Weak pullet in a Mareks positive flock

[Bkaye]

Let me start if by saying I have a Mareks positive flock. However the issues I’m currently having I’m not sure if it related or not while the symptoms are similar.

Thursday when I got home I found one of my 12 week pullets stuck in our no waste feeder. She somehow managed to jam herself in there. I pulled her out and she was alive but extremely weak. The day before happening they all got put on sulfa and Corid due to a battle with coccidiosis. Anyway, I pull her out and she is weak, would stand so I brought her in and gave her some sugar water to try to give her a boost. Within an hour she was standing back up and started to eat. She was uneasy on her feet but getting around. She wasnt happy being away from the flock and worried about her doing more harm if she had an injury. At that point it was getting dark so I brought her back outside. She was still stumbling around but got herself up to roost. Yesterday she was about the same. Today she still stumbles and wants to sleep more, she’s still drinking but doesn’t seem to have much interest in food.

A little background I have treated twice this month for coccidiosis. I’ve used toltrazuril and 2 days after finishing the bloody stools come back, this is why I’m doing the sulfa with the Corid.

I know stress can cause Mareks to flare, also know coccidiosis can cause them to be unsteady on their feet as well as a vitamin deficiency. I can’t give them any vitamins since they are being treated for coccidiosis.

I guess my question is can stress make Mareks flare that quickly? Is there anything else I can do for her since I can’t give vitamins? I’ve looked her legs over and I can’t find any injuries.

I don’t want to cull her thinking this is Mareks if there’s a possibility that it could be something else going on.

She’s currently still out with the flock and is still getting around.

Edit to add: they also got wormed the beginning of June with Valbazen.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Have you taken a sample of poop to your vet for testing to make sure that it is Coccidiosis you're dealing with?

I know it seems a lot of folks are having issues this year for some reason, not sure what's going on.

Photos of the poop?

Very possible that Marek's is a contributor of them having a hard time recovering from Coccidiosis.
And also possible that your pullet that got stuck was stressed enough for her to start having some problems as well.

Does she have bloody poop too? She's drinking the medicated water right?
I'd try to entice her to eat, offer a little wet mash, some fish (sardines/mackerel/tuna), beef liver, eggs - anything she'd be interested in at this point. Sometimes when they go off chick starter they will eat something else - once they bounce back, then they usually have no issues eating their normal feed.

When you finish the sulfa and Corid, I'd get probiotics into all of them. You can purchase probiotics or give small treats of buttermilk with white cooked rice. The rice/buttermilk can also help firm up poop a little.

 

[Bkaye]

We have never been able to find a vet to do fecal floats we bought the stuff some time back and started doing fecal floats on our own. All of their poops for the last day have cleared up and no more blood and have returned solid. I’ve attached pictures of what the poops look like. Last bloody poop was Friday. First two were from others in the flock last one I’m pretty sure was hers. I assumed Mareks may be a contributing factor, seems like I always have a hard time with coccidiosis in my bantams and I do know Mareks makes them more susceptible unfortunately.

The one I’m concerned about did not have straight bloody poop like some of the others. She had really mucousy poop that was pinkish/orange. She ate good the night it happened and she ate Good Friday. She ate a wet mash with the medicated water. It rained last night pretty bad so I wasn’t able to do the medicated mash for them but I did end up tubing her so she could ent to bed with a full crop.

She was unable to roost with the others last night, she initially got herself on the roosting bar but got knocked off when everyone was fighting for their perfect spot, once she fell she couldn’t get back up. I did try to put her back but she couldn’t stay.

I do have Probios and planned to push those hard along with poultry cell once they got done with treatment, didn’t know what else I could do for her in the meantime.

 

[Bkaye]

@Wyorp Rock she ate on her on today, still really wobbly on her feet. She seems to have moments where it’s better but also moments where it’s worse. I really don’t know whether to say yes this is Mareks or if it is something else. Prior to getting stuck she had no mobility issues.

My original plan was to do the sulfa and Corid for the week and after the week treatment continue with the Corid at a reduced dose. With her being the way she is I’m wondering if I should stop the Corid when I stop the sulfa and just pump the vitamins and probiotics. They come off the sulfa Wednesday.

She’s still able to get around she just struggles to do so. Again tonight she’s sleeping by the door, she wasn’t able to roost with the others.

Part of me feels like it’s Mareks since I know I have Mareks but the other part of questions it with the way this happened. I know stress causes Mareks to surface and flare but can it cause it to happen so instantly?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My understanding is that stress can cause symptoms to come on quickly.

If her poop is clearing up and it looks a lot better by Wednesday when you finish the meds, I would consider getting her on vitamin therapy right away.
You can start her on Vitamin E (400IU) daily now, this can help support neurological function. Then when she's off the Corid, I'd introduce a 1/2 tablet B-Complex as well.
Give her a little egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

If she was really stuck and cramped inside the feeder I wonder if she struggled a lot and just got herself out of sorts, hard to know.

Hopefully she'll come right, all you can do is keep working with her and see how it goes.

 

[Bkaye]

Thanks, I’ll start the vitamin E tomorrow and go from there.