Help! Is this Marek's disease?

[bella_ciao]

We got a couple of new pullets two days ago, and one of them seems odd. She nods her head up and down a lot when sleeping, but not when she's awake. She also has very laboured breathing when sleeping.

I googled the symptoms and I am now terrified she could have Marek's disease. She has light blue/grey eyes. I'll post a picture for illustration.

We have isolated her and her sister from our other two chickens, and booked a vet appointment for Wednesday. Could there be another explanation for her symptoms? She is eating and drinking normally.

Thank you!

This is a video of her sleeping:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Zr7XFYfGd0COG2yZlP6xb19VUzc2Eqi/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[coach723]

I think you've done the correct thing in keeping them separated from your other birds, and making an appointment with a vet. I looks more like it may be a possible respiratory issue to me. How old are they? Marek's commonly hits pullets near point of lay, and her symptoms don't really sound like Marek's, but I'll not claim to be an expert on that. Moving birds, and the stress that comes with it, will often cause an underlying condition to surface. I hope you get good answers from your vet.

 

[bella_ciao]

I really do hope you're right. I bought her some Nettex Nutri-Drops and I am going to worm them all and apply some ivermectin on their necks as well. This should cover the parasites.

Fingers crossed it's just a respiratory infection and the vet can sort her out with some antibiotics.

She's my favourite. I wasn't going to pick her when we were at the breeder's, but she came up to me and pecked me so I'd pick her up. She enjoys cuddles and even falls asleep! Bless her, I hope it's nothing serious.

Here's another picture of her blue eyes