This is Betty. She is a friendly, gentle and very tame pet bantam frizzle hen (the curly feathers say it all) and she lives in Dorset with her 3 hen friends Sandy, Lilly and Lucy, and her human family too. However only a few weeks ago she lived with a total of 6 hen friends and they were all healthy, happy and lively (and cheeky!) until a devastating illness called Marek’s disease started to spread among the little group. Unfortunately Betty and 3 of her friends were badly affected by this horribly cruel disease. Devastatingly, her poorly friends Adele, Shirley and Thelma very quickly lost their battle against Marek’s and had died within a few days. We were certain we were about to lose Betty too- she would fall over constantly until eventually she could no longer stand or walk, although ther rest of her seemed to be fine- she was alert, chatty, ate and drank normally, and was interested in everything going on around her. We kept a close eye on her and got some advice - so we fed her a special diet, gave her supplements and she had hydrotherapy, exercises and several special home made beds and slings were used to keep her comfortable and prevent her pressure points from getting sore. After a few weeks of close care and attention, plus spending plenty of time around her friends whenever possible, she has started to show some signs of improvement; she is increasingly trying to push up with her legs in order to stand up, she is brighter and more alert every day, and has a great appetite.

Mareks is a horrible but common disease in chickens and