i have a large flock and almost every time one of our chickens has leg problems, it's a bared plymouth rock. Is there a reason for this? PLEASE HELP!!!!!!! I DONT WANT TO LOSE ANY MORE!!!!!! :(
bared rocks=leg problems?
I don't think BPR are suppose to be susceptible to leg problems. I did a quick google and didn't find anything.
Here is a good site on causes of leg and foot problems (mineral deficiencies?). It also has a good description of how a bird that dies of a heart attack looks--just like Harmony said--on their backs with their legs in the air!
http://www.smallfarms.cornell.edu/pages/projects/factsheets/poultry.rtf
by the way, i don't live in NY!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks cat, im new here!
Thanks for the mention Cat i thought nobody really believed my hen had a heart attack even though i knew she did.
THANKS!^_^ **Harmony**
FuzzyChicken: Go to the "My Info" tab at the top of the page here. It's white letters in the blue bar. Click on it. On the left side of the page, there is a box with the title 'Your Actions'. Choose "Manage Your Preferences". Then, on the right hand side of the page, scroll down a bit, and you'll see titles under "preferences" like "Main" and "Password" etc. In that list is "Your location". Click on that.
Put in your city and state. I don't think the postal code is 100% necessary. Try without it. If it doesn't work, go look up your zip code on the USPS site and put it in.
Then it will be fixed.
What kind of leg problems? Like lameness or splayed leg or which kind?
Claire
well, they usually start walking strange,kinda wobbley, at a younge age, then the condition gets worse until they become completely lame. they have one leg forward and one leg back. I have a three month old roo with the condition now. please help, he is getting worse every day!=(
Claire does it sound like mereks to you?
i also had one that had large tumers!
It does sound like Marek's. The one leg forward, the other leg back means it is attacking the sciatic nerve and is considered diagnostic.
Fuzzychicken--if you get new birds make sure they are vaccinated against Marek's at the hatchery--they can do it while the chicks are still in the egg and it doesn't cost much. Once it is in the environment any unvaccinated birds will catch it and it persists for a long time. Even birds without symptoms can carry and spread it.
Have you noticed any with a greyish look in their eyes?
It causes tumors especially on nerves but also elsewhere on the body. It is a herpes virus.
This message was edited Oct 6, 2008 11:40 PM
Yes mereks can have tumors and unfortunatly there is no cure as Cat said next time you get chicks have them vacinated for mereks mine was 10 cents per chick not that expensive and worth it.
ya last time i got chicks i had them vacinated for marek's and newcastle disease
So should we vaccinate out new guineas who are going to hatch at the end of October?
It always is the chickens that are hatched at home that come down with this foot problem. The birds we buy from hatcheries we always get vaccinated and don't seem to have this problem. (Oh, by the way I am FuzzyChickens Auntie!!!) We are coowners of the flock.
I don't know about guineas hey any guinea folks out there got a question here!
If the mereks keeps occuring in your hatched birds then it must be in their enviroment and you may need to vaccinate your hatched chicks too.
I've never vaccinated my chicks so i don't know the where and the when and how of it but i'm sure someone here does.
I don't think guineas are susceptible. Here is a veterinary description:
Viral Diseases (nonrespiratory)
Marek's Disease
Synonyms: acute leukosis, neural leukosis, range paralysis, gray eye (when eye affected)
Species affected: Chickens between 12 to 25 weeks of age are most commonly clinically affected. Occasionally pheasants, quail, game fowl and turkeys can be infected.
Clinical signs: Marek's disease is a type of avian cancer. Tumors in nerves cause lameness and paralysis. Tumors can occur in the eyes and cause irregularly shaped pupils and blindness. Tumors of the liver, kidney, spleen, gonads, pancreas, proventriculus, lungs, muscles, and skin can cause incoordination, unthriftiness, paleness, weak labored breathing, and enlarged feather follicles. In terminal stages, the birds are emaciated with pale, scaly combs and greenish diarrhea (see Table 2 ).
Marek's disease is very similar to Lymphoid Leukosis, but Marek's usually occurs in chickens 12 to 25 weeks of age and Lymphoid Leukosis usually starts at 16 weeks of age.
Transmission: The Marek's virus is transmitted by air within the poultry house. It is in the feather dander, chicken house dust, feces and saliva. Infected birds carry the virus in their blood for life and are a source of infection for susceptible birds.
Treatment: none
Prevention: Chicks can be vaccinated at the hatchery. While the vaccination prevents tumor formation, it does not prevent infection by the virus.
yes it does sound like mereks to me too. vaccines prevent but can't treat. mereks r given as shots in back of neck as day olds. i order my vaccines from www. twincitypoultrysupply.com i think that is the link if not yahoo search twin city poultry see what it pops up in search.
if i remember right they do have mereks vacs but they come in 1,000 dose bottles and most of it gets wasted. ur better off to hatch alot at once and vaccinate all as day olds cuz vaccine is only good for mabe 2 hours tops usually once opened. i can't remember price but is usually the cheapest site to order from if they have what u need cuz u don't have to pay for cooler and icepack sent it's included free.
if i remember right mereks can hit all galiforms but double check that to make sure and i believe there is several strains of it. r ur chicks on medicated feed? usually it helps them to build a resistance to it till they build an imunity (my bad that is cocci's i was thinking, medicated prevents cocci not mereks, sorry). if they r vaccinated for cocci's and get medicated starter it will cancel out the cocci vaccine given for it and the medicated feed will have to continue in order to help build resistance.
hope that helps some and WELCOME!!
silkie
This message was edited Oct 7, 2008 12:30 AM
if ur wondering, im karbear's nise
here is some more info, check see if there is anything else not mentioned above that may help.
MAREK'S DISEASE
Caused by a lymphotropic herpesvirus which varies widely in it's ability to cause disease. Tumours can be seen after 6 weeks in unvaccinated birds and from 14 weeks in vaccinated flocks. It affects the nervous system and also produces turnouts in many of the internal organs, muscles and enlargement of nerves. Mortality in unvaccinated birds can rise to 30 per cent or more. The tumours and skin lesions can also cause down-grading in broilers. The vaccine given to day-old chicks at the hatchery has been outstandingly successful although occasional breaks continue to occur -- mostly associated with poor chick house disinfection. The virus is classified into three serotypes. Serotypc 1 -- all tumour causing and derived attenuated strains; Serotype 2 -- naturally occurring non pathogenic strains and Serotype 3 -- non pathogenic related viruses from turkeys.
Is that niece?
next time we hatch ckicks we will bye medicated feed and get them vaccinated. i thank all of u, its nice to no what happened to my poor bared rocks
ya sorry my spelling is very bad!!!!