5 died out of 6! one 7 weekold BCM left please read symptoms

[chickenreyna]

Ok, since i purchased them at the end of September i had three die within a few days. Now, within the past five days i lost two now i an down to one black coppet maran.
Here are symptoms:
Blue eyes glazed over (not blind however)
Different growth rates of my three (the two that died past week were much shorter than the only survivor, which i have left)
Feces will look normal sometimes but diarrhea is always present the same day.
Congested breathing and runny snotty nose.
Weird & very strange noises almost sounds like a kitten meowing sometimes. i have a recording that i will upload soon.
Last but not least, Dandruff alot of dandruff.
I am pretty sure a fellow byc member was right about this being mereks syndrome. Ita forever a carrier. I dont have funds to take to vet plus i guess theres no cure. I have her separated from the rest of my flock. I need helpful info on what to do like does she need heat lamp on her since shes obviously sick and should i avoid taking her out front even in an enclosed rubbermaid tote with chicken wire over it even if its nice outside... I dont know what to do..

 

[coach723]

I'm sorry you've had so much trouble.
If it is Marek's then it would be very irresponsible to "set her free" anywhere, Marek's is very contagious and survives a long time in the environment and you could cause it to be spread to someone else's birds. It also would be cruel to let the bird suffer that way. Euthanizing would be kinder than letting her die slowly in the woods or be killed by a predator.
If it is Marek's, and I am no authority, then you can only offer supportive care and if she doesn't make it I recommend getting a necropsy done to positively identify what you are dealing with. Then you will know for sure what you need to do moving forward, before deciding whether to get more birds or not.
It also could be a respiratory issue, and depending on which one, the bird may become a carrier of that also, if it recovers. Most of the respiratory diseases are also very contagious. There are antibiotics that can help with some of those, but symptoms can recur if the bird is weakened or stressed.
Pictures of the bird in question would help, and a close up of the eye, and hopefully some people with more experience with respiratory diseases and Marek's will have more advice for you.

 

[chickenreyna]

Heres the three shes largest one in middle taken before the other two passed. I will photograph her better but everytime i hold her for a few mins im covered in dandruff and keep having to change clothes and wash my hands change shoes. Its awful

 

[chickenreyna]

I will get better ones. Bear with me.

 

[Windy L Rippie]

So gonna sound gross but do you have a pic of the poo? It could be respiratory. When you say sounds like a cat do you mean when squaking or her breathing sounds sometimes like a cat..like the purring? Could it be describeed as a low gurgling?

 

[chickenreyna]

Her diarrhea poo looks almost like baby poop mustard-ish color it was odd she pooped regular then within say a minute poooped again and it was this mustard looking 100% diarrhea

 

[chickenreyna]

Like the first poo looked completely normal then she went again basically after taking a few steps and gosh the scent of the diarrhea was overwhelming i normally dont get an upset stomach easily but i got one after picking & cleaning up that.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

This is a tough decision, and without labs, you won't know for certain what you are dealing with.

Thank you for more information about your particular flock, that has actually helped.

I think you may be dealing with Newcastle, which is hopeful for this surviving chick.

Here are my thoughts, given as general advice,

Marek's..the eye color on the other post gave me pause, as a 7 week BCM should have orange eyes. However, with more info about the flock, Marek's is not my first thought as the chicks supposedly were so young at onset of symptoms. Marek's typically hits at the 12 to 14 week stage, after incubating for about 4 to 12 weeks. It often hits just before point of lay, or some other stressor, in young teen birds, however it could technically happen at the 7 week of age as it only needs 4 weeks to incubate. Though we aren't really sure about your ages, you bought them in September and had immediate losses as apparent chicks....so I'm not leaping to Marek's as the general cause (you may have several things going on at this point...keep a watch on those "blue" eyes).

Just so you know, since the Marek's virus is almost ever present in the environment anyway, owners either vaccinate new chicks or raise Marek's resistant flock, an approach now being encouraged by many in the industry as the vaccine may be creating a "super bug."

Again, so you know, and as I raised the question on the other thread (without knowing the full background of the flock), the main symptoms of Marek's can be very varied as it depends on where the herpes type tumors grow. In general, the bird will appear unthrifty though usually eating and drinking. Further symptoms are caused by where the virus settles. If it is in the skin, you get "pimpled" skin (not dander....Marek's is carried in the dander but doesn't cause dander). If it is in the eye, you get fish eye appearance (what gave me a bit of pause to ponder). If it is internal organs, a slow wasting death ensues. If it hits the nervous system, you get the classic paralysis often ending in the one leg forward one leg back split (from the sciatic nerve being compressed). Marek's does not produce sneezing, runny noses, coughing. It is more of a silent killer.

