Wry Neck in my Adult Silkie

[rebrascora]

Yes I have had birds recover from an outbreak of Marek's. In fact one pullet recovered from two outbreaks. They always have the disease, but they can be perfectly healthy in between outbreaks of the neurological type. I have had birds that miraculously recovered after a few days and others that took months of supportive care. There are no hard and fast rules with Marek's as well as so many variations of symptoms all of which makes it so difficult to diagnose.

 

[DWilkins]

Yes I have had birds recover from an outbreak of Marek's. In fact one pullet recovered from two outbreaks. They always have the disease, but they can be perfectly healthy in between outbreaks of the neurological type. I have had birds that miraculously recovered after a few days and others that took months of supportive care. There are no hard and fast rules with Marek's as well as so many variations of symptoms all of which makes it so difficult to diagnose.

Thank you for the positive reply.It gives me some hope that my Lexi may recover from this.♥

 

[DWilkins]

Yes I have had birds recover from an outbreak of Marek's. In fact one pullet recovered from two outbreaks. They always have the disease, but they can be perfectly healthy in between outbreaks of the neurological type. I have had birds that miraculously recovered after a few days and others that took months of supportive care. There are no hard and fast rules with Marek's as well as so many variations of symptoms all of which makes it so difficult to diagnose.

I have noticed that it seems to effect one side.Thus making her head turn the opposite direction. I have been reading about the disease and it seems that paralysis is a factor. She has none in her legs or wings.She just seems to lift her back end up and topple over.She will stand but not for any length of time.Wondering if she has an inner ear infection? Does Marek's present itself without paralysis?


I took some of the feed and made a mash and added some scrambled eggs.She is eating,but seems to have lost weight.I have been taking an eye dropper and putting small amounts of water on her beak to make sure she is getting water.She sleeps a a lot under the heat lamp.I ended up caving in and brought my other hen in.She was in the coop alone and letting me know she was not happy about it.She is next to Lexi in a separate pen.She wanted to sleep with Lexi, but I was afraid she would step on her neck. They both seem content being able to see one another and knowing the other is near by.I am going to get a video clip of Hattie and her of neck and head movements. I am wondering if she maybe herself had Marek's and this is the effect that she still carries.. if that is possible? Still taking it day by day and hoping for the best.

 

[rebrascora]

Marek's "paralysis" is usually asymmetric, so one side is affected more than the other. I put paralysis in inverted commas because it is not always what people expect paralysis to be. Sometimes it can just look like a weakness or an inability to feel that a muscle is working correctly. It is only the nerves that are affected. They don't relay the information to the muscle or back to the brain effectively, so the bird may not realise that it has a numb foot or it's neck is twisted. For instance, birds that have an eyelid affected, where one eye remains closed most of the time can often open that eyelid if they are suddenly alarmed, but are unable to keep it open. Birds with Marek's lameness can sometimes run but lose their balance when walking or standing still.
If your girl's neck is twisted that is bound to affect her ability to balance. It may completely improve if it is Marek's and she recovers or her muscles may atrophy in that twisted neck position. Doing regular physical therapy with her, straightening her neck should help to prevent that. It is almost like they have to relearn what the normal position feels like.

 

[Melky]

I agree with others. Keep moving over to better quality feed eliminating sratch grains as only a treat and should never be more than 10 % of daily diet. That’s roughly couple tabespoons per bird per day. 18 or 20 % flockraiser should be fine with oyster shell and poultry grit on the side. Should have sav a chic electrolytes in water. If chicken passes and hope not consider necropsy to determine cause of death to aid you in future flock management. See info on Mareks in Learning Center.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[DWilkins]

My heart is broken.. We made the decision to have Lexi euthanized today :'( She was getting worse. No longer eating or drinking,laying on her side while moving her feet ,desperately trying to move. I couldn't let my little girl suffer any longer.Thank you all for your information and insight.It's much appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh, I am so sorry. If you should get a necropsy to look for Mareks, let us know what they find. Take care.

 

[ChickNanny13]

So sorry, she's not suffering anymore

 

[DWilkins]

Oh, I am so sorry. If you should get a necropsy to look for Mareks, let us know what they find. Take care.

I wish I could. Unfortunately,we have no one in our area that will it.I even had to look for a vet that would euthanize her as my regular vet had never done it. We live in Iowa ,the heartland where farm animals are everywhere. I am surprised that no vet's know anything about the care of fowl. I should have gone into a different line of work years ago. I guess it's learn as I go and come here to seek out answers to questions from those that have experience with our feathered babies.Thank you all so much.♥♥♥

I tried to get a small video clip of Hatti and her odd neck movements. She of course would not do it when the camera was on her. She has done it since the day we brought her home. She is well over a year but not older then 3.Maybe it's just her "thing". I hope to get her on video so I can see what your opinions would be.I am thinking if she had Marek's and we have had her for almost a year ,she would not be with us anymore? She just may be my "special" little black hen ♥♥

 

[rebrascora]

I am so very sorry to hear that you had to make that decision for Lexi but it was absolutely the right thing to do at that stage. You gave her every chance to
fight it but sadly it was not meant to be for her. I know how heart breaking it is, especially when you have come to care for them so closely. My guess would be that she had internal tumours.
For future reference, it would be your state agricultural or veterinary diagnostics lab that would need to be contacted for a necropsy. Depending on the location the bird in.... some will even euthanize as part of the service or refrigerate and send the bird's carcass, suitably boxed and on ice via a courier service. Some labs have a contract with FedEx or similar and will let you send it through their contract system. State facilities like these are often subsidised, so can be significantly cheaper and much more knowledgeable about poultry than a private veterinary practice, but unfortunately they don't treat sick animals, just do post mortem work. Hopefully you won't need that information but it is important to know where these services can be obtained, especially with poultry as there are so many diseases that can affect them.
Once again I send my heart felt condolences on your loss.