# Is she sick?



## BarredRock123 (Jul 1, 2012)

I have a spotted Sussex that twitches her neck a lot. This has been happening since December. When she twitches her neck, the feathers stick up, she acts groggy and separates herself from the rest of the flock. Still laying too. Thanks in advance!


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

Get her isolated. Digging out my Storey's book, twitching, neck twisting etc., says nervous disorder. Doesn't give details other than typical nervous disorders are Marek's and botulism. Try web searching those two and see if that matches what your pretty girl has going on.


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## BarredRock123 (Jul 1, 2012)

I guess she has botulism. I don't think she has a grey pupils or anything like that, but I'll check tomorrow morning for any signs of mareks. I forgot to add that her crop is bigger than usual and it's.. Squishy.. Thanks so much for answering!


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## aussiechicks (Sep 25, 2012)

If she appears to be drunk then I'd lean towards Mareks. I hope that's wrong though she is beautiful. How old is she?


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

How's she doing BarredRock123?


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## BarredRock123 (Jul 1, 2012)

She's not doing any better.. She does appear to be drunk and now vomiting. I noticed this just barely and took her inside. I also found out my mom has been feeding her children's cough and cold medicine for the past 2 weeks, I don't know if its good or bad for chickens but it gets her up sometimes. Sorry it took so long to answer! (She's about a year old maybe less)


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

I would give her electrolyte stuff like pedialtye or save-a-chick if you have that at your feed stores. Save-a-chick is small packet of vitamins & electrolytes aimed at helping chicks that are not doing well but I have it on hand for my adult hens. I've used it when Chloe was real lethargic and not well at all. It did help. I wouldn't give the cough med. Sometimes what is okay even for infants, has a toxic effect on animals.


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

7chicks said:


> I would give her electrolyte stuff like pedialtye or save-a-chick if you have that at your feed stores. Save-a-chick is small packet of vitamins & electrolytes aimed at helping chicks that are not doing well but I have it on hand for my adult hens. I've used it when Chloe was real lethargic and not well at all. It did help. I wouldn't give the cough med. Sometimes what is okay even for infants, has a toxic effect on animals.


 i hope she hasn't been going out on the town at night
keep her away from the rest of the flock
i hope she recovers

piglett


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## fuzziebutt (Aug 7, 2012)

Maybe when the cough syrup gets out of her system, she will be ok. Medicine can make them not right, too. Also, give her some yogurt to get her stomach back right. And find out why mom was giving her the cough syrup. What symptoms was she trying to treat? Did the chicken have a cough? If so, that could be a cold, or a respiratory infection, and the medicine just hid the symptoms. Keep a eye on her, and give her hugs!!!


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## Pathfindersfarm (Sep 6, 2012)

BarredRock123 said:


> She's not doing any better.. She does appear to be drunk and now vomiting. I noticed this just barely and took her inside. I also found out my mom has been feeding her children's cough and cold medicine for the past 2 weeks, I don't know if its good or bad for chickens but it gets her up sometimes. Sorry it took so long to answer! (She's about a year old maybe less)


Using human medicines on chickens is generally NOT recommended.

Is she still showing symptoms? Is she "sneezing" which actually sounds like barking? (Why chickens sound like they are barking when they sneeze I don't know.)

Let us know how she is doing.


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## BarredRock123 (Jul 1, 2012)

She's doing a lot better now! I stopped my mom from giving her any more children's cough and cold medicine, and started giving her pedialyte instead. She's still having neck twitches though..


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## Sweetened (Apr 18, 2013)

I have Mareks in my flock, I believe the wild birds provided it kindly to us, or a friend of mine who I got a beautiful rooster from. Neither here nor there, once you have it, you have it forever, separating her will really do nothing for the flock, just the bird.

The swollen crop is something I have on a dark cornish I bought from an auction. It has slowly been going away, and I read about it being linked to protein deficiency? I'm not sure if it's true, mind you. I tend to keep my girls on pullet grower with the added addition of free choice calcium and grit, they just seem to do better on it.

Anyway, as I posted on another thread, the only real way to find out is to do a necropsy and/or send away for testing after death. I've only lost 2 due to mareks symptoms. One became paralyzed and the other died suddenly after obtaining the random limp that tends to go with it. It's different from an injury limp, they hold their legs a certain way. They can pull through it sometimes, I provide them with an immunity boost and intestinal flush using Aloe Vera Juice (AVG), ACV, Yogurt and Oregano oil in different combinations and water ratios. AVJ flushes the intestinal tract and, with it, bad bacteria, yogurt replenishes healthy flora, so does acv as well as providing extra nutritional benefits and Oregano oil is a natural, potent antibiotic. I give them the fighting chance as long as they can feed and water themselves. 

My understanding is its a type of Herpes virus. You can keep turkeys in with your chickens as they carry a strain of the same herpes virus that is non-transmisible, but it'll sure bring out the weakness in your flock and get their immunity either boosted or you'll find the birds you want to cull. I found my birds have very few incidences of symptoms if turkeys are in with them, but once they show symptoms, you know they'll always be carries and always shed it. Some people cull for this reason, I don't for the same. I believe SOME immunity is better than none.


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## Pathfindersfarm (Sep 6, 2012)

The thing about Marek's Disease is, it's everywhere. Literally everywhere. People go to the feed store with their poopy boots, and they track it into the feed store. Or Wal-Mart, or the hardware store. So you're going to run into it sooner or later if you breed poultry. And you have to decide which way you want to go: vaccinate, or breed for resistance. Making that decision is sometimes going to depend on what breed you're working with, as some are more resistant than others. 

When I bred Dutch Bantams, I always vaccinated, as for whatever reason, Dutch just do not develop a good resistance to Marek's, and the losses I had when I didn't vaccinate were not acceptable. Now that I am focusing solely on Buckeye large fowl, I am breeding for resistance, and am having very good success. 

So it's not a cut and dried situation, and each breeder must make their own decision on whether or not to vaccinate based on their level of tolerance for loss, taking into consideration the breed they are working with and the resistance of that breed.


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