rooster wont walk

[oldhenlikesdogs]

As someone who has Marek's in their flock and just had to cull a legbar cock with pretty much identical symptoms, it sounds very much like Marek's disease to me. It was my lad's second attack too and more severe  than the first from which he completely recovered a year ago and has been absolutely fine in the interim period. I have been giving him supportive care over the past couple of weeks but when he got to the stage that he was refusing to eat, I knew it was time to end his suffering. My experience of Marek's is that it does come on out of the blue.... fine one day and then floundering the next, I believe there are several different strains that exhibit in different ways, so one person's experience with it may be very different from others. I'm fortunate that mine only seems to affect a relatively small proportion of my young birds whereas others on this forum lose almost all of theirs. Nevertheless, it's still pretty heart breaking.

Good luck with your roo. All I can suggest is that you keep him as comfortable and stress free as possible (stress usually triggers the outbreaks) and consider sending him for a necropsy if he dies or you decide to end his suffering.... or consider doing one yourself if you feel able.

Regards

Barbara

probably your best advice

 

[minichicks05]

Ok thank you he is not eating the feed him and the hens have a lot like only 4 pecks and then does not eat for like 2 hours again. I made a food thinking what could help him. it is oatmeal warm carrots bananas both pulsed finely and some egg shells for calcium also finely pulsed and thats it. I am giving the girls some warm egg with some carrots and dry oatmeal in it should I give him a little if he wont eat the oatmeal?

.

 

[minichicks05]

I think he is going to pass away during the night

I gave him 5 ml of rooster boosters x3 just now so I will just have to pray he will be ok. He ate some egg and carrots and some feed but not a lot. I looked at his comb and now it is almost like a black dark purple

I sang him a song before bed while he was sitting on my lap so that he can sleep happily instead of passing away with no one caring. Please keep prayers for him tonight so he can recover from it.
I will keep you updated...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

sorry

 

[minichicks05]

its ok i just hoped he had and still will have a happy life.

 

[SFlChicks]

I'm sorry to read about your your Roo. My husband and I are dealing with something very similar tonight and my heart is breaking. It sounds like you have given him the best care you can ♡

 

[minichicks05]

lets see tomorrow how he feels goodnight everyone i will keep you updated.

 

[minichicks05]

He made it through the night and is now drinking water on his own

BUT... his comb keeps getting darker.

 

[minichicks05]

Anyone have an idea if he could get this disease again and if so would it be the final blow? If he can recover again from this one he has now.
Can anyone give an estimated guess of how long he will live?

 

[rebrascora]

Marek's disease is caused by a Herpes type virus. Once you have it, it is in your system for life and you get outbreaks at times of stress etc.... like cold sores. Unfortunately the attacks of Marek's are usually increasingly debilitating and often second ones are fatal. If it is Marek's and he recovers from this attack, the next one may well see him off. Difficult to say when that might be. It could be weeks, months or years. Sometimes they get tumours and sometimes it causes organ failure as well as the obvious neurological problems. It's a really awful disease and with so many different strains and symptoms making it difficult to diagnose .

If you get any new birds, make sure they are vaccinated for Marek's and keep them isolated away from any areas that he has been kept as well as other birds that he has been in contact with for a minimum of 3 weeks to allow their immunity to build up before exposure. Marek's virus is spread by dander dust from infected birds which is inhaled by other birds. It can be carried on clothing, hair, shoes and even the wind, so it's pretty much everywhere. It can survive in buildings and the ground etc for many months if not longer. All you can do is try to keep exposure of new chicks to a minimum