Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[gladdycat]

I would be really grateful for any advice or ideas you could give me.Two days ago I had checked and fed my brood before I went to work ( 13 ladies and1 cockerel) When I arrived home, I immediately saw that my cockerel was staggering and unable to get his balance, sometimes falling down onto his chest I should now tell you that he is a Maran, aged about11 months of age.

I separated him from the others, and bedded him down in a stone outbuilding we have. He was perfectly cheery and ate and drank as normal. The next morning my husband was able to take him to the vets where they examined him and couldn't find anything obviously wrong with him. They advise to keep him isolated for the next 10 days, and gave some vitamins to put in his water. Then as a parting shot told my husband we should look up Newcastle disease on the net!!

I have looked up the symptoms of Newcastle disease, but the symptoms don't match. Mareks symptoms match better but I'm hoping that at just under a year old, Ike is too old for that. Could it be neurological? And if so, is there anything that could help him? Apart from the fact he looks like he's had a few pints, he is perfectly normal and happy. I would hate to loose him, he's a gorgeous boy, friendly, not too loud, and his girls love him!

I hope you don't mind me posting this, but to be honest I have tried several vets in the area since I started keeping chickens, but I don't really have much faith in them...I don't think they have a lot of experience with chickens.

[Egluntyne]

Has he had any treatments in the last few days?

 

Any change of diet? Is the feed in good condition (ie not damp) and in date?

 

Mareks can strike at any age, so ought to be borne in mind.

[gladdycat]

No, Ike has had no type of treatments, nor has the diet been changed. Their feed stuff is in good condition...with 14 of them I get through a fair amount of layers pellets. Most of the sites I've visited say that it's unusual for a more mature bird to get Mareks, so I was hoping and praying....

His condition hasn't worsened in the past two days, which is positive. I've just had him outside in the sun for a bit of a wander for the past hour...he didn't want to come back into the stable!

[mimi5]

His condition hasn't worsened in the past two days, which is positive.

Hi there let's hope so

 

I lost my beautiful cockerel Monty very suddenly to we suspect Marek's in dec He was 18 months old and had just come through his first moult. It was extremely distressing and he had to be PTS. He had been a bit off colour for a few weeks but I had put this down to various things...moulting, the awful dull wet weather and also my choice to site the cube and fill it with wood chip (which he disliked!!!!) He was quieter and again I put that down to it being winter and all the above mentioned. I do hope your boy recovers, but if his symptoms worsen you will know, poor Monty was up and about FR sat and paralysed, blue comb and struggling for breath the sun morning.

 

Such a sweetie, I still miss him Please let us know what happens.

[suebee]

Yes, please let us know how he goes on. Mareks can be contracted early on in life, and can develop into the full blown illness later. It's a virus, said to be triggered into action by stressful events, such as moulting, or moving, or coming into lay. My girl was just over a year old and had been through her first full moult when she succumbed to it. I figure she contracted it as a chick.

 

I do hope it's not Mareks, and wish you and your boy well.

[suebee]

Just a thought... If you put 'chicken staggering' into a google search, you get a few interesting suggestions that may be worth a read.

[mimi5]

Just keep wondering...any news???