2 hens dead over night and

[EggSighted4Life]

If it was Marek's I'd except the younger birds to have succumbed by now wouldn't you?

Immunity is a weird thing... so unpredictable!

Molt is hell for some.

Since it seems your older group who is experiencing the most issue, I would take a double look make sure no toxins are lurking.

Do you already have this symptom checker tool...
http://www.poultrydvm.com/views/symptoms.php

You put a symptom and it tell you the many possibilities. What I like the most is when I am using it... kinda reminds me or informs me of other symptoms to looks out for or learn to notice. It just gives you leads for further research, but still a useful tool.

Sorry to hear you have yet more cause for concern... it won't be all bad forever!

 

[Isaiah53]

Immunity is a weird thing... so unpredictable!

Molt is hell for some.

Since it seems your older group who is experiencing the most issue, I would take a double look make sure no toxins are lurking.

Do you already have this symptom checker tool...
http://www.poultrydvm.com/views/symptoms.php

You put a symptom and it tell you the many possibilities. What I like the most is when I am using it... kinda reminds me or informs me of other symptoms to looks out for or learn to notice. It just gives you leads for further research, but still a useful tool.

Sorry to hear you have yet more cause for concern... it won't be all bad forever!

Thank you for your kind words and your direction. In some ways I am hoping another one does die so I can get answers..I reallllly regret not getting the two birds in to the provincial animal health Centre that would have answered everything.

In the meantime I'm culling all my roosters in all age groups except for 3 of my up and coming ones. Then all my hens that are barred as I'm going to stop hatching /breeding barred and if I see anything I will send them away for testing. I'll let you all know what I discover.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm culling all my roosters in all age groups except for 3 of my up and coming ones.

I try to keep my two best roosters of each variety... since accidents and illness do happen. But it sounds like you are figuring out what will work well for you.

 

[Isaiah53]

Lol I getcha. I have at l17 of them at the moment. Probably another 5 to 10 I can't quite be certain of yet...

Those 5 are probably the ones that brought it in.
Have these 5 fallen ill yet?

Sorry just saw this post. No not one of them is sick!

 

[Isaiah53]

So harvested 9 of my chickens today. Not one of them had anything wrong with them. No tumours, no skin issues, no worms, NOT A THING could I find that looked out of the ordinary. One hen had a bit too much fat around her heart and liver, and I understand Orpingtons are susceptible to fatty liver disease but the liver and heart itself were fine just more fat around them than the others had.

I didn't do a necropsy on the one lead rooster I had culled today (I decided to no longer use him for breeding and the idea of harvesting him was too much so we burned him) but I wish I had now in hindsight as he was one of the originals... What's done is done.

Tomorrow I have 8 or 10 more to do of the under 18 weeks gang. I will see if there's anything amiss there. But, somehow I doubt it. The hens I thought might be ill I believe are fine. I think between a molt and the 10 roosters with them they were not really happy and stressed out. So, we'll keep an eye out for them.

I am still hoping there's something I find in this next group that gives me an answer but I don't think it'll happen. I think the two who died were an anomaly. Wouldn't any of my others have gotten sick and died by now or showed at least some tumours?

 

[Isaiah53]

Ok, so I sacrificed 5 chickens to our Animal health care lab. Finally got results back. Turns out my chickens do not have Marek's Disease (yay what a relief).

There were some other unfortunate results though. They have Mycoplasma Gallisepticum, infectious Coryza and ILT.

So, sadly I've decided to cull my entire flock and restart next winter. This will give my land a rest and I can reseed the pasture land.

Thank you everyone for your assistance and input. It was much appreciated. Now I must start depopulating 80 birds.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your diagnoses and loss of your chickens. Glad that it is not Mareks so far. Are you convinced that it would be better to cull your whole flock of 80 birds, rather than just letting them die off naturally? Are that many of your birds sick? You could cull birds if any show symptoms of sickness, just to try and keep the others healthy. It seems strange that you have MG, coryza, and ILT all at the same time. It is common to have 2 diseases, such as infectious bronchitis and MG, but 3 is serious.

Of course, it is up to you on how to manage your flock. I couldn’t imagine culling that many at once. I would wait several months to repopulate your flock, and get day old chicks from a hatchery for best chances on having a healthy flock. MG and coryza are only alive for 3-4 days in the environment and on equipment, while ILT can remain alive for weeks, or months if in frozen droppings. Thank you for the update.

 

[Isaiah53]

Ok, so I sacrificed 5 chickens to our Animal health care lab. Finally got results back. Turns out my chickens do not have Marek's Disease (yay what a relief).

There were some other unfortunate results though. They have Mycoplasma Gallisepticum, infectious Coryza and ILT.

So, sadly I've decided to cull my entire flock and restart next winter. This will give my land a rest and I can reseed the pasture land.

Thank you everyone for your assistance and input. It was much appreciated. Now I must start depopulating 80 birds.

Sorry for your diagnoses and loss of your chickens. Glad that it is not Mareks so far. Are you convinced that it would be better to cull your whole flock of 80 birds, rather than just letting them die off naturally? Are that many of your birds sick? You could cull birds if any show symptoms of sickness, just to try and keep the others healthy. It seems strange that you have MG, coryza, and ILT all at the same time. It is common to have 2 diseases, such as infectious bronchitis and MG, but 3 is serious.

Of course, it is up to you on how to manage your flock. I couldn’t imagine culling that many at once. I would wait several months to repopulate your flock, and get day old chicks from a hatchery for best chances on having a healthy flock. MG and coryza are only alive for 3-4 days in the environment and on equipment, while ILT can remain alive for weeks, or months if in frozen droppings. Thank you for the update.

Yah, it was quite the shock to see all three. Maybe not all have it, but with winter setting in here and the stress of more indoor time I expect more sickness. I considered waiting but with so many issues, I want to get the opportunity to clean the facilities and surrounding areas. It's just not possible with the chickens here. I don't want to watch them get sick or sicker and have this hanging over my head.

I attached the results (just some of it so as not to bore everyone) in case you want to read it

.

 

[Kiki]

Yah, it was quite the shock to see all three. Maybe not all have it, but with winter setting in here and the stress of more indoor time I expect more sickness. I considered waiting but with so many issues, I want to get the opportunity to clean the facilities and surrounding areas. It's just not possible with the chickens here. I don't want to watch them get sick or sicker and have this hanging over my head.

I attached the results (just some of it so as not to bore everyone) in case you want to read it View attachment 1577327 View attachment 1577328 View attachment 1577329 .

Second page. I'd like to read that. Can you post a clearer one?

 

[Isaiah53]

Sorry for the poor images. Here's the one page that had the report necropsy and histopathology. No idea why it keeps turning them upside down.