Sick Silkie...

[AMeyer]

I am a member of a Facebook group and met a lady on there that breeds and raises Silkies and that's where I got them from. I original got 3 birds, but I lost one about a month ago to what I thought was botulism. She stopped growing, had paralisis in her legs and wings and always had her eyes closed. The other 2 girls were perfectly fine until we noticed the one's leg sticking out last week. I started giving her molassis just in case it was botulism and she didn't get better, or worse for that matter, until yesterday. Now her other leg is giving her problems, her crop isn't puffy at all and she's losing alot of feathers. We are almost finished building our coop for them to be moved outside. They have been in my home since day 1. We let them out in the yard sometimes to get some fresh air but we live in the suburbs so they can't free range much until the coop and run are finished. Does this mean Im probably going to lose my other bird too? She seems fine right now but obviously that can change at any time. I was thinking about getting more birds once we moved them outside but at this point I'm afraid that I'm killing the ones I have and don't want to make any others sick. I called every vet within an hour's drive of me and none of them will do anything with chickens. I hate to see her suffer Thank you all. I really appreciate your help.

 

[AMeyer]

I just wanted to add that Vern (the little sick girl) has been acting different today. She has been scratching at the cage and fidgeting alot. She almost seems nervous, maybe panicing and is constantly moving her head (like Ray Charles). Do you think that would be caused by Marek's disease. I did a bit of reading up on it today but I haven't seen anything about this sort of behavior.

 

[chickenzoo]

I'm afraid that is sounds like the chick you lost and this one have Mareks. very sorry..but let leadwolf and seminol wind chime in on this.

 

[seminolewind]

Hi, sorry about your chicks. I just had 2 silkies pass on. I cried for an hour. One was wasting for quite a while, last week I picked her up to trim her bangs, and she died. Then her daughter, the next day, was not moving and seemed that she couldn't see. These 2 had Marek's. That head movement your chick is doing sounds like loss of control of neck, the nerves in her neck are affected. When they eat, it seems like they peck and miss. That's a sign of Marek's as well.

Your chicks sound like classic Marek's. The only way you'll know for sure is a necropsy by a state run animal disease lab.

If you want to get more chicks, either hatch them and vaccinate them yourself, or order vaccinated day old chicks from a hatchery. Then with either, they have to be strictly quarantined for 2-10 weeks. I do 8 weeks.

 

[AMeyer]

Thanks, everybody, for your advice. The more I read up on Marek's, the more it sounds like our problem. Unfortunately we had to let Vern go yesterday. She got to the point where all she could move was her head to eat and drink. I am very upset to have lost her and now I'm worried for my last little girl but we just have to wait it out and see what happens. As of now, she is fine but that can change any time.