thequietman1977 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Just been to the vet and had one of my little ex-batts put down as she had this. Abolutely gutted. Just came back from holiday and noticed her sitting in the middle of the run and tried to get her up but she was just wobbly and then plonked down and sat. Brought her inside and made her comfortable until I could get the vet to look at her today. Anybody else had any experience with this disease? Horrible watching her go down hill as quickly. A little character gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
good_egg Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I had a scare it was with Viv but turned out not to be on PM. Vet said quite often diagnosed wrongly as not that common but often other things are attributed. Also was worried when Annette had one strange eye, but so far no other symptoms so I'm hoping she just has a strange eye. So sad to hear about your girl. Think mareks is very contagious so hopefully not that but would watch others (generally only in young birds) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thequietman1977 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Thanks for the response, it doesnt seem to be terribley common I must have just been unfortunate. Or Marge must have been unfortunate, I should say. I will be keeping a close eye on them over next while or so and I cleaned out all bedding etc and disinfected the coop(s) to try an eradicate any trace. Not much more i can do i dont think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I wouldn't worry too much about it so long as the general health of your flock is good; it is a 'background' disease' (herpes virus) in many flocks and only develops when a bird's health is compromised by another underlying problem or during a particularly heavy moult. Sadly, there's nothing you can do about it and any infected bird will need to be culled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thequietman1977 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 There doesnt seem to be any underlying health issues, evrything seems fine, but then id have said the same two weeks ago when everyone was healthy. Im told by the vet that the other 7 will have been expsoed to it now and as such are probably immune? She had been through a moult right enough so this would make sense. Bald as Bobby Charlton about 4/5 weeks ago in fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 She had been through a moult right enough so this would make sense. Bald as Bobby Charlton about 4/5 weeks ago in fact. That will be it then; the one Marek's death I've had was a bird that went through a very vicious moult. It really lays them low, so try boosting their systems with Life-Guard or Net-Tex's moulting rescue thingy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thequietman1977 Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Just a bit of an update on this, I had my ex-battery hen put to sleep. Bad news is another hen, one of my new 'young hens' (Got her in July at POL) started to hobble, really badly about 10 days ago. Seperated her, brought her into the house and she was in a dog crate. Took her to the vet, she said she thought it was the beginings of Mareks again, but we agreed to put her on a 2 week course of anti-biotics and see how she faired. She has just went down hill to the point where she doesnt move. She is standing up, which to me seems a good sign, but she wont walk. Her right 'knuckle' is constantly clenched, pretty much all the time. Im not convinced she is eating, she has access to food and water and i ususally squirt a syringe full of water down her throat after giving her the antibiotics. I have an appointment on onday, with a view to having her PTS. I will do anything i can to avoid it obviously, but seems like the only logical course of action now. Its a difficult one with her though, im fighting my own instincts. She has always been a 'clumsy' hen, sometimes falling over her feet and not walking in a straight line. She 'grew' out of it though and only now has she gone back to being poor on her feet. Any ideas, comments or suggestions please come forward!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 O dear, sorry to hear that. IF it IS Marek's then antibs won't help. Hard to tell without seeing her but going by your description it'd be kindest to have her PTS... Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 And if it is mareks it is usual for them to stop eating/drinking as tumours take hold internally - in fact that is usually what kills them and its obviously a horrible way to die, so I agree, by far the kindest thing is to have her PTS. Mareks is only actually identifiable by a post-mortem, and is reasonably unusual, so you will have had very bad luck if you've had 2 cases. It is spread by airbourne particles in dander and similar, so keeping hygiene levels scrupulously high is important. Unless your birds came from the same place and brought the problem with them I might be inclined to have a PM done on this bird just to double check there is nothing untoward going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Me too, and avoid any stress to the birds, hard when they are moulting but this is when Marek's most commonly strikes. Death can be very fast indeed, or more lingering as you describe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thequietman1977 Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Thank you Dogmother and Daphne. Pretty much confirmed what was already in my mind. Im loathe to do it, she is so young, but if its the right thing to do its the right thing to do. They didnt come from the same place. First hen is an ex-batt and the second hen I got from a place down South, which I wont mention as im 99.9% sure they are a reputable place and she was vaccinated, but just unlucky. Looks like im going to have a busy weekend of cleaning now, need to get the hygiene back up to standard. Where does this come from anyway, say my new hen didnt bring it in, is it from wild birds or something!? Really annoyed by this, anybody I speak to locally has never experienced it and in some cases never heard of it. Going to have to be super vigilant and make sure "Ooops, word censored!"ody else gets it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Marek's is a herpes virus (akin to chicken pox) it lies dormant in most flocks, only surfacing when stock has lowered immunity due to stress, illness or moulting. It attacks the nerve endings producing the characteristic partial then complete paralysis. It is usually fatal but any survivors will eventually die from the internal lesions. It is impossible to avoid transmission but careful husbandry and hygiene can lower any other infections or stress which could make your birds more likely to succumb. I've only had one case over the years, she was having a very heavy moult, declined very quickly so I culled her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
