Snowball is still sick!

[CCsGarden]

Can you give her some vitamins E and B complex? It saved many of my chickens before!
Make sure she eats and drinks! If need be, keep her inside. Does her wing feel hurt or broken?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

She is pretty much the same weight as she has always been. Her keel bone is kind of sharp and pointy, but round. Can you treat merks?

Unfortunately no. The only way to definitely tell its mareks is with a necropsy. I would try the vitamins as recommended just in case.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So pretty much I have an eight month old Easter egg hen who has been acting like this for the past I’d say about month. She has not laid her first egg while the other two that grew up the same age as her have and have been laying steadily for about a month. When I first put her in a cage, she was not eating and she couldn’t really walk and she was looking like she might be egg band. Now she just pretty much sits in the coop all day and she gets down to eat and drink a couple times a day. There’s a chicken named Shelly who doesn’t really like her and snowball is pretty scared of Shelly. I noticed that her wing is dropping, and she falls to the side sometimes. As you can see in the video when she tries to walk, she sometimes steps on her toes. When she lays down and is sitting normally, she rests all of her way on her hind end and her feet tuck in word.

I'm sorry Snowball is not doing well.

Can you get some photos of the bottom of her feet and under her wing?
Any wounds or bruising under the wing?

Shelly doesn't like Snowball so she's scared and keeps to herself so she's staying in the coop most of the day. Is she actually getting to eat/drink or is Shelly keeping her from food/water?

I'd kennel Snowball within the coop or run with her own food/water see that she's drinking well and eating. I'd feed her Chick Starter or an All Flock feed that is 18-22% Protein. Start her on 1/4 tablet B-complex daily.

It may well be that she has disease like Marek's. Unfortunately the vaccine does not prevent infection from the virus, it can help reduce or sometimes stop the formation of tumors, so even vaccinated birds can become sick.

There's no real treatment for Marek's. Most folks offer supportive care through giving vitamins and making sure the bird is eating/drinking. Keep parasites under control too, check her regularly, if she's not getting out much, then she's not dust bathing, so lice/mites could infest her more quickly than active and healthier birds.

A few people are using Chinese Skullcap to see if it will treat or manage symptoms of Marek's. I have not done a deep dive and don't know of the longterm results. It does seem that if you do treat with Chinese Skullcap you would give it for a lifetime, so that's something to consider. Do some research/reading and determine if it's something you wish to look into or try. I can't say one way or another that is helps or hurts. I believe @2ndTink and @Debbie292d have more information, but I would absolutely check Snowball for any lice/mites, injuries and see that she's eating/drinking well. Often a bullied or timid bird can become ill just by not getting what they need.

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm sorry Snowball is not doing well.

Can you get some photos of the bottom of her feet and under her wing?
Any wounds or bruising under the wing?

Shelly doesn't like Snowball so she's scared and keeps to herself so she's staying in the coop most of the day. Is she actually getting to eat/drink or is Shelly keeping her from food/water?

I'd kennel Snowball within the coop or run with her own food/water see that she's drinking well and eating. I'd feed her Chick Starter or an All Flock feed that is 18-22% Protein. Start her on 1/4 tablet B-complex daily.

It may well be that she has disease like Marek's. Unfortunately the vaccine does not prevent infection from the virus, it can help reduce or sometimes stop the formation of tumors, so even vaccinated birds can become sick.

There's no real treatment for Marek's. Most folks offer supportive care through giving vitamins and making sure the bird is eating/drinking. Keep parasites under control too, check her regularly, if she's not getting out much, then she's not dust bathing, so lice/mites could infest her more quickly than active and healthier birds.

A few people are using Chinese Skullcap to see if it will treat or manage symptoms of Marek's. I have not done a deep dive and don't know of the longterm results. It does seem that if you do treat with Chinese Skullcap you would give it for a lifetime, so that's something to consider. Do some research/reading and determine if it's something you wish to look into or try. I can't say one way or another that is helps or hurts. I believe @2ndTink and @Debbie292d have more information, but I would absolutely check Snowball for any lice/mites, injuries and see that she's eating/drinking well. Often a bullied or timid bird can become ill just by not getting what they need.

@2ndTink is who I learned what I know from.

I have been doing the "preventative dose" of Chinese Skullcap for about six months. For those affected with tumors from Marek's, it's said it stops the growth of them. It doesn't cure Marek's, just retards the progress of it killing the bird.
@2ndTink and I are in this group on Facebook that explains more. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697510814059724

We both mix the appropriate dosages of the CS into our feed, so all of them get it, from chicks to old chickens.

