19 week old chick/pullet not improving

[MichelleT]

1) 19 week old Cream Legbar/Buff Orpington mix... yes she has lost weight since this began about 2 weeks ago.

2) A week and a half ago I noticed that she was less adventurous than her peers (and she had always been the most adventurous). After keeping an eye on her she began going 'downhill fast', eventually ending up roosting poofed up, tail down, and breathing very rapidly. Exactly one week ago I had her quarantined with the expectation that she would die before we had a chance to euthanize her - it was that bad...

As a last ditch effort I gave her some amoxicillin. And by bedtime she was standing up, drinking and cheeping at me. The next day she had an appetite and by day 3, although slow still, she was able to rejoin the gang.

Day by day (this is day 7 of amoxicillin) she has been getting slowly and steadily better... until yesterday when her energy began to wane again. This morning she is breathing normally but she's roosting, poofed up, tail down.

Morning poop was normal today, after a week of very loose stools. Her crop is empty each morning and fullish each night (not as full as her peers but still full). Her appetite this morning was pretty minimal but she drank normally before roosting.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? - see above

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? - One other chick (this one 16 weeks old) began the low energy trend 2 days after the first one started on amoxicillin. I started the second bird on amox as well. She is still lower energy than normal but keeping up. She has not lost any weight. I also have 7 adult hens and one other 16 week old chick, all of which are completely fine.

5) No bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma

6) I do have Marek's in my flock, under relatively good control. (Relative, as all Marek's seems to be.) My confirmed cases (4 now) have all followed one of two progressions. This bird is not progressing as either MD cases have in the past. I know that it's possible still, but I just don't think that's what this is. (I can be more specific in what I know about Marek's in my flock, if necessary.)
Questions 7-9 are answered above.

10 ) Treatment: I am the only option for care - I have yet to find a vet that knows chickens and am not willing to pay $150 for someone to guess at the problem. (Been there, done that, wasted $$...)

12) Bedding: coop was sand, but recently (yesterday) switched to mulch
The run is a mixture of mulch and sand and dry ground.

I'm curious if I have two things going on, the first was successfully treated with the amoxicillin. The second = ? I am going to give them some probiotics later today (after this morning's amox gets into their systems).

Next steps? Thoughts?
Thanks in advance for any help...

 

[azygous]

With Marek's being in the driver's seat, a chicken's immune system is vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. Yeast, bacteria, and parasites can move in and create secondary infections. These may be brought under control with the appropriate treatment such as an antibiotic, anti-yeast meds, and pesticides. The bottom line, though, is whether the individual has the reserves to assist the treatment protocol.

Avian viruses can produce tumors that can reach the point where they all but shut down organ function. You might suspect this is the issue when a patient fails to respond to treatment.

I would be interested to hear what @dawg53 , @casportpony , @rebrascora , @Wyorp Rock, just to mention a few, have to say about this case and if they have any tricks in their bags that might be employed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

With Marek's being in the driver's seat, a chicken's immune system is vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. Yeast, bacteria, and parasites can move in and create secondary infections. These may be brought under control with the appropriate treatment such as an antibiotic, anti-yeast meds, and pesticides. The bottom line, though, is whether the individual has the reserves to assist the treatment protocol.

Avian viruses can produce tumors that can reach the point where they all but shut down organ function. You might suspect this is the issue when a patient fails to respond to treatment.

I would be interested to hear what @dawg53 , @casportpony , @rebrascora , @Wyorp Rock, just to mention a few, have to say about this case and if they have any tricks in their bags that might be employed.

All good points @azygous
It would be really hard to know without testing whether the antibiotics are helping with some type of infection or if this is all caused by Marek's and the pullet is just slowly getting better over time, like a lot of birds do with extra/supportive care.

 

[MichelleT]

So, I thought an update was in order since it’s been a month.

Serenity (my sick one) got through 10 days of antibiotics and was still not quite healthy. So, in the spirit of @Wyorp Rock's statement that maybe she's "slowly getting better over time, like a lot of birds do with extra/supportive care", I kept on...

And about day 14 she began acting a little more like the others. She didn't have the energy that the other "babies" did but she was beginning to run with them and even do a slight bit of the "who's the boss chest bump" that they do. And now, a month later, she's back to her adventurous self: first out of the coop, pushing in to eat with the big girls, etc.

Her growth was stunted though, I think. She's now the smallest but the oldest of the three "babies" and to a certain degree that might be breed. But I am not so sure. She's 23 weeks old now and her comb is only slightly larger than when she was 16 weeks - same for the waddles. And only the slightest blush of pink coming. I'm in no rush for her to start laying... I'm just happy that she's healthy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So, I thought an update was in order since it’s been a month.

Serenity (my sick one) got through 10 days of antibiotics and was still not quite healthy. So, in the spirit of @Wyorp Rock's statement that maybe she's "slowly getting better over time, like a lot of birds do with extra/supportive care", I kept on...

And about day 14 she began acting a little more like the others. She didn't have the energy that the other "babies" did but she was beginning to run with them and even do a slight bit of the "who's the boss chest bump" that they do. And now, a month later, she's back to her adventurous self: first out of the coop, pushing in to eat with the big girls, etc.

Her growth was stunted though, I think. She's now the smallest but the oldest of the three "babies" and to a certain degree that might be breed. But I am not so sure. She's 23 weeks old now and her comb is only slightly larger than when she was 16 weeks - same for the waddles. And only the slightest blush of pink coming. I'm in no rush for her to start laying... I'm just happy that she's healthy.

I'm glad to hear she'd doing well!
Thank you for the update