Please help! Lost use of their legs, then die. How to prevent?

[MikeWu]

I got a cockerel about 3 months old, started limping, I thought it might have been an external injury. A few days later he just laid on the ground not moving after all. I could not find any external bleeding or bruise, it seems his legs were completely paralyzed. He could flap his wings only. I put him in a cozy nest with food and water, hoping he would recover, and he lived for a few more days and died. Now another adult hen started having the same problem, started limping and now difficult to stand up. I hate to loose her. Anyone with any expertise on this particular syndrome? I called our local feed store and an experienced chicken keeper said to try tetracycline, which I did, to no avail. Anyone has experience on this disease?

 

[Lobzi]

I see no one is responding so I will chime in. I am constantly losing birds in a similar way. Some live for months in this paralyzed condition. I sent one dead bird in for necrospsy but the results came back inconclusive. It sure seems like marek disease though. Are your birds vaccinated for mareks? If so, know that the vaccine is not 100% effective and the birds still get the virus so can transmit to others. The vaccine is supposed to prevent the symptoms only.

 

[MikeWu]

Thanks for the reply. No I didn't get any vaccine for the chickens. I bought medicated feed for them and the feed store told me it will take care of most diseases. Vaccination seems awfully expensive. Parents raised chickens for years when I was little and we never heard of this type of disease. Is this a new virus?

 

[Lobzi]

Not new, was known as "range paralysis" prior to the discovery of the virus that causes the paralysis and other issues. If I was able to do so I would devote my remaining years of life to finding a cure...it is a cruel disease.

 

[MikeWu]

Thank you Lobzi so much for the reply and insight. It seems most people in the forum are inexperienced chicken owners like me, not being able to offer any insights. Would love to see more posts from people like you.

It makes me feel good to at lease know the culprit of my chicken's death. I Googled and read more about it and I know how to prevent it in the future.

 

[Lobzi]

Youre so very welcome! I learned a lot over four years ago when I found my first little guy. He was no more than two weeks old and never had chickens or any pets for that matter. I got a lot of help and advice from BYC. Lately I dont get as many responses to my posts as I used to years ago so Im very sensitive to unanswered posts and try to answer them if I think I can add something.

 

[seminolewind]

Mike , those feedstore people is the last place you should go for advice, LOL. It does sound like Marek's and the only thing you can do is wait it out, and see what happens. There's no cure, but some chickens can have some actual resistance to it and may not die from it.

Lobzi, I'm right there with you, it's a cruel disease and I would dedicate years to find a cure as well. It's been around so long.