I have been breeding bantam non-hatchery Easter eggers for 7 years now and do a hatch once or twice a year, usually 20-50 chicks per hatch. It seems that with each hatch I'll have a chick, always a male, that starts out fine but then develops leg issues around 8-12 weeks of age give or take. I previously suspected Marek's disease, but I have begun to wonder because it is always a male chick and it seems like by now if it is Marek's that I'd have had at least one infected female show up. Also, I discovered rather by accident that with some individual attention and nutritional supplementation (like poultry vitamins in their water) these semi-paralyzed chicks recover.
So....what is going on here? Is it Marek's or some other disease? Is it possibly sex-linked susceptibility to Marek's?
And/or do I have a possibly sex-linked heritable trait in my flock that results in some male chicks experiencing a nutrient deficiency?
(I have a genetic mutation that affects my ability to effectively process folic acid so it occurred to me that maybe chickens suffer from such things too)
I'm baffled and would love some input! Thank you!
So....what is going on here? Is it Marek's or some other disease? Is it possibly sex-linked susceptibility to Marek's?
And/or do I have a possibly sex-linked heritable trait in my flock that results in some male chicks experiencing a nutrient deficiency?
(I have a genetic mutation that affects my ability to effectively process folic acid so it occurred to me that maybe chickens suffer from such things too)
I'm baffled and would love some input! Thank you!
