3 Silkies dead in 1 week!

Date sort Score sort
LeonieJane

LeonieJane

In the Brooder
8 Years
Feb 14, 2011
93
4
41
Broadford, Victoria, Australia
Hello,

It's been 1 week and I have had 3 x 18 week old Silkies die.

The first died 48 hours after bathing them all (I did all the right things, washed them in warm water, dried them and left them inside under a heat light for 24 hours until i 100% sure they were completely dry).
The second one was found dead the following day & this morning I went into the coop to discover my 18 week old roo lying on the floor gasping for air and paralysed.

Am I right in assuming it Marek's disease?
 
LeonieJane said:
Hello,

It's been 1 week and I have had 3 x 18 week old Silkies die.

The first died 48 hours after bathing them all (I did all the right things, washed them in warm water, dried them and left them inside under a heat light for 24 hours until i 100% sure they were completely dry).
The second one was found dead the following day & this morning I went into the coop to discover my 18 week old roo lying on the floor gasping for air and paralysed.

Am I right in assuming it Marek's disease?
Click to expand...
Additional information:


INFO:
Age: aprrox 18 weeks
Breed:Silkies
Sex: 2 pullets 1 roo

Your Location- country, state (different areas/climates have different problems)
ANSWER: Australia

What is wrong? What symptoms have you noted? - As much detail as possible please.
ANSWER: Chickens have all seemed fine but suddenly suffer peralysis of the entire body including neck.

Full droppings description.- colour, consistency, frequency, offensive smell.
ANSWER: I noted nothing unusual other than there seemed to be a lot stuck to the silkies near the vent area. (This is why I gave them a bath in the first place.

Respiratory Changes?- eg. breathing sounds, discharge, laboured breathing, facial swelling
ANSWER: I was only able to note in the last one found as it was still alive that it was struggling to breath almost gasping and it seems to have a 'sticky' beak.

Digestive Changes?- eg. eating, drinking, crop filling & emptying
ANSWER: All bird were eating a drinking fine in the days before death

Condition Changes?- eg. Weight, comb/wattle colour, skin, feathering
ANSWER: No changes were noted

Behavioural Changes?- inc. socialising, laying, crowing, broodiness
ANSWER: No changes were noted

Agility Changes? - eg. any lameness, favouring, energy levels
ANSWER: Energy levels in the first 2 were lower than usual.

Describe your usual worming routine and products. [If none, say so and skip the next 3 worming questions.] Do you have a cycle that you use eg. every 3 months, or every six months?
ANSWER: Birds are wormed once/twice a year

1. When was the bird last wormed??- approximate date.
ANSWER: approx 6 weeks ago

2. What product was used to worm the bird, and how was it given? ? eg. in the drinking water, on the skin, by injection?
ANSWER: Not sure of name but was given in water

3. Was a follow up dose given? (eg. 10-14 days later)
ANSWER: no

Any other recent medications?- antibiotics, coccidiosis meds, herbal remedies, etc
ANSWER:none

Other changes? – additions to the flock, diet, housing, extreme weather
ANSWER: there were 2 additions to the flock 2 plymouth rocks. All were getting along fine. No changes in diet, housing is always kept spotless and no extreme weather.

Photos? – any relevant photos are very helpful
INSERT HERE: NONE
 
Mericks would have probably hit in the 6-8 week old age. Lethargic in the past time though may be an indication of cocci ( a protozoa). Were they thin? Could they see well enough to eat? Do they have vaulted skulls which could cause brain damage/injury from others?
 
silkiechicken said:
Mericks would have probably hit in the 6-8 week old age. Lethargic in the past time though may be an indication of cocci ( a protozoa). Were they thin? Could they see well enough to eat? Do they have vaulted skulls which could cause brain damage/injury from others?
Click to expand...

Hi, Yes they could all see well enough to eat. I'm not sure if I would have considered them thin...though this is the my first time with silkies and i'm used to having larger birds...So it's difficult for me to tell. I'm not too sure what you mean by vaulted skulls?
 
I don't really know what it would be that is only getting the silkies. I've run silkies with standards, bathed them, and not have an issue as such. To tell if they are thin, their breast bone should just be a scaled down version of the standards. Same V or U ish meat around the keel, not a Y with a back of knife blade at the keel look.

If they have sharp Y breast bones, have been lethargic, I would suspect cocci protozoa over worms.
 
Well I have since lost another bird, a barred rock, and so I have put my last 18 week wold bird in isolation.

I have since discovered some interesting poo (pictured below) from her and I am now convinced it's cocci. (At first when it was just the silkies I thought it was because i bathed them and perhaps hadn't dried them off properly and they had gotten sick).

She is being treated and I hope she will be fine .

 
Yes, treat for coccidiosis.
I also thought about poisoning.
Or if those additions were carriers of Marek's, they could be healthy and still expose others, and silkie are very vulnerable. However, most of the time with Marek's, it does not happen over night. It's not a quick death.
I'm sorry you lost some, I hope it's cocci rather than some disease or poisoning.
 
I thought about poisoning as well but I cannot think of how that could happen.

Cocci makes so much more sense now. So I am now treating all my birds (adults as well)

We have only had chooks for 12 months and we love them dearly. We are learning as we go and unfortunately we didn't realise these types of diseases existed but
we are much more informed and prepared now.
 

Similar threads

PeepingK
    • Sad
1 week old chicks dying (7 deaths so far!)
2 3
Replies
24
Views
2K
PeepingK
PeepingK
C
Coccidia 1 week old chicks
Replies
2
Views
308
CharlotteBEe
C
kmpcfp
    • Sad
Help Me!!
Replies
3
Views
290
Debbie292d
Debbie292d
Witchychickens
    • Like
Bloody stools in 3 week old chicks
Replies
4
Views
210
Witchychickens
Witchychickens
F
7 week chicks getting sick
Replies
2
Views
347
Faraz1
F

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom