rickets vs mareks?

Has any one seen/treated rickets in say 9 month old pullets? What would you say would distinguish it vs neuroligical mereks disease?

I've never heard of a chicken getting rickets, but I guess it is possible if they are lacking calcium or vit D. As long as they are getting a good balanced diet, I am thinking it is pretty safe to rule out the rickets. Once they start laying they need access to oyster shell, but until then they should get everything they need from their feed. Marek's disease is so common, that is what I would suspect if their legs go out. Is that the symptoms you are thinking of fuzzylittlefriend?

The diseases themselves are remarkably different, so have a good look at your bird. With rickets, they would need to have had an inadequate diet and basically been kept in a dark space for probably their whole life. The bones are soft, which is why they have issues with walking and conformation. The beak and nails will also be quite soft, and also they can have joint swelling.

With marek's the birds are floppy and can't walk normally, but not because there is anything physically wrong with the bone in the leg or wing, but because of the disease process. SO, have a look at the bird, see if the legs look bent, crooked, if the beak is soft, or normal and that should give you a good idea.

Well she has been on a balanced diet but has been housed in the "dungon" as I like to call it aka my hay barn. There is very little natural light and they have had artifical lights on a timer all winter plus a heat lamp.

Several of her brooder mates died in the fall and around christmas from mereks like symptoms. Some died very qickly without many symptoms and some I had to euth.

This hen is bright, alert, eating and drinking but her feet are curling and she tries to walk and sort of gets around but not well. It seems very different from her syblings symptoms. She seemed to slightly improve and is not getting worse. I seperated her today with vitamin water, egg yolk and yogurt. I just got home from work so I am not sure if shes eaten it. I dont quite want to give up on her as she seems to be trying but if it is mereks she technically should not recover.

I thought I would try the rickets diet for a few days and see how she makes out. If they are going to improve they are supposed to quickly.

Whoa, now that sounds certainly weird, and I really don't think that it is marek's related, really. From my very limited understanding of mareks it manifests as tumours that affects the nervous system in various ways. Not even sure this is right. I have had only a couple of cases of mareks'and it manifest as a dropped wing and/or a paralysis in one leg, only on one side of the body. Think it is the tumours that cause this. Now a curling of toe, certainly I would think something else. I am sure that you are doing your homework on this and will figure out what is wrong. Wait and see, there could be other responses that you might also get where people have had curling toe. Seems to me that there was something somewhere about curling toes on birds.....just don't know where. It is very beneficial to all of us when things go wrong and there is a solution. Learning tools for surely. Good luck, have a great day, CynthiaM.

I know cynthia its strange. Mareks like but not really....we will see what happens.