbles out to the yard to watch his girls.. he eats and drinks and seems alert and normal. No injury that we can detect. He is 1 year old and was hatched here (was from our first brood produced from our own flock) not Vaccinated. Three weeks ago we had a young(6 mo old) Vaccinated hen from a group of 8 we purchased from a very reputable breeder, that developed a limp, went completely lame, and we had to euthanize. That is what is making me think Mareks' Just that he is a year old and has had no symptoms till now.

Again he seems fine.. eats a well balanced ration.. free ranges.. and is a darn good looking rooster (Black Copper Maran) is it possible he could get better? Survive.. and just drag around a leg? The girls still hang with him and he is still able to reproduce or at least it looks like he can..

Ideas?

Thanks.

 

[Aapomp831]

Howdy all, I have read a lot about this symptom.. and I fear it may be Marek's. Rooster was fine 4 days ago.. he developed a limp.. that has progressively gotten worse.. now he just drags his leg around... He still crows.. and hobbles out to the yard to watch his girls.. he eats and drinks and seems alert and normal. No injury that we can detect. He is 1 year old and was hatched here (was from our first brood produced from our own flock) not Vaccinated. Three weeks ago we had a young(6 mo old) Vaccinated hen from a group of 8 we purchased from a very reputable breeder, that developed a limp, went completely lame, and we had to euthanize. That is what is making me think Mareks' Just that he is a year old and has had no symptoms till now.

Again he seems fine.. eats a well balanced ration.. free ranges.. and is a darn good looking rooster (Black Copper Maran) is it possible he could get better? Survive.. and just drag around a leg? The girls still hang with him and he is still able to reproduce or at least it looks like he can..

Ideas?

Thanks.

Does he appear to be having any neurological issues? Have you checked the bottom of his foot for bumblefoot?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Howdy all, I have read a lot about this symptom.. and I fear it may be Marek's. Rooster was fine 4 days ago.. he developed a limp.. that has progressively gotten worse.. now he just drags his leg around... He still crows.. and hobbles out to the yard to watch his girls.. he eats and drinks and seems alert and normal. No injury that we can detect. He is 1 year old and was hatched here (was from our first brood produced from our own flock) not Vaccinated. Three weeks ago we had a young(6 mo old) Vaccinated hen from a group of 8 we purchased from a very reputable breeder, that developed a limp, went completely lame, and we had to euthanize. That is what is making me think Mareks' Just that he is a year old and has had no symptoms till now.

Again he seems fine.. eats a well balanced ration.. free ranges.. and is a darn good looking rooster (Black Copper Maran) is it possible he could get better? Survive.. and just drag around a leg? The girls still hang with him and he is still able to reproduce or at least it looks like he can..

Ideas?

Thanks.

Though Marek’s usually appears in younger chickens, birds of all ages can show symptoms. Does your rooster feel lighter/skinnier than usual? How prominent is his keel bone? Chickens can recover from the symptoms of Marek’s, but not the actual virus itself, and ones who show symptoms and recover often relapse fatally.

 

[LLHomestead]

Well, Sadly our Roo.. passed he was not showing any signs of weakness (other than that leg) eating, drinking.. doing his best to keep up with girls... we left town for two days and came home and found him dead in the yard... We also had a 6 week old chick (pullet) that was hatched on Mother's day that was limping on left foot, dragging her left wing.. and had a closed left eye.... She wouldn't eat... I had to Euthanize her. Seems like Marek's to me. only affected the one vaccinated pullet and two of our non-vaccinated birds... we still have 2 left that are not Vaccinated another 6 week old and the sister of the Roo.. she is a year old as well.

I guess we will invest in a 1000 dose bottle of vaccine for all the chicks we hatch in the future.. we won't use but a fraction though.

Now I need a new Roo.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Do you treat them for intestinal parasites (worms)? The symptoms don't completely line up with a worm infestation, but there are enough symptoms that I'd consider it...