Wry Neck - Confused about treatment

[Debstar1204]

Please answer
What are the symptoms of Mareks??
I have just made a sling to put her feet through as she keeps sitting back on her tail I'm really worried now as she hasn't died and is only making tiny improvements. Is this worth it? If she has Mareks isn't she better off being put to sleep?? Please please answer

 

[Lacrystol]

Please answer

What are the symptoms of Mareks??
I have just made a sling to put her feet through as she keeps sitting back on her tail

I'm really worried now as she hasn't died and is only making tiny improvements. Is this worth it? If she has Mareks isn't she better off being put to sleep?? Please please answer

Alright calm down first of all, you said she's improving right, Lets work with that. I don't know why I'm not getting any email alerts but I'm glad I checked on the site. How long has she or he been on the antibiotics?

Do me a favor feel under his belly, do you feel nothing but bones? Do you feel any fat at all? How much is he getting per day eating? have you tried to soften up the food see if he'll eat on his own like that. if the Eyes are opening, That's a GREAT SIGN, it sounds like he's slowly getting better. He's a tough cookie that's for sure.. When a chicken is sick the first thing they do is sleep or rather keep there eyes closed. Something may startled them and they will open them for a second but close them right back up. How long does he keep those eyes open. When they are opened try to put soft food in front of him to see if he'll eat it. Poop getting solid is GOOD. You don't want him to dehydrated. If you feel like your wasting your time then he's not going to make it. He needs you more then you need him right now. If you want him to recover keep up the good work. Sounds like he's very slowly getting back on track. When I say slowly I mean it. LOL..

Do you have any other chickens? Are they showing any signs of sickness? I understand both legs are going forward Correct? OK well it may not be mareks it could be something internal. I can't say for sure what it is unless there's an autopsy done.

There are several signs of Marek's, it's not just based on one symptom like paralyzed legs. Don't get me wrong this is a sign but there are more then just this.. Marek's is highly contagious so check to see if any other chicken is showing signs of sickness.

If I recall he's been like this for about 2 weeks?? is that right or are we on week 3?

Dandruff, forgot about that one, Does he have flaky skin? Look at the folicals of his feathers do you see any that doesn't have feathers just these oval lumps sticking up. Look towards the back around the tail.

Here what I mean by Gray Eyes, Left is Normal right is with Mareks..



Here's another example:


I doubt it that yours have this doesn't sound like his eyes are gray...

Hope this helps a little, I had a Rooster that sat on his tail but is vent was very swollen and he had this red bubbly thing sticking out it was called Protusion from the Cloaca, it was not fun working with him with this. Needless to say he also had Crop Bound and even though I work with the doctor, he finally gave up and lost his battle. It was very heart broken..

Also lets check between his legs is there Swelling. I had a Hen that would swell size of a grapefruit, had to stick a needle in her and drain the fluids.. Forget what that one was called.

 

[Debstar1204]

Thank you so much for your reply ok yes this is the 2nd week going into the 3rd- about today is 16 days my memory.. I started her on the antibiotics on Wednesday so today is day 5 on them.
There is nothing under belly just bones I have felt her all over and no lumps or growths at all. She is quiet boney all over as of today she is eating by herself again but in saying that its a long and slow process. I have o put her beak in the small bowl I use and I have to keep rubbing/ stroking her o get her to continue, as she stops. She is definitely keeping her eyes open for longer- but still won't peak at any food. She doesn't seem to have any strength in her neck, ad is still holding it to the right side. Although I can move it forward where it should be.
I've been feeding her by syringe which hold 5 mls I think & I keep refilling it. She's getting about 10 syringes when I force feed. Otherwise I've been wetting her crumble and she slurps all the liquid out ( water) until the crumble is left. I keep adding a syringe of water back to it as she won't peak to eat it.. Her crop is quiet full tonight ( probably the fullest so far)
When isay her legs are forward, she pushes up with them until she is sitting on her tail. ( if I put a chair under her, her legs would be hanging off like you & I sit on a chair)
She isn't paralized in either leg though and will grab my fingers with her feet and curl her toes around it to hang on. I did notice okay that her left grip isn't as strong as her right- but both have feeling in them and both move. If I put her on grass with no support she uses her left wing to balance.
Yes I have other chickens and none of them are showing any signs of illness
If it is Mareks would she have been contagious before I removed her?? I removed her when I found her lying on her back...

This morning her poo was solid- it actually rolled off the towel it was that firm. Is that good or bad? Last week it was like water- then it went to sort of firm but still runny, ad now it's firm & it was a light brown colour, last week it looked greenish.

