Sounds like Marek's?

[jahphotogal]

I started with six chicks from a feed store. I don't remember if they were vaccinated - I think they said they were. Then last week we got two from a backyard breeder - she's fairly new to it, I think. I didn't think to ask about vaccination and she didn't mention it. Until this morning, all the chickens were fine, but tonight one of the new ones is wobbly when she walks ,and lethargic. When I picked her up it seemed that maybe her eyes were closing a bit, then opening again. Those are the only symptoms I have been able to observe.

She is a 6 or 7 week old EE (or possibly black ameraucana), we live in northern CT so while it's been hot here, it hasn't been awful, and today is fine. They free range for an hour or so every night, but mostly are in a fairly roomy and very open and airy coop and run.)

I've segregated her, put a bit of ACV in her water, given her treats (yogurt, scrambled egg, mealworms) which she eagerly ate for a minute, then just sat down.

From my reading tonight about Marek's, it's incurable and very contagious. I"m wondering if I should just euthanize her and scrub the coop from top to bottom. (It's mostly plastic and wire, so that wouldn't be all that hard. )

One other thing I noticed tonight: When the other chickesn went to sleep, most of them curled up on the floor of the coop, not the perch. That makes me worried that they're all starting to get symptoms.

We're so new to this - it would be heartbreaking if all our chickens just died! What else can we do? What else could it be?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

One thing to be on the lookout for at that age is coccidiosis.

Here is some information:
http://www.clemson.edu/public/lph/ahp/disease_links/images/coccidia.pdf

Here are the things I see when I have it in my chicks (yes it is very common!):

Lethargic, eyes closed
Feathers fluffed up
Acting cold
won't eat or drink
stands in corner by himself
may or may not have bloody poo
may or may not have been placed on ground
may or may not have been fed medicated feed

Treatment is Sulmet or Corid. (Corid treats more strains.)

Usually strikes those 8 weeks old or under.

 

[jahphotogal]

Sweet, she didn't have any of those symptoms - eyes open, ate well, no blood in poo, not unusually fluffed.

So the woman I bought her from came to take her back (an hours' drive for her!) and wouldn't you know it, when she put the chicken on the ground it seemed to walk pretty well! This morning it couldn't stand up at all - it kept tipping over.

That still seems to point to Marek's, possibly, as I read that they can get over the symptom and then keel over dead a week later. But maybe it was just heat stress!