*Sick Chicks! More Sick Hens*VIDEOS/PICS*And Necropsy

[cat_named_noodles]

I have 10 chicks, all under 3-4 weeks old. I have 2 cornish x broilers, 2 red broilers, 3 easter eggers and 3 silkies. One of the red broilers started sitting down most the time and having a hard time walking. It has been only a week since i got these birds and Saturday is when i noticed the birds acting differently. They hunch over yet keep their legs straighter, and it looks like they may have swollen joints (just the broilers so far). They waddle like they are in pain. The red one sometimes falls over and has trouble getting back up. It and one of the cornish x also have been seen shivering, though the thermometer says 95 degrees (there is a cool end and a warm end in the brooder).
. My adult chickens do not appear to be affected. I am worried and don't know what to do. The closest avian vet is 45 miles away.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

If anyone has any ideas? ... I have a video of their behavior and showing their swollen joints. No nasal or eye discharge, no pasty butt or diarrhea or green poop. Maybe Mycoplasma synoviae?

 

[cat_named_noodles]

Maybe Mareck's? No one has any ideas or help?
They are about the same today, the broilers are wobbly and look like they are in pain. They silkies and EE chicks look fine, for now..
And my one large broiler has been making a sound when she breathes and looks like she is sneezing, but there is no nasal discharge, though it does look like she might have diarrhea. She just started this today, but she is outside, and not around the new chicks. So not sure but I am trying out some antibiotics and vitamins on the chicks to see if it helps.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

I am surprised no one has responded. Here is a video of my broiler Sumo wheezing and sneezing.She just started this today. Should I put her on antibiotics? Vitamins? Something???? I have isolated her in the house away from the rest of the birds.
Please can someone help? Please??? I have already lost 7 chickens this year- 5 to raccoons, 1 from heat exhaustion and one a week ago from an illness we were not able to identify but on necropsy she looked fine, except that her bowels and chest cavity were full of air.
I need some help. i can't afford to make it to the vet right now, plus the closest bird vet is 45 miles away.

Sorry about the crazy screaming children in the background.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

OK, since no responses yet does anyone know the Texas state poultry lab information? Been trying to lookit up but getting conflicting information

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

I have a hen and a chick currently having the same respiratory issues. I have lost two (very young chicks) so far, but unfortunately I was not able to send the bodies to A&M because by the time I got the info it was friday and I was not going to get off in enough time to get home and overnight them that day and by the time they got them the bodies wouuld not be as fresh as they wanted them to be. I got some antibiotics at the feed store and have been giving injections to the sickest hen, i got more syringes today to inject the rest that are acting ill. Only one adult hen has it this bad, the rest just have runny noses. Whatever it is, it is very contagious in my opinion, because I have chickens in 4 or 5 different places on my property spaced pretty far apart and many of them have runny noses so I assume that I spread it from pen to pen, even though they are spaced far apart.

Keep us updated on how your babies are all doing!! I am trying to keep up with a lot of the other people having the same problems with their chickens. I saw in another post you got the lab info, I just called the one in college station on friday, the one for Center, which is closer to me, their line was disconnected. I would have rather delivered them by hand, $35 for the testing was not bad, but to overnight the bodies to them is gonna be the kicker!

 

[keesmom]

Maybe Mareck's? No one has any ideas or help?
They are about the same today, the broilers are wobbly and look like they are in pain. They silkies and EE chicks look fine, for now..
And my one large broiler has been making a sound when she breathes and looks like she is sneezing, but there is no nasal discharge, though it does look like she might have diarrhea. She just started this today, but she is outside, and not around the new chicks. So not sure but I am trying out some antibiotics and vitamins on the chicks to see if it helps.

Is the issue confined to the broilers only? You should also ask over on the Meat Bird Forum. They have health issues normal chicks do not.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

I lost the sickest baby about 2 hours ago, one of the red broilers. Went in to check on them- they are in the laundry room at one end of the house, and it had passed. The body was still warm so I put it in a baggie and now it's in the fridge. The number to the lab in Austin is also disconnected :/ . But I will be in Austin tomorrow so maybe I can drop it off. Perhaps 411 has an updated number. My mom is coming down and bringing some Tylan50 and some syringes. Maybe it will help, at least with the big broiler, Sumo. Sumo is in my bathroom at the other end of the house, and I am not letting the kids near any of the birds. I also disinfected the whole chick room today with lysol, bleach and rubbing alcohol, changed the bedding and disinfected the feed/water containers too. And I disinfected the bathroom Sumo is in.
The thing with the chicks looks almost just like what the turkey poults had back in April/May. The poults were born fine and then at about 2-3 weeks their legs started going out. Their joints looked swollen and purplish, and they hobbled around like they were in pain. Eventually they couldn't walk anymore and stopped eating and drinking. Another brood of poults about a month later had the same problem, though I let the mom raise them outside since it was warmer and not rainy anymore. At about 3-4 weeks their legs started going bad. One poult's right leg started to twist backward. I thought maybe I was dealing with a vitamin or mineral problem, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually I had to put them all down.
I have raised broilers before, and this is the first time any of them have gotten sick, but it is also the first time I have tried raising any since the turkeys.
So far the EE's and silkies chicks still look fine. But I am worried, I really don't want to lose any more. I don't know if the antibiotics I have been using are working, though the broiler that died did seem to get a little better at first, then it started to get worse again after a day.
Sumo seems worse than ever. She won't eat or drink anymore either. I am wondering if it is gapeworm with her. no nasal or eye discharge still, no head shaking or muscus that I can see, but that sound she makes is awful. I am thinking the "sneezing" may even be coughing. And she was fine yesterday! And no diarrhea either.
Should she die, I will take her to the lab, or possibly do a necropsy here myself. I lost a bantam EE last week, and she was gasping and couldn't walk. I thought at first maybe she was eggbound, then I thought maybe a sour crop or blocked crop. A necropsy only revealed gas in her intestines and chest cavity. I think it may have been a bacterial infection, but I don't know. It's so strange. The symptoms don't seem to be consistent with all the birds but I feel it is related. Chicks have no respiratory issues that I can tell. Sumo has no leg problems that I can tell. And the bird we lost last week had respiratory and leg problems. And it has all happened so quickly. All of them have been hatchery birds too, except the silkies.
I am so disheartened by this. I know it is just another part of raising chickens but I have never had so many sick at one time. I have never lost so many in a single year.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

So far yes, it does seem to be just the broilers. Except last week I had a bantam EE die. She was the first one to get sick. And her symptoms were very odd. I thought at first she was eggbound, then I thought maybe she had a blocked or sour crop. She was gasp for air and lost the use of her legs. It was about 3-4 days before she died. I did a necropsy and her bowels and chest cavity were full of air. I am thinking maybe it was a bacterial infection. Which is why I am trying out antibiotics on the chicks. I am also going to try Tylan50 with Sumo, as she won't eat or drink anything. Anyone know the dosage to give to a ~10 lb meat bird?

 

[cat_named_noodles]

Well Tractor supply was out of Tylan50. Bummer.