Sick Favorelle; possible Marek

[zzsw7y]

i have a girl that has been in quarantine for over a week now. We found her struggling to stand a week ago last Sunday and immediately isoalted her. No other issues in the flock.

She cannot stand and tends to scoot on her side and keeps her head turned to the right. We have been giving her nightly doses of B12 and polyvisol. We started St John's wart 3 nights ago. She is eating and drinking while not as much food considering she isn't running around a lot. She gets pissy when we give her the vitamins by syringe and tries to flap her wings. We do prop her up when we see her on her side as we know that is bad.

She really hasn't gotten any worse or better and I dont' want to give up on her but also know that some times they don't recover from Marek's at all. I also don't want to have her suffering if she is at all. It seems like Marek's to me......any advice would be helpful and appreciated.

 

[Wezdin]

can you post pictures of how she is sitting? If she sits with one leg sticking out I Would say mareks.

 

[Eggcessive]

It does sound like she possibly could have Mareks disease. Her neck being to the side may be a sign of wry neck, and may be a symptom as well as the lameness, of Mareks. I would use something like Poultry Cell that contains most B vitamins, vitamin e and selenium, good for treatment of wry neck. A chicken sling may also be helpful to get her upright, keep her cleaner, to put food and water in front of her, and to rest her legs in case of an injury. Mareks is best diagnosed with a necropsy and testing by your state vet or poultry lab. Here is a good link with pictures of homemade chicken slings, and another for contact info for state vets:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

Here is some reading about Mareks disease:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[zzsw7y]

Based on my description; is there hope or am i just prolonging the inevitable? If there is hope i will definitely try.

 

[Wezdin]

If it is Mareks there is no known cure.

 

[Eggcessive]

If it is indeed Mareks the chicken may not get better. @rebrascora has a milder strain of Mareks in her flock for seveal years now. She has had a few chickens get better from lameness. Some chickens can become apparently paralyzed, only to suddenly get better, and later on may succomb to tumors in internal organs. I am dealing right now with a lame hen, and trying to decide whether it could be Mareks or just a bad leg injury. The only way I will know for sure what it is, is to get a necropsy later. Only you can decide whether to end her suffering, or give her a couple of weeks to see if vitamins and rest help. Sorry you are dealing with this problem.

 

[zzsw7y]

If it is Mareks there is no known cure.

I know just I heard some will recover but always be a carrier. Here is a picture

 

[rebrascora]

It is possible for them to recover from an outbreak of Marek's as long as they are still interested in eating. The longer the outbreak, the less likely that they will recover or make a full recovery and they will always be at risk of further outbreaks. It helps to think of it like the Cold Sore virus in humans. Both are Herpes viruses. They lie dormant until an outbreak is triggered, usually by stress, and you cannot tell who is infected and who isn't until they have an outbreak and they are only infectious (actively shedding the virus) whilst they are symptomatic. This is often why outbreaks are staggered with one or two birds showing symptoms and then a few weeks or months later another bird becomes symptomatic rather than other infectious ailments where birds all come down with symptoms at the same time.

I agree that it does sound like Marek's and I offer supportive care as long as the bird is keen to eat. Once they lose interest in food, I euthanize as that usually indicates tumours are developing or the disease is making it difficult for them to swallow. Sadly I have an old lady (6+years) at the moment that seems to want to eat but cannot swallow. Her neck is concertinaing and you can feel the bony protrusion of her spine coming forward in her chest. I need to pull my big girls pants on and end it for her. She recovered from an outbreak or it last year at this time, where she was struggling with her balance and wobbling. It took 2-3 months but she fully recovered and I even let her raise chicks in the summer. Sadly she is not going to recover from this outbreak. I had one pullet that was nest bound for 2 months and eventually returned to free ranging with the flock after about 3.5 months of supportive care although she retained a slight limp.... that was her second attack. Her first only lasted a few days and she fully recovered.

Keeping your girl happy and stress free is important. If you can put her outside on grass in the sunshine in sight of the other chickens for part of the day, that might help. I stopped trying to medicate Marek's sick birds because doing so just stresses them and me and as a result it is counter productive. I give them whatever they will enthusiastically eat.... scrambled egg, warm wet chick crumb mash, bread soaked in gravy. Add a few drops of vitamin supplement to their wet food and mix it in rather than try to direct dose them with it. Tempt them to move to towards a special treat once a day.... just a foot or two and don't worry about the fact that they crawl using their wings and don't put pressure on them to do so, just let them figure it out. Have a plan in place to euthanize if and when the time comes. You will probably know in your heart when it is necessary.

 

[zzsw7y]

She seems to be okay for now. I went and checked on her and her leg was splayed out......Sadly it is freezing right now and there is no sun for her to bathe in as it is winter. I go in and check on her as she is in our mud room and we let her sit on our lap and she seems to be okay.

 

[zzsw7y]

Sadly after almost three weeks i had to euthanize the poor girl. She has stopped eating and would no longer let us give her water by syringe.

thank you everyone for your help in trying to get her to recover.