Sick 10wk old pullets?Possible Mareks?

[5Leepy!]

BeccaSmith - if you search "vitamin deficiency" in this forum you'll find lots of information about what those symptoms can be and different ways to treat it. I had to hand feed my chick for about 14 days and I included liquid vitamin B with Selenium as well as vitamin E.

Good Luck!

 

[BeccaSmith]

leadwolf1, I believe you are right about this not being Marek's now. The baby roo wasn't having problems with his wings like I thought he was, he was hot and was venting them by dropping them down to the side of his body. But he still has issues with his legs. I was able to get the poly vi sol without iron and the vitamin E capsules and started him on them yesterday, and the other pullet that is having unstable feet issues as well. This is what I think might be going on...and I hate to say it, but we kept our pullets and cockerel in a large 110 gallon brooder. It is not small in size by any means, but they were definitely over crowded, more then they should have been. We wanted to move them out sooner but was afraid of the cold and had another hen transitioning back to the flock in the temporary pen. So I am thinking that perhaps inadequate room to move combined with nutritional deficiencies is what may be going on with these two. I'll keep my fingers crossed and update everyone after a couple of weeks. Thanks for the great help, BYC forum has turned out to be the best help ever!

 

[leadwolf1]

You are very welcome!! Good luck with your babies and I can't wait to hear updates!!

 

[BeccaSmith]

I think the first thing I would do is treat for coccidiosis. They sound like they're sick, or heat stressed.

Aside from that, were they in the sun too long? I doesn't sound like Marek's, unless they can't use the leg or legs at all.

It's too late to do anything if its Marek's. I've separated the sick ones , and also did not, and there was no difference, my 10 chicks last summer all died. Once they're exposed, they are exposed.

Vaccinating. There is alot of mis information out there.

Vaccinate all your day old chicks for Marek's or buy them from a hatchery already vaccinated. Quarantine those chicks for 6-12 weeks. (I do 8-10).

Vaccinated birds will not give unvaccinated birds Marek's-from the vaccine. But if vaccinated birds are exposed to Marek's, they can carry it and spread it, but won't die from it Edit: Vaccinated birds will hopefully not die from the virus.

Most unvaccinated adults have resistance as they get older.

Vaccinate no matter how small your flock is. If you have a flock, and add more, you may introduce Marek's to your flock. Or your flock may have it and you will not know. There's no way to tell except by necropsy.

I hope it's something else.

I looked up the dosage info for the Corid, I started treating late Sunday afternoon. What I can't remember is how long do I treat them for? The bottle has a 5 day and 21 day treatment, I am thinking it is the 5 days I am supposed to be using? I've been putting almost 2 tablespoons in their gallon waterer each morning, giving them a fresh batch daily.

BeccaSmith - if you search "vitamin deficiency" in this forum you'll find lots of information about what those symptoms can be and different ways to treat it. I had to hand feed my chick for about 14 days and I included liquid vitamin B with Selenium as well as vitamin E.

Good Luck!

Is there a particular liquid vitamin B with Selenium that should be used? Dosage recommendation and which type of vitamin B, and where can this be found? Or should the Poly Vi Sol be enough along with the Vitamin B? Also wondering about Vitamin D? In the temporary pen in the coop, they get no direct daylight/sun.


Update:
The little roo doesn't seem to be any worse....he is very active and is able to eat and drink water, just wobbly on the legs and feet still. The pullet seems to be doing well, although she still trips over her own feet from time to time.I talked to the place I bought my chicks from, they said if he doesn't get better they would cull him from the group, but I don't see why I would do that when he is very active and seems to be getting around pretty well?

I've also been wondering if I should be giving him the Ricket's diet? I have read up on it, tried offering some cooked egg yolk (it is supposed to be cooked isn't it?) and yogurt, but I was in a hurry for work and had him separated from the others and he just stared at it like what the heck is that and then wanted to go back in the pen. Not sure how to feed him separately from the others, I don't want to isolate him for any length of time because then he would get picked on when I put him back in.

 

[5Leepy!]

I just went to a Whole Foods to find the Vitamin B with Selenium. I think there was only one choice that was liquid so that's what I got. For the vitamin E, I bought the lowest dose since it's for a little chick. I read various dosage recommendations for and they varied widely so I just winged it. I put half a dropper of Polyvisol in a small ramekin, added 1 of the vitamin E's (poke hole in it and squeeze it out) and a few drops of the vitamin B with Selenium. I stirred them all together with the tip of a dropper and then loaded the dropper about half way full with the mixture. I then tried to get my chick to take all of the mixture 3 times a day. I don't know about vitamin D... isn't that only really available through sunshine?

I'm not familiar with a rickets diet but I know that egg yolk and yogurt is good for all chickens and chicks so it couldn't hurt to feed it as a treat to your whole flock. Yes, cook the yolk.

Hope that helps!

 

[leadwolf1]

That is a huge dose of vitamins for a chick! For a full-grown silkie I was told by a poulty vet to use .5 mls of the poly vi sol daily plus 400 ius of vitamin E twice daily.

I just went to a Whole Foods to find the Vitamin B with Selenium. I think there was only one choice that was liquid so that's what I got. For the vitamin E, I bought the lowest dose since it's for a little chick. I read various dosage recommendations for and they varied widely so I just winged it. I put half a dropper of Polyvisol in a small ramekin, added 1 of the vitamin E's (poke hole in it and squeeze it out) and a few drops of the vitamin B with Selenium. I stirred them all together with the tip of a dropper and then loaded the dropper about half way full with the mixture. I then tried to get my chick to take all of the mixture 3 times a day. I don't know about vitamin D... isn't that only really available through sunshine?

I'm not familiar with a rickets diet but I know that egg yolk and yogurt is good for all chickens and chicks so it couldn't hurt to feed it as a treat to your whole flock. Yes, cook the yolk.

Hope that helps!

 

[BeccaSmith]

I just went to a Whole Foods to find the Vitamin B with Selenium. I think there was only one choice that was liquid so that's what I got. For the vitamin E, I bought the lowest dose since it's for a little chick. I read various dosage recommendations for and they varied widely so I just winged it. I put half a dropper of Polyvisol in a small ramekin, added 1 of the vitamin E's (poke hole in it and squeeze it out) and a few drops of the vitamin B with Selenium. I stirred them all together with the tip of a dropper and then loaded the dropper about half way full with the mixture. I then tried to get my chick to take all of the mixture 3 times a day. I don't know about vitamin D... isn't that only really available through sunshine?

I'm not familiar with a rickets diet but I know that egg yolk and yogurt is good for all chickens and chicks so it couldn't hurt to feed it as a treat to your whole flock. Yes, cook the yolk.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the info, yes I have been mixing the Poly Vi Sol dosage that leadwolf1 recommended with the vitamin E. I've been giving that to the little roo and the pullet every morning, but started Sunday afternoon. Then in the evenings I poke a hole in a vitamin E capsul and instead of squeezing it out and mixing it with the Poly Vi Sol I have been just squeezing it directly into the chicks mouth, again the dosage is what leadwolf1 had recommended. When I was looking for Poly Vi Sol, I did notice Enfamil made a Vitamin D suppliment in the same liquid form, that is why I was wondering if it might be something I could or should give since I know Ricket's disease involves partially of vitamin D deficiency from what I have read. The Poly Vi Sol does have some Vitamin D in it, but I can't recall how much. I'll look for the liquid vitamin B in the health food section of my store!

 

[5Leepy!]

That is a huge dose of vitamins for a chick! For a full-grown silkie I was told by a poulty vet to use .5 mls of the poly vi sol daily plus 400 ius of vitamin E twice daily.

I agree but with the dose I mentioned it still took 10 days for my chick to make a noticeable improvement. She wasn't eating or drinking on her own, either so I felt like I had nothing to lose. She was practically skin and bones. I know others have given much less and 1 or 2 doses later the chick is all better... it was just a huge difference in a lot of posts I read. Some recommended even more than I gave. So confusing.

 

[seminolewind]

I buy these packets of Poultry vitamins and electrolytes in poultry catalogs. They contain everything.
I think you would use the corrid for 5 days, but someone else may have a more researched method. If they are not drinking, I put a small bit in some mush,, or a cube of soaked bread the first time or two, then they are usually well enough to start drinking.

 

[BeccaSmith]

Well here is an update: I treated them with the Corrid for 5 days and I have been giving the little roo and the pullet the poliy vi sol and vitamin E, .25 ml poly vi sol in the morning with 200iu of vitamin E, and then another 200iu of vitamin E in the evening. The pullet wasn't that bad, and you really can't tell she had any issues, today I think I may have accidently gotten some of the vitamin mixture in her lungs, she started kind of coughing immediately afterwards....hope I didn't just give her a death sentence! With the roo, he hasn't gotten any worse or any better and the 2 weeks is almost complete for treatment time. He is still wobbly in his elbow area and wobbly on his feet. He is still able to get around well, he runs around with the others and jumps up on stuff, eats well and drinks well & likes to crow, I'm starting to wonder if maybe he wasn't born with some sort of difformity or something that just didn't show until he was a little older? Well that is all for know, I don't think there will be much of a change in between now and Saturday when I end their 2 week treatment period. If anyone else has any other suggestions I would appreciate it. Would it be bad to allow the little roo live a wobbly life? He seems normal other then that. I feel bad for him but it doesn't seem to hinder him at this point, but possibly would with mating in the future...I just don't want him getting picked on down the road because of it.