@2ndTink has Marek's in her flock, so she's doing the critical dosage. The same FB group produced this chart. You'll need to request to join, then go to the guides where they suggest giving them a few other things like turmeric, etc. If you choose to go with this and look to buy any, we get ours in bulk out of China on eBay which takes 3 weeks. If you want to pull capsules apart, you can get those on Amazon, but make sure it's the Chinese Skullcap Biacalin, as there are a few different versions of it.




I wish you the best with Snowball

 

[Noraaaaa]

I'm sorry Snowball is not doing well.

Can you get some photos of the bottom of her feet and under her wing?

I will when I get home. I did not see any bruises or anything else.

Any wounds or bruising under the wing?

No.

Shelly doesn't like Snowball so she's scared and keeps to herself so she's staying in the coop most of the day. Is she actually getting to eat/drink or is Shelly keeping her from food/water?

She is drinking and eating, I have felt her croup. Shelly used to like her untill she started becoming weak

I'd kennel Snowball within the coop or run with her own food/water see that she's drinking well and eating. I'd feed her Chick Starter or an All Flock feed that is 18-22% Protein.

She has a all flock feed with 10% protein

Start her on 1/4 tablet B-complex daily.

Okay!

It may well be that she has disease like Marek's. Unfortunately the vaccine does not prevent infection from the virus, it can help reduce or sometimes stop the formation of tumors, so even vaccinated birds can become sick.

Is it contagious?

There's no real treatment for Marek's. Most folks offer supportive care through giving vitamins and making sure the bird is eating/drinking. Keep parasites under control too, check her regularly, if she's not getting out much, then she's not dust bathing, so lice/mites could infest her more quickly than active and healthier birds.

Yes, thank you! She is clear of them now but I will take her to the dust bath spot outside the run. She has been going in the run sometimes.

A few people are using Chinese Skullcap to see if it will treat or manage symptoms of Marek's. I have not done a deep dive and don't know of the longterm results. It does seem that if you do treat with Chinese Skullcap you would give it for a lifetime, so that's something to consider. Do some research/reading and determine if it's something you wish to look into or try. I can't say one way or another that is helps or hurts. I believe @2ndTink and @Debbie292d have more information, but I would absolutely check Snowball for any lice/mites, injuries and see that she's eating/drinking well. Often a bullied or timid bird can become ill just by not getting what they need.

Thank you so much for the information!!!

 

[Noraaaaa]

@2ndTink is who I learned what I know from.

I have been doing the "preventative dose" of Chinese Skullcap for about six months. For those affected with tumors from Marek's, it's said it stops the growth of them. It doesn't cure Marek's, just retards the progress of it killing the bird.
@2ndTink and I are in this group on Facebook that explains more. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697510814059724

Thanks for the link!

We both mix the appropriate dosages of the CS into our feed, so all of them get it, from chicks to old chickens.

@2ndTink has Marek's in her flock, so she's doing the critical dosage. The same FB group produced this chart. You'll need to request to join, then go to the guides where they suggest giving them a few other things like turmeric, etc. If you choose to go with this and look to buy any, we get ours in bulk out of China on eBay which takes 3 weeks. If you want to pull capsules apart, you can get those on Amazon, but make sure it's the Chinese Skullcap Biacalin, as there are a few different versions of it.


View attachment 4063963

Thank you so much!

I wish you the best with Snowball

Thank you

 

[TOMTE]

Chances are, if one of your chooks has Marek's, they all have it. It's highly contagious, but symptoms can range from mild to deadly. If I remember correctly, the type that causes tumors is the most deadly.

Here is an article about Marek's disease.

 

[Noraaaaa]

Chances are, if one of your chooks has Marek's, they all have it. It's highly contagious, but symptoms can range from mild to deadly. If I remember correctly, the type that causes tumors is the most deadly.

Here is an article about Marek's disease.

Oh gosh! That article is interesting. I don't think she has Mareks though... she has always had the leg "problem"

 

[Noraaaaa]

Should I kill her?

 

[Noraaaaa]

This is probably a bad time to tell you, but snowball is a free extra chick. She grew up with 10 chickens (Polish and Orpingtons). We sold 2 Polish. So 8. 2 are still alive. The others died randomly. We only saw signs in 1 and we could not treat it.