I have done so much research on this hen but I still have no clue. I'm just worried if it s Mareks or another contagious disease I will risk my other hens. IF she has Mareks is it still possible for her to get better? Or will it NOT matter what I do she will die?

As you can understand I am worried, BUT as long as she is alive I WON'T GIVE UP on her. She does need me or she would be dead already..
THANKYOU again you are being soo very helpful.

And no her eyes don't look like those pics. So it's the pupil that should look grey if Mareks? I have noticed the skin around her eyes looks slightly stretched, lie her eyes ave sunken away a little. Maybe this is a sign of dehydration?
Also her feathers- I've noticed tiny flakey pieces of skin (?) throughout her feathers & she as a lot of stick feathers- like they are we coming up. Just the stem of feathers. Hope that makes sense... Ill try to take a pic and show you. As for the flakey bits I though something loaded on her ad I just pulled it off the first time I saw it. But they are on her everyday so I thinking its from her and it has to be skin cause they are like flat sheets. Like when we peel after being burnt. By thin but flakey.

Can chickens still recover after this long?

 

[Lacrystol]

Thank you so much for your reply

ok yes this is the 2nd week going into the 3rd- about today is 16 days my memory.. I started her on the antibiotics on Wednesday so today is day 5 on them.
There is nothing under belly just bones

I have felt her all over and no lumps or growths at all. She is quiet boney all over

as of today she is eating by herself again but in saying that its a long and slow process. I have o put her beak in the small bowl I use and I have to keep rubbing/ stroking her o get her to continue, as she stops. She is definitely keeping her eyes open for longer- but still won't peak at any food. She doesn't seem to have any strength in her neck, ad is still holding it to the right side. Although I can move it forward where it should be.
I've been feeding her by syringe which hold 5 mls I think & I keep refilling it. She's getting about 10 syringes when I force feed. Otherwise I've been wetting her crumble and she slurps all the liquid out ( water) until the crumble is left. I keep adding a syringe of water back to it as she won't peak to eat it.. Her crop is quiet full tonight ( probably the fullest so far)
When isay her legs are forward, she pushes up with them until she is sitting on her tail. ( if I put a chair under her, her legs would be hanging off like you & I sit on a chair)
She isn't paralized in either leg though and will grab my fingers with her feet and curl her toes around it to hang on. I did notice okay that her left grip isn't as strong as her right- but both have feeling in them and both move. If I put her on grass with no support she uses her left wing to balance.
Yes I have other chickens and none of them are showing any signs of illness

If it is Mareks would she have been contagious before I removed her?? I removed her when I found her lying on her back...

This morning her poo was solid- it actually rolled off the towel it was that firm. Is that good or bad? Last week it was like water- then it went to sort of firm but still runny, ad now it's firm & it was a light brown colour, last week it looked greenish.

I have done so much research on this hen but I still have no clue. I'm just worried if it s Mareks or another contagious disease I will risk my other hens. IF she has Mareks is it still possible for her to get better? Or will it NOT matter what I do she will die?

As you can understand I am worried, BUT as long as she is alive I WON'T GIVE UP on her. She does need me or she would be dead already..
THANKYOU again you are being soo very helpful.

And no her eyes don't look like those pics. So it's the pupil that should look grey if Mareks? I have noticed the skin around her eyes looks slightly stretched, lie her eyes ave sunken away a little. Maybe this is a sign of dehydration?
Also her feathers- I've noticed tiny flakey pieces of skin (?) throughout her feathers & she as a lot of stick feathers- like they are we coming up. Just the stem of feathers. Hope that makes sense... Ill try to take a pic and show you. As for the flakey bits I though something loaded on her ad I just pulled it off the first time I saw it. But they are on her everyday so I thinking its from her and it has to be skin cause they are like flat sheets. Like when we peel after being burnt. By thin but flakey.

Can chickens still recover after this long?

Dang it I replied to you but it all disappeared, OK lets try a couple of things. First put her in a dark room take a flashlight and shine it in her eyes, see if she re-acts to it if she does, good then we can put Mareks on the back burner for now. . If not, not good. With Mareks she shouldn't react at all. check for dilation, open her lids to do this because I know you said she sleeps a lot.

now I got to thinking about all this and I'm wondering if she may have been poisoned.. Perhaps ate something or a spider bite or something. That would kind of explain the not being paralyzed etc. That would also explain the slow recovering. greenish poop is usually a sign of overheated, if she's pooping that is a really good sign tells me that her internal organs are not shutting down. perhaps it's taking her longer to get all the poison out of her system.

Keep up with the liquid diet, she needs to have those vitamins in her. Sounds like she's getting enough which is good. keep that crop full each night but keep an eye on her make sure it empties.

I don't think she's egg bound because 16 days is a really long time for something like that, I'll keep thinking, you keep giving me symptoms..

 

[Debstar1204]

Ok- she is still going lol. No change today at all I actually bathed her today as she had such a dirty bottom I kinda had to. She hated it but we got there in the end. A nice blow dry to finish her off.
She is still sitting back on her tail and her head is still turning to the right a little. Still no strength in her neck & when she feeds I rest the bowl under her beak with the tip of her beak in the liquid food. If I take bowl away her head flops down so she's still unable to peak like a chicken.
Oh oh while bathing her today that skin I said was falling off like dandruff is her feathers shedding. I've never see this before & I'm not sure if its normal or not? But I slid a few off her feathers today. Like a tube of skin around feather making its way to the ed to fall off. Looks like skin, do you know what I mean?

I did the light in her eyes tonight & she hated it. Squirmed big time. I'm not sure if that's god or not. Her pupils were small and round but didn't dilate. Not sure how to really look for what you said. Are her pupils suppose to be small??

The anti biotics and the vitamins don't seem to be doing anything it really upsets me that its taking soooo long to help her. I'm also working so she's only getting fed 3 times a day is that enough? ( once in morning, then about 4 when I'm home from work, then after my dinner by 8 pm)

Today her poo was runny again but a light brown colour. Maybe from the egg mixture I gave her last night??
Also my other hens- if this was contagious wouldn't they be showing signs by now? It's been over 2 weeks since I removed her??

I can't think of anything else at the moment..
Thank you.

 

[Debstar1204]

Ok more updates- my girl is with us and I think she ate better again tonight. In that I mean she acted hungry but was able to lift her head a little in between her mouthfuls to swallow. I've been manually lifting it out of bowl allowing her to swallow. But tonight she did it on her own. BUT- for the first time since this all began- I noticed her breathing was a bit snotty. I looked at her nostrils and she had a small amount of fluid coming out also she had a few bubbles in her eyes I applied a broad spectrum antibiotic called " Pink Eyed Powder" which I have for my bunnies ( I breed & show rabbits lol)
Also she still refuses to hold her head forward and it's still sideways although I can manually move it to the front. I'm still unsure if her head is even twisted the right way round as she stil has her feathers lifting up on the left side making it look like there is a bulge there......
Her poo is back to firm and is the colour of baby poo ( light brown) is this ok?

 

[Lacrystol]

Ok more updates- my girl is with us

and I think she ate better again tonight. In that I mean she acted hungry but was able to lift her head a little in between her mouthfuls to swallow. I've been manually lifting it out of bowl allowing her to swallow. But tonight she did it on her own. BUT- for the first time since this all began- I noticed her breathing was a bit snotty. I looked at her nostrils and she had a small amount of fluid coming out

also she had a few bubbles in her eyes I applied a broad spectrum antibiotic called " Pink Eyed Powder" which I have for my bunnies ( I breed & show rabbits lol)
Also she still refuses to hold her head forward and it's still sideways although I can manually move it to the front. I'm still unsure if her head is even twisted the right way round as she stil has her feathers lifting up on the left side making it look like there is a bulge there......
Her poo is back to firm and is the colour of baby poo ( light brown) is this ok?

OMG, THAT IS GREAT TO HEAR, I sent a message but I see you didn't get it? DANG it, I was thinking, could she have been poisioned and thats why it's taken a long time for her to recover?

Bubbles in her eyes and breathing snotty is usually a sign of respiratory infection. What kind of antibotics did you give her last time? If you have any Tylan 50 inject her 1/4 cc twice a day for three days.

http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?topic=17568.0%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EThis

Check out this site, perhaps you can pin point the coloration of her poop and we can figure out our next game plan..

 

[Debstar1204]

I'm a little confused. Did you read my comments regarding the light in her eyes? Is it good she reacted to the light? Are her pupils suppose to be small? The fact she didn't dilate those pupils with the light is that ok?? I couldn't find her poo in those pictures although the colour was their- baby brown but they are hard and can literally roll off the towel..
I've been giving her Tylan antibiotics but its a powder not injectable. Ill keep giving it to her in her food.

 

[Debstar1204]

Ok here some pics first pic is of her morning poo, 2nd is of her poo at around 11am

 

[Debstar1204]

This is her, can you see what I mean about her neck feathers?