2 month old welsummer pullet sick, is it mareks?

[steph5253]

Sounds like it is just part of raising backyard chickens I guess. I assumed my chickens would be healthy if I cared for them well. I did not understand the environmental aspect.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

No matter what you do, chickens will just drop dead overnight for no apparent reason. Upside is their multiply quickly and are cheap & easy to replace in large quanities.

 

[steph5253]

No matter what you do, chickens will just drop dead overnight for no apparent reason. Upside is their multiply quickly and are cheap & easy to replace in large quanities.

Problem is I get attached lol we can't have too many, and we are not allowed roosters, so we will have to just buy 2 at a time (sexed if I can find them).
I understand more now how common loss is with chickens. When I was growing up my grandma had chickens and she told me recently that her chickens were never sick, not once. They would die between 5-8 years oldfrom age she said lol. So I came into chicken keeping with unrealistic expectations

 

[steph5253]

Update

Today she is a bit more lethargic and I think it's due to not eating much. I have to put the food right in front of her and she will peck at it happily. She is not drinking at all that I can see. I have started giving her some vit water via a syringe a few times a day (as well as her vitamins).

So basically no improvement :-(

This is diff than what happened with my other chicken in a few ways... For example my other chicken was better within 3 days or so. It has been almost a week since I noticed she was wobbly.

I still have no idea what's going on.

Does anyone think this really is mareks?

 

[seminolewind]

Steph, you're right . Nothing is in black and white. Even aspergillosis. It doesn't have to have respiratory symptoms

 

[ChickenLegs13]

No matter what you do, chickens will just drop dead overnight for no apparent reason. Upside is their multiply quickly and are cheap & easy to replace in large quanities.

Problem is I get attached lol we can't have too many, and we are not allowed roosters, so we will have to just buy 2 at a time (sexed if I can find them).
I understand more now how common loss is with chickens. When I was growing up my grandma had chickens and she told me recently that her chickens were never sick, not once. They would die between 5-8 years oldfrom age she said lol. So I came into chicken keeping with unrealistic expectations

Our grannies had real chickens. The mutated things they breed now that have to eat medicated feed, be vaccinated and live in a climate controlled enviroment in order to live for just 2 years and lay 500 eggs barely qualify as a chicken if you ask me.

 

[ten chicks]

Update

Today she is a bit more lethargic and I think it's due to not eating much. I have to put the food right in front of her and she will peck at it happily. She is not drinking at all that I can see. I have started giving her some vit water via a syringe a few times a day (as well as her vitamins).

So basically no improvement :-(

This is diff than what happened with my other chicken in a few ways... For example my other chicken was better within 3 days or so. It has been almost a week since I noticed she was wobbly.

I still have no idea what's going on.

Does anyone think this really is mareks?

You have ruled out any crop issues(impacted crop)asking b/c in your photos her crop looks very large for one not eating much.

 

[ten chicks]

No matter what you do, chickens will just drop dead overnight for no apparent reason. Upside is their multiply quickly and are cheap & easy to replace in large quanities.

There is always a reason for their death,we may not notice it,but there is always a cause. The problem is that all birds hide any illness/injury,in the bird world illness/injury means death,so they are masters at hiding everything. So we have to become detectives trying to decipher their elusive code of feeling ill.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Update


Today she is a bit more lethargic and I think it's due to not eating much. I have to put the food right in front of her and she will peck at it happily. She is not drinking at all that I can see. I have started giving her some vit water via a syringe a few times a day (as well as her vitamins).


So basically no improvement :-(


This is diff than what happened with my other chicken in a few ways... For example my other chicken was better within 3 days or so. It has been almost a week since I noticed she was wobbly.


I still have no idea what's going on.


Does anyone think this really is mareks?

You have ruled out any crop issues(impacted crop)asking b/c in your photos her crop looks very large for one not eating much.

That's a good idea. I've experienced that before and it has similiar symptoms. Pry your hen's beak open & smell her breath. If her breath is rotten it's a crop issue for sure.

 

[steph5253]

Our grannies had real chickens. The mutated things they breed now that have to eat medicated feed, be vaccinated and live in a climate controlled enviroment in order to live for just 2 years and lay 500 eggs barely qualify as a chicken if you ask me.

I realized that too! After I bought my first batch from the feed store I did research and found the hatcheries that supply feed stores practices shocking!
I moved on to local breeders (neither of the two sick chickens I have had were from the breeders, they're hatchery stock). I hope the breeder stock are more like 'real chickens'!!!