Wry Neck? Hypothermia?

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FWIW, I have a duckling with wry neck that I had to go get supplies for yesterday and some people recommended that I get the following:

Vitamin E
Selenium
B1 - Thiamine
Niacin, I think
Polyvisol without iron
B complex

I still have to figure out how much of which ones to give, but that's what I bought.

Here is my thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/845724/my-muscovies-are-trying-to-pip-pictures/100
Start at post number 106

-Kathy
 
thank you so much kathy! i don't know if he can even move away from anything....he lays on his side and he flaps his wing (whichever one he's not laying on) and kicks his feet sometimes and i think "this is it"....but he's still hangin' on. i will weigh him on my mama's digital scale....if it will even register (haha). he's a very small breed - his little legs are only about an inch long!! very short, very small. i've got one more option - the man i bought him from. i'm going to see if he can tell me anything and if not, i'll be back here, seeking ya'll's guidance!! everyone's about ready here so i'm gonna give him some more fluids and head on out in about another 10 mins or so...will check back before i leave just in case. thanks again so much for ya'll input!!
 
A good majority of birds thought to have mareks usually don't have it when we necropsy. I'll do more research about it, but one of the more common misdiagnoses is mareks. In the necropsy lab, we usually see birds starting to lay most affected by Mareks. It seems to be more rare in older birds. I will ask the poultry vet that I've been working under at the school more about it though.

I do know that mareks affecting the nervous system usually shows up as an enlarged sciatic nerve, and once a person gets a feel for normal anatomy it's easy to diagnose in a necropsy.

Honestly, there are so many ailments affecting the nervous system in birds that it's really difficult to tell for sure what happened without a necropsy.
 
Chickerdoodle13 said:
A good majority of birds thought to have mareks usually don't have it when we necropsy. I'll do more research about it, but one of the more common misdiagnoses is mareks. In the necropsy lab, we usually see birds starting to lay most affected by Mareks. It seems to be more rare in older birds. I will ask the poultry vet that I've been working under at the school more about it though.

I do know that mareks affecting the nervous system usually shows up as an enlarged sciatic nerve, and once a person gets a feel for normal anatomy it's easy to diagnose in a necropsy.

Honestly, there are so many ailments affecting the nervous system in birds that it's really difficult to tell for sure what happened without a necropsy.
Click to expand...
Tell me these aren't Marek's, lol. I believe this two year old rooster had three forms of Marek's - Ocular, cutaneous and visceral. Marek's *is* one of the most common causes of death in CA according to the pathologists I work with.



















 
I'm not saying mareks never occurs in older birds, but I can't tell you how many people bring in birds saying they have mareks and it turns out to be something completely different. Which is why necropsies can be so important in flock health and maintenance.

I'm a huge proponent for mareks vaccinations. They can do wonders for a flock.

I will speak more to the pathologist at my school who handles a lot of the birds that come in when I return this weekend. I've seen a few mareks cases come through, but we also had a few cases that turned out to be some oddball thing or even injury. We certainly have mareks in NY, but what I am trying to say is it is usually the first thing people jump to when a bird shows neurological symptoms. It's different if a person works in the animal medical field or in necropsy labs and has a better understanding of what mareks looks like from a morphological stand point.

I am certainly not trying to argue with you about whether or not your birds had mareks. I apologize if that's the way it sounded. I am just trying to emphasize the importance of necropsies in diagnosing of possible contagious disease and the number of other ailments that could account for these symptoms.
 
casportpony said:
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/search/disease
Click to expand...


Ah, I love that website! That is the school I am at right now for veterinary medicine. I am studying avian medicine. If you search for mareks there are some awesome pictures and you can also see a list of differentials (which you probably know, as you seem knowledgable about these things!)

The first picture is awesome. That one of the characteristic marek's positions, with the legs stretched forward, or with one leg stretched back. Some great information there though!
 
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I'm not trying to argue either, and I really do appreciate your input... I'm just a backyard flock owner that's been lucky enough to find a great avian vet and avian pathologist that I can just call up. All of this is very new to me, lol.

-Kathy
 

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