Run Floor

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
So glad they liked the curry. Try different things to see what they prefer. At this point you need to keep them eating as much as possible.

 

[SilkieNation]

Were was the tumor? Was it a single large tumor or multiple tumors throughout the body? There are different viruses that cause lymphoma in chickens, as well as non-viral lymphoma. Each has a different prognosis for the flockmates, as non-viral lymphoma is not contagious, whereas Lymphoid Lymphoma typically affects about 20% of the flock, although flockmembers that are affected inevitably die (per MSU, http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/disviral.htm), and Marek's is not universally infectious to all flock members, or fatal to all affected birds. Here's a copy and paste from the same MSU site:

"Acute Marek's disease can be extremely rapid in its course, producing mortality in apparently healthy birds. However, in some cases the lesions may regress and clinically affected birds may make complete recoveries."

So it's a matter of supportive care, and time, and hope. Don't give up hope. You may not lose your entire flock. I'm so sorry this is happening to you.

There was one large tumor and a bunch of smaller ones on and around his liver. I am particularly worried about one of my hens, she's the weakest one overall. I'm going to try hypericum because I figure it can't hurt. I had a sick bird about 4-5 years ago. I was sick and didn't deal with him properly and he died. The next day, I found his hen dead. Then I had two birds left, the roo I just put down and his hen. She got a cancer on her jaw this winter and and got seriously sick because she couldn't eat. I noted they weren't eating as much, but all her fluff hid the emaciation. Boy have I learned some hard lessons. I put them in the basement and made them as comfortable as possible because it was just too cold in the coop for her - even bought a heater. She rallied by some miracle, but the growth continued to get bigger. I had to put her down. My theory is that the basement supremely stressed my roo out - he seemed fine, but I've learned just how well chickens hide illness and stress. Then I got my new girls. But between March and May, my roo lost a ton of weight and I took him to the vet. Did some blood work, he had an infection, so I gave him a course of antibiotics. They didn't help, so we did an x-ray and found the masses. I think the stress may have activated the disease that had been latent. Then he started shedding virus and my hens caught it. This is my theory. These guys are my pets and it's been very hard. I spent a fortune. We'll see what happens, but is seems quite dark right now. Maybe the hypericum will help... Thanks for all of your good advice. At least they are eating some of the curry mash! I am hoping they go into remission. Only have three. I just hope I don't end up with one as I couldn't even get her any friends.

 

[Skyfeathers]

So sorry about your rooster, how sad! We understand how much you love them, and how hard it is to watch them suffer with illness, then lose their battle. I lost 5 of my girls last fall and winter, shed a lot of tears over them. You sound like a wonderful chicken mama!

 

[SilkieNation]

So sorry about your rooster, how sad! We understand how much you love them, and how hard it is to watch them suffer with illness, then lose their battle. I lost 5 of my girls last fall and winter, shed a lot of tears over them. You sound like a wonderful chicken mama!

What was wrong with your hens? Marek's too?

 

[Skyfeathers]

No, it was several different things, and was actually 6, I miscounted. My first one was Maddie, my queen hen, a 3yr old Barred Rock. She had some kind of wasting illness with weakness and paleness. The vet couldn't figure out what it was, and she went through 2 rounds of antibiotics. After each one she would improve, then all of a sudden after the second 'recuperation' she went downhill really fast and died in my arms. I really was broken up over her, I had invested 2 months of intense effort to help her, to no avail. Then 2 days afterwards, I found her sister Margie dead on the floor of the run. A healthy, chunky, red combed hen that had taken over as queen while Maddie was sick, all I could figure out was sour crop, because it was large and squishy, but am not sure that was it. Next was Daisy, a sweet Buff Orpington, only 7 months old. She was very floppy when I went out to take care of the girls one morning, so I brought her in, tried to get some electrolytes in her, but she did everything to refuse it, and she died Thanksgiving Day. Christmas Eve, her sister Poppy, that I had nursed for over 2 months for what I believe was a stroke, died in my lap. Then my big, beautiful but haughty Ameraucana, Diva, got sick a month later. I thought it was a respiratory illness because she was panting so much, but after she died I examined her more carefully, and determined she was either egg bound or an internal layer. She died on my birthday while I was feeding the other hens. The sixth one was Sunflower, a Buff Orpington from another line, who got real thin and weak. She was a very friendly, curious girl, and a mischief maker. She would sneak up behind me and peck the backs of my knees, or pick bum feathers off the other hens. She was sick for several weeks and then died in my lap. Since she died I've had very little problem with illness because it got warmer and dryer, and I'm so grateful my other chickens have been doing well. Seems like the end of summer when molting season arrives is so hard on them. I have well ventilated coops, do my best to keep them clean, healthy, and mite/lice free, and they have no worms. I have already started supplementing for feather loss this year, which I did not know to do last year. I just hope and pray we will have no casualties this year, but 4 of my hens are 4 years old now. We've had so much rain this summer it worries me. I guess I'll never know if any of them had Marek's, the vet was not very nice, and there are no avian vets here. He had promised to do a free necropsy, then reneged when I called him to do it, and was going to charge me. I don't like to deal with dishonest people, so will not go back there again. I've bought several good books on chicken health, and am learning essential oils for animal care. By keeping my eye on them I hope to catch anything that comes up early enough to be able to get them through it. Even with all the sadness and tears, though, I love having my chickens, and they are so rewarding to care for. Their little ( or big) noises and antics make me laugh, and I enjoy their company. They are well worth all the time and effort put into them!

 

[SilkieNation]

No, it was several different things, and was actually 6, I miscounted. My first one was Maddie, my queen hen, a 3yr old Barred Rock. She had some kind of wasting illness with weakness and paleness. The vet couldn't figure out what it was, and she went through 2 rounds of antibiotics. After each one she would improve, then all of a sudden after the second 'recuperation' she went downhill really fast and died in my arms. I really was broken up over her, I had invested 2 months of intense effort to help her, to no avail. Then 2 days afterwards, I found her sister Margie dead on the floor of the run. A healthy, chunky, red combed hen that had taken over as queen while Maddie was sick, all I could figure out was sour crop, because it was large and squishy, but am not sure that was it. Next was Daisy, a sweet Buff Orpington, only 7 months old. She was very floppy when I went out to take care of the girls one morning, so I brought her in, tried to get some electrolytes in her, but she did everything to refuse it, and she died Thanksgiving Day. Christmas Eve, her sister Poppy, that I had nursed for over 2 months for what I believe was a stroke, died in my lap. Then my big, beautiful but haughty Ameraucana, Diva, got sick a month later. I thought it was a respiratory illness because she was panting so much, but after she died I examined her more carefully, and determined she was either egg bound or an internal layer. She died on my birthday while I was feeding the other hens. The sixth one was Sunflower, a Buff Orpington from another line, who got real thin and weak. She was a very friendly, curious girl, and a mischief maker. She would sneak up behind me and peck the backs of my knees, or pick bum feathers off the other hens. She was sick for several weeks and then died in my lap. Since she died I've had very little problem with illness because it got warmer and dryer, and I'm so grateful my other chickens have been doing well. Seems like the end of summer when molting season arrives is so hard on them. I have well ventilated coops, do my best to keep them clean, healthy, and mite/lice free, and they have no worms. I have already started supplementing for feather loss this year, which I did not know to do last year. I just hope and pray we will have no casualties this year, but 4 of my hens are 4 years old now. We've had so much rain this summer it worries me. I guess I'll never know if any of them had Marek's, the vet was not very nice, and there are no avian vets here. He had promised to do a free necropsy, then reneged when I called him to do it, and was going to charge me. I don't like to deal with dishonest people, so will not go back there again. I've bought several good books on chicken health, and am learning essential oils for animal care. By keeping my eye on them I hope to catch anything that comes up early enough to be able to get them through it. Even with all the sadness and tears, though, I love having my chickens, and they are so rewarding to care for. Their little ( or big) noises and antics make me laugh, and I enjoy their company. They are well worth all the time and effort put into them!

