Wobbly pullet with pea-sized lump above ear

finank1210

Hatching
Aug 21, 2022
1
0
7
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Rosie is a 14-week old Dominant Copper. Currently weighs 3.4 lbs (weighed at vet Fri morning).
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Rosie is wobbly and having trouble walking. She is sitting down more, and when she walks, loses her balance/falls over pretty often. She also has a nickel-sized lump above her left ear. It's hard, but moveable, and there's loss of feathers on the lump. I'm wondering if this is a feather cyst or ingrowth feather? She has been eating and drinking normally. I inspected Rosie for mites on 8/20 and saw what appeared to be a brown mite (or wondering if it was a tick) on her head. No sign of mites in coop or on other chickens. I treated for mites with permethrin dust on 8/20 and cleaned out/treated coop, as well. Today (8/21) I noticed she had a runny nose with clear, liquid discharge. I'm wondering if runny nose might be in response to permethrin dust yesterday (although I was careful to avoid getting it on her face/head)?
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Onset of wobbly walking/loss of balance was Monday 8/15. I first noticed the lump above her ear on Tuesday 8/16. Inspected and found a mite (I think..wish I'd taken a picture) near her head on her upper neck area on 8/20.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No. Other two appear completely healthy. Rosie is isolated currently in case it's contagious.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Nothing that I know of!
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Eating and drinking regularly. I've been feeding scrambled eggs 2x/day, in addition to starter/grower crumble, and Poultry Cell in her water. She is eating/drinking as usual.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Poop is fluctuating between normal to more liquid and more green in color. I've noticed when it's more liquid, diarrhea-like, it's really smelly. No bloody poop from Rosie or other chickens.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Poultry Cell in water daily, feeding scrambled eggs 2x/day, treated for mites with permethrin dust on 8/20.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I took Rosie to the vet on Friday morning, and based on her difficulty walking, the vet believes it's Mareks. Rosie was vaccinated as a chick, but vet says it's still possible the vaccine wasn't fully effective. Vet took her temp, evaluated her eyes, checked her vent and crop, and did some tests to assess legs and wings. Did not do any additional testing/examination since vet's impression was it was Marek's, based on her legs/walking. Temp at vet was normal, no issues with vent or crop, and eyes are normal. Vet didn't assess for mites/lice, so I inspected for mites the day after (Saturday 8/20) and found what I think was a mite (or at least some sort of crawling brown bug) on her head. I subsequently treated with permethrin dust. I asked if the lump above her ear was related to Marek's or something else, and he said it was likely related to feather growth, but he was not concerned about it. The vet says there's nothing to be done since he thinks it's Mareks :( but vet didn't think it was necessary to euthanize at this point, since she can get around and eat/drink. I'm willing to do whatever I can to help Rosie- whether it's more vet visits or anything I can try at home!
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Coop with an attached covered, secured run. Sand in the run and pine shavings in the coop.
 
The lump does appear that it could be an ingrown feather cyst, but a cyst or tumor is also possible. When she is walking does one leg seem weak or numb? Can you post a video of her walking to YouTube or Vimeo with a link posted her? There are other things that can look like Mareks
disease, and hopefully it is not that. If it is, a necropsy can be performed by your state vet to look for internal signs, and to test her. There is a test available that one can do on live birds at home, after you collect blood from a trimmed toenail and send it it back to the lab. If she has Mareks, theothers have already been exposed. I usually leave sick chickens with the others or put them in a wire dog crate or pen if they are being picked on. Here is the lab for testing:
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom