Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[lalaland]

thanks, Kathy.
egg withdrawal?


and I also just got this email when I asked about the fecal:
There have been two fecal tests on your birds. the first one on the hen you originally submitted was positive for roundworms and coccidia. The feces from you two birds last week positive only for coccidia.

Regardless, periodic treatment (2x year) for roundworms and coccidia is recommended for small flocks.

 

[casportpony]

thanks, Kathy.
egg withdrawal?


and I also just got this email when I asked about the fecal:
There have been two fecal tests on your birds. the first one on the hen you originally submitted was positive for roundworms and coccidia. The feces from you two birds last week positive only for coccidia.

Regardless, periodic treatment (2x year) for roundworms and coccidia is recommended for small flocks.

No egg withdrawal with Corid or Amprol. When was the last time you de-wormed them?

-Kathy

 

[lalaland]

Actually a few weeks ago because I was seeing wormy poops and had a sick chicken. Used safeguard paste and I want to tell you, its a trick to throw a pea sized dab on bread to a hen and have that hen be the one that ends up with it! You know how they grab a treat and run away, and with all the underbrush in the run and the pine trees, they can get out of sight pretty fast.

The vet refers to a hen with worms, but it was a rooster. So not sure if he got it mixed up, or if the rooster that had the leg paralysis also had worms.

 

[casportpony]

Actually a few weeks ago because I was seeing wormy poops and had a sick chicken. Used safeguard paste and I want to tell you, its a trick to throw a pea sized dab on bread to a hen and have that hen be the one that ends up with it! You know how they grab a treat and run away, and with all the underbrush in the run and the pine trees, they can get out of sight pretty fast.

The vet refers to a hen with worms, but it was a rooster. So not sure if he got it mixed up, or if the rooster that had the leg paralysis also had worms.

If you can't catch them and dose them orally you could try mixing the liquid in their food instead, that's what some of the peafowl people do when they worm theirs. You just need to guess their weight, add it up and do a little math.

Weight of flock in pounds, divided by 2.2, times 50, divided by 100. The answer to that is the number of Safeguard ml's needed to worm them. Of course this will only work if all of them eat their share of the medicated mash.

-Kathy

 

[lalaland]

does anyone treat routinely twice a year for cocci? I've never heard of that.

Also got the written reports back on the necropsies. The little legbar rooster :
Necropsy Performed on: 10-9-14 The rooster weighs 0.9 kg and is bright and alert, but recumbent and
unable to stand. On necropsy the rooster is thin with atrophy of breast muscle and no internal body fat. There is
feed in the gizzard, and the crop is empty. Stifle and hock joints appear normal on cut surfaces. Leg bones
appear normal on cross-section. No other gross lesions are noted.
Histopathology: Brain: there are prominent perivascular cuffs of small lymphocytes in the cerebrum,
brainstem and cerebellar subfolial white matter.
No microscopic lesions are observed in sections of liver, kidney, sciatic nerve, trachea, proventriculus,
gizzard, crop, lung, small intestine cecum, skeletal muscle and pancreas.
Bacteriology: No pathogens isolated from liver, lung and intestine.
Diagnosis:
Moderate lymphocytic encephalitis
(Probable Marek's disease)
Marek's disease is the most likely diagnosis based on histopathological lesions in brain, the
clinical history and elimination of other viruses (Newcastle disease and avian influenza) with the potential to
produce encephalitis.
Round worms and coccidia are observed on fecal floatation. Periodic treatment of the flock for intestinal
parasites is suggested.

The hen whose eyes turned grey and the asymptomatic rooster results, with eye results pending:
Addendum: Two additional birds, one hen and one rooster were submitted on 10-17. The iris of the hen had
slightly irregular and grey borders. Otherwise no gross lesions were noted in the rooster and the hen.
Histological evaluation of the following organs from the hen and rooster were normal (liver, kidney, trachea,
gizzard, proventriculus, brain, heart, pancreas, cecum, ileum, spleen, lung). The upper small intestine
(duodenum) of both bird contains moderate numbers of coccidial oocysts and schizonts (coccidiosis).

 

[Eggcessive]

No, most people only treat for coccidiosis only if there is an outbreak, and that usually occurs under the age of 20 weeks to those who have not built up an immunity to what is in their soil yet. Coccid can affect older chickens,especially if it is a chronic strain, or have been exposed to new soil after a move, or to new birds who may be carrying a strain they are not yet immune to. There are 9 or more chicken strains, but only half of those pose a real threat.

 

[jgoldy2]

I just lost a bird to maraks and I have monitered her friends and none have shown and maraks symptoms

 

[casportpony]

I only treat for coccidiosis if one is sick.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

I just lost a bird to maraks and I have monitered her friends and none have shown and maraks symptoms

Sorry for your loss.

-Kathy

 

[mightymax]

@jgoldy2 ...
So sorry to hear about the loss of your chicken. Did you find out through a necropsy that she was positive for Marek's Disease? I only ask this because since Marek's has so many signs and symptoms that are ambiguous, if a necropsy wasn't done, there's a possibility that she could of succumed
from a different disease entirely. If a necropsy was done and she was positive for Marek's, then you should remain vigilant as to the continuing health of her 'friends' because they won't necessarily show any signs or symptoms for quiet some time, if ever.

Good Luck and Take Care !!!

signed,
A fellow Malcontent Member of the Maelstrom that is Merak's (and her fellow fuzzy butts !!!)

-kim-