I have a Barred Rock pullet about 4 months old. She is one of 8 BR chicks that I got from the local feed store in the spring. I did not vaccinate them when I got them. I suddenly found her on the ground of the coop not able to walk or even sit up well. She is kind of flopped on the ground and her wings are not tight against her (maybe she is holding her wings out to keep from rolling over?). Her head is erect and she eats and drinks if I put it in front of her but her eyes are a bit squinty. It appears that her legs are not supporting her. I examined her and see no parasites and I think her vent looks normal (she hasn't started laying yet). I smelled her beak and it doesn't smell sour or anything.
I tried to look up some of these symptoms. One of the illnesses that I haven't ruled out is Mareks. If my chicken does in fact have this potentially devastating disease, are all my other chickens now exposed to it and will eventually succumb to it? I have about 50 chickens and about 40 young chicks. And if so, how long is the incubation period and when might I expect my other chickens to start showing symptoms too? In the meantime, are the eggs from my potentially exposed flock of hens still edible?
I thought I read that a chicken may recover from the symptoms in a day or two but what then? Will it always be a carrier that will continue to infect every chicken it comes in contact with? Should she be put down immediately even though the other chickens have already been exposed to her?
Another possibility is that awhile back I had a hen that died suddenly for no apparent reason. Shortly afterwards, I discovered a black widow spider in the nesting box. The only thing I can think of for that bird's sudden death was that she was bitten by the BW spider. I just looked in the nesting boxes and discovered the distinct snappy spider web of a black widow but was unable to locate the spider. Do you think a BW spider bite could cause these symptoms in my BR pullet?
Any help would be appreciated.
Jennie
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