Back yard chicken

RE: Back yard chicken

Marie Kubiak — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 20:05:21 GMT

[quote user="Nicola M"]

Update: the chicken relapsed, and the other 3 chickens it was previously housed with (was isolated once showing signs) all went down hill with neuro signs and euthanased. Owner double checked with chick supplier and these ones hadn't been vaccinated (she was thinking of a different batch).

So Mareks it is. Any info on re-stocking in terms of procedure to clean housing and whether other unvaccinated chickens can go onto outside land they were on (obviously once avian flu restrictions lifted!)?

Can you vaccinate adult birds?

[/quote]

Were these all birds at point of lay? This is the typical cluster appearance of Mareks, not because they are infected at this time but because they are all immunocompromised and pre-existing dormant infection becomes clinical.

Mareks is so widespread in the environment and the theory is that birds will have encountered it by a few days of age and vaccination is of no benefit after exposure. So try and nudge her towards getting vaccinated birds (ideally as day-old chicks) as there is no other means of preventing infection before or after she buys them.

Marie

RE: Back yard chicken

Nicola Cole — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 22:49:59 GMT

Can you vaccinate adult birds?

thanks

RE: Back yard chicken

Marie Kubiak — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 11:59:15 GMT

[quote user="Nicola M"]

Many thanks for the info.

update on the chicken: is up and walking a handful of steps at a time. I'm re-examining early this week to see where we're at.

[/quote]

That sounds promising - if she is improving then Marek's becomes much less likely and prognosis is better. Fingers crossed.

Marie

RE: Back yard chicken

J G Wray — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 22:14:12 GMT

walking........indoors

RE: Back yard chicken

Nicola Cole — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 19:53:34 GMT

Many thanks for the info.

update on the chicken: is up and walking a handful of steps at a time. I'm re-examining early this week to see where we're at.

RE: Back yard chicken

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:31:34 GMT

I tend to keep Mareks at the top of the list for neurological leg issues in a bird at this age. Vaccines can fail (Marek's is ubiquitous and infection pre-vaccine is possible, as is giving sn incomplete dose to a tiny chick or missing the odd one). Private breeders often delay vaccines to batch vaccinate a larger number at once to keep costs down and chicks are then more likely then to be exposed.

Other differentials are as Mariette has stated plus Vitamin B deficiency (associated with clinical coccidiosis), egg binding, spinal injury and heavy metal ingestion.

I tend to start off with faecal to check for coccidia, quick survey rad for metal and Mareks serology. Where owner declines and nothing else is evident on exam I give metacam and toltrazuril and see back in a few days- if progressive decline with a mentally alert bird then Mareks becomes even more likely and euthanasia or investigation offered.

Marie

RE: Back yard chicken

Nicola Cole — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 20:46:18 GMT

Brilliant, many thanks for your replies.

I'll re-examine with a view to checking tendon, seeing if any progression neurologically.

Apparently the chicken is happily eating this morning...

RE: Back yard chicken

Seadna — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 09:41:13 GMT

I had one of these recently, without any neuro signs it's most likely a tendon issue. If you examine the leg you might feel the gastrocnemius has slipped out of it's groove on the tarsus. Tendon slip (Perosis?) happens in young chicks on deficient diet as Mariette said but I think in the older chicken it happens after trauma, eg freaking out and getting leg caught in wire mesh while trying to fly away from predator.

My other differentials for that case included being egg bound (I imagined there might be a degree of paralysis of the sciatic - have zero science to back that up) and a foot pathology (bumblefoot etc).

For the record, I tried to re-align my chicken's leg but it popped right back out. The chicken is still happily pecking around and laying but it should probably be put to sleep but...children own it.

RE: Back yard chicken

mariette asselbergs — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 21:05:37 GMT

Only replying on my basic knowledge!

I think the 1 day old marek vaccin is supposed to give life long protection (but life long doesn't mean much in commercial chickens....)

I don't think marek spreads horizontally when a chicken is ill with it.

i hope it is something infectious, then it should react to antibiotics.

The chicken is not a broiler growing to fast/heavy for its legs is it?

Mariette

RE: Back yard chicken

Nicola Cole — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 21:00:15 GMT

She is only 20 weeks old, a 'cream leg bar' chicken, and apparently vaccinated at 1 day old (so I'm presuming that's against Marek's as per the normal protocol). How effective is the vaccine? And if it's not that effective, are the rest of her chickens at risk if it is Marek's-should she be isolated? (I advised isolation to be on safe side).

RE: Back yard chicken

mariette asselbergs — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 20:54:08 GMT

I can think of various things: Bumble foot (a Staphylococcus abscess in the foot),

slipped tendon from vitamin deficiencies

Marek disease (prognosis infaust)

Arthritis, synovitis.

Try antibiotics, look at the diet, Ca/P balanced?, multi vitamins.

If no improvement, then it does look like Marek, and not good.

Mariette