Someone told me "Marek's", but I don't think so given the slow nature of symptoms and birds affected, given the age of the birds. But...I'm a noob so I admit I simply don't know. Here's what I've got:
It started with an EE about 3 weeks ago. She went a bit lethargic and progressed into "very lethargic" over a period of 3 days (that I noticed). Then she died. No other birds showed signs, but now my Roo (Fayoumis) is showing the same signs, and possibly another hen (Production Red).
To date, this flock is 10 months old (hatched last Christmas), except the Prod Red which is 7 months right now.
The behavior starts off as being simply sleepy...just a tid-bit....on the first day I noticed. Nothing really out of the ordinary. On the second day, the sleepiness is a larger part of the day, movements are slower, much more sitting on the ground, etc... Third day isn't here yet (and I'll be away tomorrow), but for the first hen to succumb, the third day she barely went anywhere, and when she did, she walked very slowly. In her normal state, she HATED being handled, yet on this day I was easily able to reach down and scoop her up. [I checked her butt for being egg-bound, but there was no egg in there.] The next morning (4th day I suppose) when we went to let them out, she was dead.
This is the first case of disease we've seen in the flock since bringing them home 3 months ago. 3 days of symptoms, then death for the 1 bird...and I expect to lose the Roo and the other hen soon. We had 20 birds total (19 now). There were the 12 from the original flock we brought home (EE, BR, Australorp w/Fayoumis Roo), and then 2 months ago we brought home 8 more pullets (Wyandottes, RIRs, Australorps) who are now 4 and 5 months old.
We've seen no bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Food consists of Layer Crumble mixed with Scratch Grain, soaked overnight in UP/ACV. They are also free-ranged on a quarter acre (2 separate paddocks, each 0.25+ ac, that they rotate on, opposite my dogs). I occasionally put UP/ACV in their water, but not always.
Poop looks normal. An occasional runny stool, and once had an intestinal lining show up, but mostly just normal chicken poop.
We've done zero treating so far.
They spend most of the time out in the yard. The coop is just barely enough to hold them at 3.8 sqft per bird. Plenty roosting space. The floor of the coop is natural soil (the coop is built in-ground with the ground being the floor) and I have a layer of sand to make it easier to rake out the poop. I rake it out every 3 days on average. There are 4 nesting boxes situated under a shelf to prevent poop from getting on them, and 2 additional boxes that they never use.
I'll be gone until next week, but will give my wife this link and she can answer for me in my absence.
Thanks,
Dave
It started with an EE about 3 weeks ago. She went a bit lethargic and progressed into "very lethargic" over a period of 3 days (that I noticed). Then she died. No other birds showed signs, but now my Roo (Fayoumis) is showing the same signs, and possibly another hen (Production Red).
To date, this flock is 10 months old (hatched last Christmas), except the Prod Red which is 7 months right now.
The behavior starts off as being simply sleepy...just a tid-bit....on the first day I noticed. Nothing really out of the ordinary. On the second day, the sleepiness is a larger part of the day, movements are slower, much more sitting on the ground, etc... Third day isn't here yet (and I'll be away tomorrow), but for the first hen to succumb, the third day she barely went anywhere, and when she did, she walked very slowly. In her normal state, she HATED being handled, yet on this day I was easily able to reach down and scoop her up. [I checked her butt for being egg-bound, but there was no egg in there.] The next morning (4th day I suppose) when we went to let them out, she was dead.
This is the first case of disease we've seen in the flock since bringing them home 3 months ago. 3 days of symptoms, then death for the 1 bird...and I expect to lose the Roo and the other hen soon. We had 20 birds total (19 now). There were the 12 from the original flock we brought home (EE, BR, Australorp w/Fayoumis Roo), and then 2 months ago we brought home 8 more pullets (Wyandottes, RIRs, Australorps) who are now 4 and 5 months old.
We've seen no bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Food consists of Layer Crumble mixed with Scratch Grain, soaked overnight in UP/ACV. They are also free-ranged on a quarter acre (2 separate paddocks, each 0.25+ ac, that they rotate on, opposite my dogs). I occasionally put UP/ACV in their water, but not always.
Poop looks normal. An occasional runny stool, and once had an intestinal lining show up, but mostly just normal chicken poop.
We've done zero treating so far.
They spend most of the time out in the yard. The coop is just barely enough to hold them at 3.8 sqft per bird. Plenty roosting space. The floor of the coop is natural soil (the coop is built in-ground with the ground being the floor) and I have a layer of sand to make it easier to rake out the poop. I rake it out every 3 days on average. There are 4 nesting boxes situated under a shelf to prevent poop from getting on them, and 2 additional boxes that they never use.
I'll be gone until next week, but will give my wife this link and she can answer for me in my absence.
Thanks,
Dave
Last edited:
