BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

Well, my very first chicken, Paula, died today. She was obviously feeling badly yesterday, and when I picked her up and was alarmed at how very thin she had gotten (it hadn't been that long since I had held her, so it must have happened fast). Thought it was worms at first - she had diarrhea - and gave her a dose of Safeguard. Kept her in a crate here in the den all day yesterday. She ate ok and lived through the night, but was very warm to the touch, holding her wings away from her body and panting very hard. Wouldn't eat this morning, and I came home to her dead.

I took care of the chicken chores while working up the nerve to do the necropsy. I'm glad I had processed before, so that I knew what a healthy chicken looked like on the inside. It was Mareks - her liver was ENORMOUS (filled entire front of abdomen, couldn't see anything else until moving it out of the way), and there were very small (and some slightly larger) tumors in it. Abdomen filled with huge tumors (lymph nodes). (GI tract normal, no worms).

She was my first, was a solo chick for a while so she was a little like a pet - I was attached to her. She was vaccinated for Mareks.

:::sigh:::

- Ant Farm

I'm so sorry!

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I'm so sorry!

Thanks so much. It get's better - if it's avian Lymphoid leukosis, I may get to cull a bunch of sweet one week old chicks as well.

 

[Beer can]

@angry rooster I've heard the same thing, shootin up the coyote population results in them breeding more (wish that worked for deer). We'll keep culling them hard and hope for the best. If there is any big cats or wolves in the area it's rumored the state introduced them to deal with coyote population (of course they deny it). Really don't want anymore large predators here, bears are bad enough, don't dare let the kids play outside by themselves as is.
Scientists say we'd have to knock out 70% of the their population (coyotes) every yr just to keep them in 'check'.
You mentioned those flashing red lights, I just recently read about them, I thought animals couldn't see red??
Even with all the predators here (just recently got a fisher population, enough to open a trapping season on them) they have left our coops alone. Outside dogs keep them away I think.
Skunk and opossum are the only only ones I've had to deal with besides hawks. Skunk made it into run at night, I think after food left in there. I almost dispatched it, but I was scared, in and outside googling if they spray shot between eyes. Luckily it decided to leave on it's own. Buttoned up run.
Left coop house door open one night, had a opossum in there, it didn't leave on it's own...

 

[Beer can]

In southern West Virginia, there's an area called Paint Creek.  The locals (who should know better)  have been feeding bears for years, which has been against the law for many years. This has resulted in bears breaking into houses and several people have been injured.  Don't recall if there have been folks killed or not but a lot of bears have been killed due to foolish people. 

Same here, idiots feeding bears and then wonder why they start breaking into houses and camps. And yup, a lot of bears killed due to foolish people, their defense's, woofing, stomping, false charging...
Only two instances of bear killing people here. One snatched a baby from a stroller in '02, the other was down in the 'big city' in '87, 11yr old snuck into a polar bear enclosure at a zoo, don't think that one counts.

 

[Beer can]

@Fire Ant Farm sorry for your loss. I don't make 'friends' with my chickens so a loss doesn't bother me, it does scare the bejesus out of me though!!
Lost two good hens this last summer of marek symptoms. Well they didn't go on they're own, I 'removed' them. They were vaccinated. My chickens right now I still have some vaccinated, most not. Pretty scary especially with 'bird flu'. No one else got sick thankfully.

 

[Our Roost]

Back track to discussion on AL.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Well, my very first chicken, Paula, died today. She was obviously feeling badly yesterday, and when I picked her up and was alarmed at how very thin she had gotten (it hadn't been that long since I had held her, so it must have happened fast). Thought it was worms at first - she had diarrhea - and gave her a dose of Safeguard. Kept her in a crate here in the den all day yesterday. She ate ok and lived through the night, but was very warm to the touch, holding her wings away from her body and panting very hard. Wouldn't eat this morning, and I came home to her dead.

I took care of the chicken chores while working up the nerve to do the necropsy. I'm glad I had processed before, so that I knew what a healthy chicken looked like on the inside. It was Mareks - her liver was ENORMOUS (filled entire front of abdomen, couldn't see anything else until moving it out of the way), and there were very small (and some slightly larger) tumors in it. Abdomen filled with huge tumors (lymph nodes). (GI tract normal, no worms).

She was my first, was a solo chick for a while so she was a little like a pet - I was attached to her. She was vaccinated for Mareks.

:::sigh:::

- Ant Farm

Sorry to hear, that's sad news.

I do hope Paula has left lots of offspring to carry on for you.
But I was wondering, any chance it was Lymphoid Leukosis? http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/neoplasms/lymphoid_leukosis_in_poultry.html
That's another reason no to set eggs from pullets, I've read- the older the hen, the less the chance of transmission to the egg.

 

[Our Roost]

I guess that's the whole point. We the owners are unsure just what the protocol demands from us. "Precautionary" measures covers a vast amount of allowables by law.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I guess that's the whole point. We the owners are unsure just what the protocol demands from us. "Precautionary" measures covers a vast amount of allowables by law.

My biggest concern is the lack of biosecurity at our feed store- at the very least you think there would be a Virkon foot bath for people entering the store. If there is another outbreak, I'm carrying a virkon spray bottle with me and I'll wash the car before coming home, when I go to pick up feed.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thank you so much for pointing this out. I managed to retrieve some liver and some lymphomatous tumors. Put some in alcohol, some frozen. I will contact these folks tomorrow. Upon reading, there is a big difference for her chicks (if avian lymphoid leukosis, I will need to put them down, and I am not certain which are hers - which would mean putting down all of the chicks from that hatch).

- Ant Farm

Why put them down? Are you going for total eradication then, you'd have to start entirely over.......... Just wondering if breeding for resistance might be another approach? I had this issue with wondering if it was feasible to have a mycoplasma free flock........... decided to go with the middle route, just cull any symptomatic chickens.