Surviving Marek's?

[bethann33]

First time posting here...

I have a specked sussex who I am pretty sure has Marek's. She has the paralized legs- one in front and one in back. All the other symptoms too. I've isolated her and have cleaned out the coop. No vaccinations on any of the flock- bought from breeder (have americaunas, leghorns, & a dom point). I'm a first time chicken owner, so it took me until yesterday to realize what she had. Was going to wait until today to put her town....

I have been keeping her inside by the wood stove and have been giving her Colloidal Silver (natural antibiotic). She had gotten so bad- stopped eating, nearly lost control of her neck, very thin, loosing feathers, barely awake. But- this morning- she miraculously has her appetite back and is perking her neck up. She still has no function of her legs.

Do you think it is possible that she is surviving the Marek's? Should I give her some more time or am I risking the spread of the disease to the rest of my 10 birds?

I will put her down if necessary- just wanted to check here first...

Thanks for any help!

 

[WaldensRidge]

Welcome to the BYC and good luck with your little one.

 

[CMV]

Losing feathers? Are you sure she didn't get poisoned? Botulism has very similar symptoms to Marek's, but they also start losing their feathers.

 

[bethann33]

Poisoned? The only thing I can think of is that I sprayed her with Sevin spray for Mites before her symptoms started. It was the diluted form. She is losing feathers on her belly where she is laying. I have been changing the hay under her, but it's not staying dry under there.

She also had a trauma 3 wks ago (got stuck under feeding bowl for 30 hours). She was fine after that, but showing signs of lethargy and little eating. I then noticed the mites- she had them pretty badly- so I sprayed her with .012 carabyl Sevin spray. A few days after that, she took a nose dive and lost use of one of her legs, then the other and then just fell apart. Not eating, sleepy, loss of control of neck, legs splayed- one in front, one in back. Feathers on belly falling out- also a few on wings.

Other birds are fine.

 

[CMV]

No, this would be from moldy/rotten food. Any chance she got into something like that?

 

[bethann33]

hmmm, no. They do roam about my yard, but nothing moldy/rotten is around anywhere.

Do you think it is Marek's or something else?

 

[CMV]

Unfortunately, you won't know until she dies. If she should pass at some point you may want to have her necropsied to see if she has the signs.

Are you still considering having her culled? If so, I would send her in to be looked at. I don't know that I would cull her at this point since she seems to be on the mend. She spent enough time with the rest of the flock that they have all likely been exposed if she is indeed Marek's positive. Marek's is very contagious.

 

[bethann33]

I ended up putting her down last night. So sad- she was my favorite. But she took a turn for the worse and was nearly comatose. Thanks for the help though. I hope I did the right thing.

 

[seminolewind]

You did the right thing. I'm sorry. How old are your chickens? The older the better in having some resistance to Marek's

 

[bethann33]

She was 10 months. After she went, I was left with just 2 from my first flock (just started last summer w/ 6). But I did just get 2 new adult birds and 6 chicks (4-6 wk old) to add to my remaining flock. so I'm a little concerned about spread of disease to the new flock.