YOUR CHICK: While the eye color is odd, it is a chick, and could be caused by other things including normal eye color development and poor breeding...but it does sound like the eyes do not appear normal but "glazed."


Newcastle
I'm thinking you may have had a bacterial or viral infection such as MG or MS, Infectious Bronchitis, or quite possibly Newcastle.

Newcastle is a real possibility as it causes respiratory infection and conjunctivitis (your glazed eyes). It produces watery diarrhea with the sneezing and unthriftiness you've seen, and can end in neural symptoms such as wry neck, which you recently experienced with another in this batch. Newcastle can kill quickly while leaving others stunted.

Since it is a virus, you can do little more than TLC and general supportive care. Newcastle does not create carriers, so those that survive eventually are fine if their systems recover.

I'll link some info on Newcastle below to help you sort things out.

Hopefully this chick will recover well.

LofMc

Merk's Manual (full description, but not an easy read)
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...virus-infections/newcastle-disease-in-poultry

Brief description, easier read
http://articles.extension.org/pages/68126/newcastle-disease-in-poultry

http://animalscience.uconn.edu/extension/articlesByFaculty_2_1931875188.pdf

 

[chickenreyna]

Here from 31-38 seconds is where you can hear the odd noise:

 

[chickenreyna]

This is a tough decision, and without labs, you won't know for certain what you are dealing with.

Thank you for more information about your particular flock, that has actually helped.

I think you may be dealing with Newcastle, which is hopeful for this surviving chick.

Here are my thoughts, given as general advice,

Marek's..the eye color on the other post gave me pause, as a 7 week BCM should have orange eyes. However, with more info about the flock, Marek's is not my first thought as the chicks supposedly were so young at onset of symptoms. Marek's typically hits at the 12 to 14 week stage, after incubating for about 4 to 12 weeks. It often hits just before point of lay, or some other stressor, in young teen birds, however it could technically happen at the 7 week of age as it only needs 4 weeks to incubate. Though we aren't really sure about your ages, you bought them in September and had immediate losses as apparent chicks....so I'm not leaping to Marek's as the general cause (you may have several things going on at this point...keep a watch on those "blue" eyes).

Just so you know, since the Marek's virus is almost ever present in the environment anyway, owners either vaccinate new chicks or raise Marek's resistant flock, an approach now being encouraged by many in the industry as the vaccine may be creating a "super bug."

Again, so you know, and as I raised the question on the other thread (without knowing the full background of the flock), the main symptoms of Marek's can be very varied as it depends on where the herpes type tumors grow. In general, the bird will appear unthrifty though usually eating and drinking. Further symptoms are caused by where the virus settles. If it is in the skin, you get "pimpled" skin (not dander....Marek's is carried in the dander but doesn't cause dander). If it is in the eye, you get fish eye appearance (what gave me a bit of pause to ponder). If it is internal organs, a slow wasting death ensues. If it hits the nervous system, you get the classic paralysis often ending in the one leg forward one leg back split (from the sciatic nerve being compressed). Marek's does not produce sneezing, runny noses, coughing. It is more of a silent killer.

YOUR CHICK: While the eye color is odd, it is a chick, and could be caused by other things including normal eye color development and poor breeding...but it does sound like the eyes do not appear normal but "glazed."


Newcastle
I'm thinking you may have had a bacterial or viral infection such as MG or MS, Infectious Bronchitis, or quite possibly Newcastle.

Newcastle is a real possibility as it causes respiratory infection and conjunctivitis (your glazed eyes). It produces watery diarrhea with the sneezing and unthriftiness you've seen, and can end in neural symptoms such as wry neck, which you recently experienced with another in this batch. Newcastle can kill quickly while leaving others stunted.

Since it is a virus, you can do little more than TLC and general supportive care. Newcastle does not create carriers, so those that survive eventually are fine if their systems recover.

I'll link some info on Newcastle below to help you sort things out.

Hopefully this chick will recover well.

LofMc

Merk's Manual (full description, but not an easy read)
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...virus-infections/newcastle-disease-in-poultry

Brief description, easier read
http://articles.extension.org/pages/68126/newcastle-disease-in-poultry

http://animalscience.uconn.edu/extension/articlesByFaculty_2_1931875188.pdf

Thank you for the info. I am unsure this lady seemed in a hurry to get these six babies off and said she would take whatever, which i thought was odd. Yes, since they were a day or few days old after i got home one died soon. I thought it waa maybe a runt since it was smallest and all others were same size in the beginning. Then two more the following i dont know ten days after i got them, estimating passed away. Then yes one morning i woke up to one out of nowhere with the awful to witness case of wry this past week then i woke up and one was dead within the past week.