St John’s Wort vs hypericum

[smott]

I just wanted to update this thread about Dottie in case anyone experiences similar problems and is interested in the outcome!
Dottie is now running all over the yard like nothing has ever bothered her. I still notice some trembling of her legs with exertion, however she is able to walk without a limp and scratches around the yard keeping up with the other chickens. She just in the last few days has started hopping up onto the big roost as well! I was told by the vet that the Marek's blood test came back negative, however a specimen was sent off to another lab for further testing that I have not been informed about yet. After about a week, I stopped the hypericum dosing as she had regained enough strength to really fight me when I tried to give it to her lol. I pray that she will continue to thrive and never experience a relapse of whatever caused all of this, and I sincerely thank everyone who showed concern and offered advice. This site is a great resource!

 

[DolceVita]

Can you test for mareks with blood?

 

[DolceVita]

I was told only after a birds death then you can test for mareks... where did you send the blood too. Cause mine is having difficulty with her neck and it worries me...

 

[smott]

Can you test for mareks with blood?

I am in Louisiana and my vet sent a blood sample to Texas A&M veterinary diagnostic lab for Marek's as well as Newcastle's disease. I read that some veterinary labs will allow you to submit your own sample if you are equipped to draw a chicken's blood (not me). They drew blood from Dottie while she was sedated. I'm sure the blood test isn't as definitive as a positive necropsy, but it would be nice to know before your chicken dies if that's what it is!

 

[Alicrawf914]

I just wanted to update this thread about Dottie in case anyone experiences similar problems and is interested in the outcome!
Dottie is now running all over the yard like nothing has ever bothered her. I still notice some trembling of her legs with exertion, however she is able to walk without a limp and scratches around the yard keeping up with the other chickens. She just in the last few days has started hopping up onto the big roost as well! I was told by the vet that the Marek's blood test came back negative, however a specimen was sent off to another lab for further testing that I have not been informed about yet. After about a week, I stopped the hypericum dosing as she had regained enough strength to really fight me when I tried to give it to her lol. I pray that she will continue to thrive and never experience a relapse of whatever caused all of this, and I sincerely thank everyone who showed concern and offered advice. This site is a great resource!

I have a silkie that is about 1 1/2 pounds that I think has Mareks. What dosage did you end up giving?

 

[smott]

I have a silkie that is about 1 1/2 pounds that I think has Mareks. What dosage did you end up giving?

@Alicrawf914 i used the St. John’s wort 300 mg capsules bc that’s all I could find locally, and I dosed daily as close to the 667.9 mg/kg as I could (not exactly easy giving liquid med to a chicken!) I would open the capsule, dilute with water, and pull it up in the smallest syringe I could find then just put a drop or two in her beak at a time until I got most of it down her. As she recovered she started running from me bless her heart... she got so tired of me medicating her, but she made a full recovery from whatever caused it.