kurby22
Crossing the Road
I know! I was also right that JoJo would use they/them pronouns he had both testes and an ovary. There is no mention of bursas, just yellow nodule tumors and nuerotropism. JoJo was almost a year old—I hatched them at the middle of February last year, but he hasn’t been normal since about 16 weeks. He was a really sweet bird that got weirder and weirder, but never seemed to be sick. Just strange. He only crowed a few times at about 8 months, he always ate but never really got solidly built like Spider. I wasn’t sure what to do with him because I was pretty sure there was something wrong but he never presented as sick other than his strange chicken behaviors. No one picked on him either.Poor JoJo! How old was he?
Did the necropsy mention any tumours in his bursas? In particular his bursa of fabricus? I'm asking as I'm wondering if the cause is lymphoid leukosis rather than Mareks. The symptoms are very similar. Another to consider is reticuloendotheliosis virus. It's rare but worth reading up on.
Mareks actually comes in 4 categories of virulence. If you have a low virulence strain, it's not as symptomatic so it would make sense only some birds seem affected. The rest are carriers, constantly shedding the virus. In addition to Silkies, Polish and White Leghorns are also very susceptible to Mareks. And gender and genetic predisposition play a large role too.
Vaccination is definitely the way to go, especially since Mareks can live such a long time without a host in the environment. Some studies have shown survival of the virus for up to 12 months in empty coops.
Nohope' s presentation of Mareks is definitely unusual. Is he walking at all?
As for Nohope, he is really strong and can launch himself right out of his box or your arms…but he can’t walk. His legs are fully functional though. He uses them and his wings when he wants to be near me or needs to change position. He basically falls forward like he’s too heavy when he tries walking. It’s really weird. But he has a healthy appetite, drinks his water…and today I let him get some sun and eat some grass. He’s not emaciated like JoJo, but he’s lost some weight. He really loves French fries and bread And he ate two eggs with Greek yogurt, herbs, poultry cell, and corn meal in them plus a bunch of his regular food. His comb shows occasional signs he’s lacking full oxygenation which I’m sure is indicative of growing tumors but it’s just so slow and abnormal in its presentation.
I will look up that other crazy long named virus too, I’m unfamiliar with it! I’m already preparing to lose my other birds that are double recessive like my white d’Anver Oliver and the new bobtails I acquired :-( Breeders don’t always vaccinate so I’m sure they aren’t and apparently bobtail coloration is recessive white with select albinism…which just sounds like weak genetics :-( Maybe I’ll get lucky and they are stronger than I think, but it’s better for me to prepare for the worst. Ugh, it’s so depressing and makes me feel like a terrible failure as a chicken mom
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