Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

What is Mareks? Ya it doesent seem like its splayed to me. The toes do seem more curled then they were before. But everything looked normal before..and it was walking perfectly till like 3 days ago so I dont know what the deal is. I didnt know they made shoes to straighten their toes? Is the chick too young for them? How fast does action need to be taken to correct it? Will it still survive, it would just be crippled?

I just did a quick google search for mareks and it looks like in most pics the chickens legs are splayed in every direction and it mentions paralized legs and wings. This chick still keeps its legs under him, and it can still pull its legs and wings back if I move them so it can still feel everything. It still can walk to, it just walks funny.

Marek's is a gradually paralyzing disease of which there is no vaccine or cure for it. I'm not a vet so can't advise further except some chicks are prone to it and others are hardy and immune but carry it for the rest of their life. And if it's Marek's you'd have to quarantine although all fowl are probably exposed if that's what it happens to be.

All bad news aside and if it's not Marek's, the chick needs shoes - you have to make them and tape them with soft tape to the toes. There are videos on youtube and I'm sure some pics on BYC threads but just don't know exactly where that show how to make the little cardboard shoes. You can't just "buy" them although I bet a lot of BYCers would purchase them if they were commercially manufactured. The thing is that there are so many different sizes of toes so owners just make custom shoes themselves. One owner actually cut out toes on the cardboard and taped each chick toe on each cardboard toe. Do asap before the bones grow permanently crooked.

 

[Sylvester017]

where are you located? Onion and garlic is a no no. Even though millet is a grain I would switch her to chick feed.

Garlic is actually ok but only to adult chickens and usually in a dilution of water and not as a steady food.

Onions are not only toxic to chickens but it can seriously sicken large dogs and kill small dogs - it causes leukemia symptoms in the blood. I wish owners would Google searches to avoid feeding potentially dangerous toxic foods to their animals. It's so easy in this internet world to find good info on safe animal diets.

 

[Sylvester017]

I agree. We are just going round and round in circles, please read the link I gave you earlier.
Getting their environment right is of the utmost importance. Even a normal desk light would be better than 250 watts. In the pet shop you can get reptile heat mats. Research research and more research.

X2 - we researched Silkies for 5 months and had a coop all ready with all the feed etc ready to go and then brought them home. And we still don't stop researching. We even research info on other breeds just for the knowledge because certain issues come up and gives you a base to monitor and/or diagnose your chickens' health.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Marek's is a gradually paralyzing disease of which there is no vaccine or cure for it. I'm not a vet so can't advise further except some chicks are prone to it and others are hardy and immune but carry it for the rest of their life. And if it's Marek's you'd have to quarantine although all fowl are probably exposed if that's what it happens to be.

All bad news aside and if it's not Marek's, the chick needs shoes - you have to make them and tape them with soft tape to the toes. There are videos on youtube and I'm sure some pics on BYC threads but just don't know exactly where that show how to make the little cardboard shoes. You can't just "buy" them although I bet a lot of BYCers would purchase them if they were commercially manufactured. The thing is that there are so many different sizes of toes so owners just make custom shoes themselves. One owner actually cut out toes on the cardboard and taped each chick toe on each cardboard toe. Do asap before the bones grow permanently crooked.

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

Once again we come back to vit B and riboflavin . I found this link to most helpful.

 

[Sylvester017]

HELP i have a hen that is not wanting to move around much and when she sits she leans to one side

Marek's can behave that way with slowly accompanying paralysis. The chicken continues to want feed and water but gets progressively worse symptoms and there's no cure or vaccine against it. Problem w/ Marek's is that if one chicken has it all the others have been exposed but some have a natural immunity to it and go on to live but still will carry the virus.

If you know it's not a disease for sure, then your little hen may have injured or bruised herself badly. I took my Black Silkie to the vet 2 weeks ago and he checked her out - no Marek's or other paralysis disease, no broken bones, but he said she had tender bruising (a klutzy LF Ameraucana knocked the Silkie off the nestbox ledge). She behaved by limping a couple steps and then sitting down with either one or the other leg sticking forward and the wing splayed out. He prescribed Metacam for the swelling 1X a day for 5-7 days and keep her indoors and not free-ranging until she improved. She was fine after one day on Metacam but we kept her indoors for a week just to make sure she was completely ok.

 

[Sylvester017]

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

Once again we come back to vit B and riboflavin . I found this link to most helpful.

I know Fancychooklady - it's frustrating but don't give up on us. We are all learning so much!

 

[roostercantrell]

Marek's can behave that way with slowly accompanying paralysis. The chicken continues to want feed and water but gets progressively worse symptoms and there's no cure or vaccine against it. Problem w/ Marek's is that if one chicken has it all the others have been exposed but some have a natural immunity to it and go on to live but still will carry the virus.

If you know it's not a disease for sure, then your little hen may have injured or bruised herself badly. I took my Black Silkie to the vet 2 weeks ago and he checked her out - no Marek's or other paralysis disease, no broken bones, but he said she had tender bruising (a klutzy LF Ameraucana knocked the Silkie off the nestbox ledge). She behaved by limping a couple steps and then sitting down with either one or the other leg sticking forward and the wing splayed out. He prescribed Metacam for the swelling 1X a day for 5-7 days and keep her indoors and not free-ranging until she improved. She was fine after one day on Metacam but we kept her indoors for a week just to make sure she was completely ok.

thanks sylvester if she aint no better tomorrow i will contact my local vet or auburn poultry school ilive about 25 mins from auburn university

 

[roostercantrell]

thanks sylvester if she aint no better tomorrow i will contact my local vet or auburn poultry school ilive about 25 mins from auburn universidoes

does mareks showup suddenly because she was happy and picking and scratching good when i let them out this morning

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

They definately need heat. 90 -95 degrees. If you leave them with no heat they will die. Have you ever felt the underside of a momma hen. She pecks her feathers out so the chicks are against her skin. You need to supply heat, just not too much.

Ok I checked on them 20mins later and they were all huddled together but were very quiet. No noise at all. I turned the light back on and moved the bucket away from it a little more so that its not too warm. The little blue chick that wont walk still splays its wings out even when the light it turned off. So im confused if its too hot or using it as balance.

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

i went to my local petco and got the light kit and 75 watt bulb for my chicks and they are doing fine i also keep fish so i had an extra digital thermometer it keeps my small space about 88-95 degrees

Maybe i'll look at petco then and see if they have different light bulbs. I would love to find one of the red lights with the lower watt.