So sorry to hear of all of your losses. Chickens are really so fragile. I'm glad to hear your flock is healthy now and I hope that it stays that way. Too bad about the vet, a necropsy would have been nice to have. Fortunately there are two avian vets nearby and I like them both. I can appreciate the time needed to care for them. I've been spending a lot of time. Right now it's my focus and I would be reluctant to share that with a non-chicken person because they just don't get it! I absolutely adore my little birds. Like you, they make me laugh, keep me company, and totally chill me out (and I need that!). They are so sweet and have the funniest little personalities.

I bought some hypericum today and will start it tomorrow in the morning because I figure it can't hurt. Other than that I am trying real hard to get them to eat. They will eat treats like greens and berries, they love to free range, but they won't touch any of the various kinds of feed I have. I even took Sydney Acres' suggestion and cooked some up with curry and chicken broth. They ate a bit, but really just picked at it. Since they likely have the visceral form of Marek's, I won't see the obvious outward signs, just a wasting from the tumors. And, I can't get more birds for a very long time, so I guess I'm done with having the little critters in my life. It just doesn't seem fair, but I guess I need to accept it. It's very, very sad. For now, I'll do everything I can to make them as healthy and comfortable as possible. Tonight they have two tower fans on them and two bottles of frozen water nestled in their hay where they sleep (in plastic containers as there's a lot of condensation). They love their bottles of frozen water! As soon as I put the bottles in tonight, they all moved to be closer to them. This morning Drizzle was plopped down right next to one in their dirt bath. Chicken air conditioning.

Good luck with your flock! I hope you don't ever see the rash of illnesses like you had again.

 

[Skyfeathers]

Thank you! I hope the hypericum helps, I'm so sorry you won't have chickens after these, I know you will miss having them. I do hope the ones you have will rally and give you joy for a long time yet. My sister-in-law has had trouble with Mareks in her flock, so she has been breeding her remaining hens with her two roosters, then will get another rooster to breed with those chicks so she can hopefully develop a resistance to the disease. They are out in the chicken yard in the brooder from day 2 so they are exposed to all the bacteria etc possible, and hopefully it will work. Her first batch is doing very well, now the second batch hatched yesterday. Guess we will see how it goes! Hope it works! She believes 'mutt' chickens will be healthier and less susceptible to disease. I love your chicken air conditioning idea, I will keep that in mind to help my girls through this summer.

 

[Irishsilk]

So sorry to hear your sad news SilkyNation.
Big Hugs from Ireland.

 

[PapaChaz]

I wonder if you could pack thick dirt in it on top of the granite? Wouldn't that make it drain well? You might use 2X4 as a boarder and fill it packed with one of those rented depot dirt packers of a manual one so they won't just dig to rocks if it's only 2" deep.

this is a good start to a good idea. If you can't put the coop and run in the yard where they can get to the actual dirt, build up a 'raised bed' type area to put the coop on. but goodness don't rent a packer and pack it down, that would be a total waste of time and money, they'll scratch it up, and if they didn't it would be terribly hard to keep clean and keep the smell down

Letting them out some during the day to 'stretch' is ok, but this sounds as if they're going to be in that run the vast majority of the time. Definitely don't put them on concrete. personally, if I didn't have any other options than where you're thinking of putting it, I'd frame up at least a 12" raised bed and fill it with a mix of dirt, grass clipping, wood chips, leaves..........basically just like the 'deep litter method' video that beekissed has posted.

Also, as good as that looks in the ads, it won't hold up long, and most coops that are advertised like that really say they'll hold more than they will. But the picture makes it look pretty

 

[SilkieNation]

So sorry to hear your sad news SilkyNation.
Big Hugs from Ireland.

Thanks so much. This is really hard for me. I have three beautiful, sweet birds who I adore that gave me a lot of pleasure and chill time. I still don't want to believe that this is what's wrong with them. I hope that your birds all live healthy, happy and long lives.