Help! Meat Birds with Mareks, or Something Else?

animated07

Hatching
Jul 30, 2015
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Hello All!

We are new to chicken keeping, and have a flock of 29 Cornish Rock Cross Meat Birds at eight weeks. It is the end of July, and unseasonably warm. With that being said, we have a chicken tractor that the birds live in, and we move it every day to new ground. We have never wormed our birds, and feed them a food with about 20% protein. We have one bird that is noticeably smaller than the other birds. Although he does not seem to be visibly hurt, he seems to all of the sudden not want to walk, or be able to put weight on his legs. We isolated him, and he is not getting better. Now, it seems to be happening to one of the other birds as well. Is this Marek's disease, or something else? If a bird is suspected of having Marek's, is the meat no longer good to eat? Or, is it just because they are meat chickens, who are unable to keep up with the rate of growth? 27 of the birds seem fine - it is just two that we are having problems with. Any help would be appreciated!

-animated07
 
At 8 weeks, your meaties should be about ready to process. It sounds like your chicken has a leg injury. The smaller bird could have been bullied from the food or simply failed to thrive. Even the small ones can have leg problems. It's pretty common with CXs. Out of 29, this is still an excellent run.

Anyway, he is in pain and should be processed right away. The meat should be fine. If the liver is a much lighter color and super mushy, he was probably sick or was close to organ failure. I usually set those birds aside and feed them to the dogs as a precaution.
 
I've had issues with this problem as well. I took 3 Cornish X chickens to fair to show as a meat bird cage. The first day of fair I noticed a couple hours after I placed the birds in the cage that the smaller of the 3 wouldn't stand freely like the others. He'd only stumble over to eat and drink. I've also seen this in my cage at home. Their joints get raw from being sat on so much. I wonder if it is stress induced or something just genetic in the Cornish breed.
 
CX bones grow so fast that they aren't near as dense. If you simmer CX bones for 24 hours, they'll crumble between your fingers. I tried that with my mean roo... still hard as a rock. Also, the muscle fills out so quickly that it can sometimes cut off blood circulation and nerves.

I take undersized rejects from my brother's broiler farm. Inevitably a few will get leg injuries on the hour drive home. These get processed first and the rest get to run around the yard a bit.
 
Are you pulling the feed 12 hours each day?


Idk if your talking to me
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but I don't usually do 12-on-12-off. I have another thread about it if you could help....?
 
Hello All!

We are new to chicken keeping, and have a flock of 29 Cornish Rock Cross Meat Birds at eight weeks. It is the end of July, and unseasonably warm. With that being said, we have a chicken tractor that the birds live in, and we move it every day to new ground. We have never wormed our birds, and feed them a food with about 20% protein. We have one bird that is noticeably smaller than the other birds. Although he does not seem to be visibly hurt, he seems to all of the sudden not want to walk, or be able to put weight on his legs. We isolated him, and he is not getting better. Now, it seems to be happening to one of the other birds as well. Is this Marek's disease, or something else? If a bird is suspected of having Marek's, is the meat no longer good to eat? Or, is it just because they are meat chickens, who are unable to keep up with the rate of growth? 27 of the birds seem fine - it is just two that we are having problems with. Any help would be appreciated!

-animated07

When do you plan to process these birds? I'm thinking that's your issue, is simple growth or injury, not Mareks. They need to be in the freezer sooner rather than later, with this heat you're going to start losing birds.
 
I was addressing the OP. The first time I had meat birds I fed around the clock and my chickens had leg issues. Since pulling the feed, no more leg issues.


Ok. Thanks anyway!
I usually butcher at 8 weeks. If I waited 9-10 I could probably pull the feed w/o going over my fair's max weight.
 

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