Chickens constantly sick with different illness

[Woodfamilyhens]

I have two different age groups of chickens one set is 16 weeks old and the other is 10 weeks old. For weeks now we have been battling what seems to be different illnesses. First I had two chickens come down with a respiratory infection, I treated everyone. Then a week later one bird had droopy wings and its neck stretched out low after a week of quarantine and vitamins he got better it seemed like every other day I thought he was going to die and then the next he looked better he made it. The 2nd chicken started to get a limp and then one wing was dropped I put her in quarantine because I thought she had maybe pulled something in her leg. She stopped eating and died after a week. Now I have 2 chickens acting a bit lethargic , one of them walks around with her tail down and never really stretches out her neck I noticed dry bumps on one side of her face (pictured) the 2nd one is extremely stunted growth wise, both hens seem skinny but they are eating and drinking well. I dewormed everyone 4 days ago and followed that with apple cider in the water and carrots and garlic as a treat. Now my chickens are pooping yellow, not every stool looks this way . But for the most part I’m not to happy with the stools that Im finding(picture posted). I’m feeling quite bummed as I feel like I take really good care of these chickens and the whole experience has been a mess. I rake their run every day ,clean all the shavings and poop from the coop once a week, been giving them vitamins and apple cider vinegar, they get organic feed and organic scraps, they have grit and I added a little bit of oyster shells, they free range in my small back yard a few hours a day. I’m just wondering if anyone has any leads on what I can do as I would really like to start enjoying my chickens rather than worrying about them being sick all the time. Thank you in advance!

 

[dawg53]

It honestly sounds like you have a lot going on with your birds. Too many symptoms and probable diagnosis would require professional testing to find out exactly what your birds are infected with.
I recommend that you submit 2 or 3 birds for necropsy. Contact your local extension agent or a vet to find out how and where to get your birds tested.

 

[Woodfamilyhens]

Thanks for the advice! I had to send my 2 favorites. I’m still waiting back for the test results. Thankfully my other two are doing great. Aside from a comb/beak injury this morning my hen was chasing a squirrel out of the yard. ‍

 

[dawg53]

Please post the results when you get a chance. I'm sorry it was your favorites. It seems it's always a favorite, it hurts.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you looked for lice and lice eggs in the chicken with the white lumps around the face? Sorry you are dealing with so much illness. I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t dealing with Mareks disease, since Mareks can cause poor immunity to common illnesses. Heredity, nutritional or vitamin deficiencies should also be explored.

 

[Woodfamilyhens]

Test results came back as Mareks I have two hens left, one of them started limping 2 days ago. Now I'm faced with the decision to have them both put down, my teenager is going to be so upset. Does anyone know what the life expectancy is for chickens with Mareks? Has anyone ever had their Mareks infected chickens all put down and then got vaccinated chicks? And if you did how long did you wait and how did you clean up the coop, run and yard? Did anyone get vaccinated chicks and then have another outbreak? Anyone input is appreciated. We are quite devastated and really enjoyed our chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for posting the necropsy results—it really helps us to learn. Sorry that you might lose more birds. Some may be immune to the disease, but all birds will be carriers. Some people try breeding their chickens who don’t get sick, to try breeding for resistance to the disease. @rebrascora, @Nambroth, and many others have flocks with Mareks and can be helpful with advice. Here is a good article about the disease, written by Nambroth:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[rebrascora]

Hi.

I'm so sorry you have lost birds to Marek's. It is a heart breaking disease. @Nambroth may be best to advise you on how to move forward as my experience of Marek's here in the UK is different to the more aggressive strains in the USA. I believe Virkon S is one of the few disinfectants to be effective against Marek's but not sure how you would go about sanitising the ground and you have to remember that you will probably have carried the virus on your shoes, clothes skin and hair to other parts of your property than just the pen where the chickens were. I would be inclined to vacuum the coop and then spray it down with Virkon. You will have difficulty completely eradicating it from your property but you can at least lessen the risk to your next chickens by removing as much infected material as possible.

My personal belief is that it is the vaccine which is causing the more aggressive strains because the one that is available to the general public is not fully effective and can allow the virus to survive and mutate without killing the bird. That said, if you have an aggressive strain and you want to keep chickens, the vaccine may be your only option. It is possible that some vaccinated chicks will still get the disease but they have a much better chance of surviving it.

I have one of the milder strains and have had quite a few birds recover from an initial outbreak and one or two even beat a second attack but didn't make a complete recovery and retained a limp. Nevertheless they were able to return to free ranging with the flock. I broody rear chicks within my flock so that there is less stress of integration. For the first time this year I have broody reared 4 chicks from purchased hatching eggs, so it will be interesting to see if there is any obvious difference in the incidence of Marek's in those chicks that are not raised from my own exposed birds. I only have 4 and at least 2 are cockerels that will probably be despatched at some point so not a large enough sample to draw any real conclusions but they are only 3 weeks at the moment so probably on the early side to see Marek's symptoms yet anyway. 7-8 weeks has been the earliest age range I have seen but it is more common at 12-18 weeks with mine.

I wish you luck and hope that Nambroth can offer more appropriate advice for your locality and circumstances.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Nambroth]

Test results came back as Mareks I have two hens left, one of them started limping 2 days ago. Now I'm faced with the decision to have them both put down, my teenager is going to be so upset. Does anyone know what the life expectancy is for chickens with Mareks? Has anyone ever had their Mareks infected chickens all put down and then got vaccinated chicks? And if you did how long did you wait and how did you clean up the coop, run and yard? Did anyone get vaccinated chicks and then have another outbreak? Anyone input is appreciated. We are quite devastated and really enjoyed our chickens.

I didn't depopulate (cull/kill) my remaining chickens after I discovered I had the disease in my flock, but they also were not showing active symptoms at the time (and were vaccinated previously)... that said, I have brought in vaccinated chicks. Like mentioned by Barbara, I took measures and cleaned as best I could to remove as much infectious material as possible... this is quite an undertaking as the virus is known to spread most rapidly on microscopic and near microscopic dander (dust, if you will). Studies that I've read suggest that it lives the longest in dry and dusty conditions, especially inside buildings/coops, so I was very aggressive with cleaning my coop out. At the time I couldn't get Virkon S, and opted to use Odoban at its virus-killing strength, as it is known to kill encapsulating viruses when used properly. I also did a really thorough clean of my home (the HEPA vacuum filter I have is supposed to catch really tiny particulate) and especially all of my shoes to remove as much dander as possible, as surely I tracked it around! There is sadly no realistic way to remove the virus from one's property outdoors short of soil removal and replacement (yikes) which might not in itself prevent it from being blown or carried back onto one's property anyhow, so it could be expensive and futile in the end. Time, sunlight (UV), and weather will kill the virus outdoors.... though how long that takes depends on too many factors to give you any sort of realistic answer! I've read up to 3 years outside, but I suspect that probably varies a great deal with location and weather patterns.

When I bring in vaccinated chicks, I keep them in a closed off room in my house that has been very thoroughly cleaned beforehand. My birds are pets and I admittedly go to pretty great lengths to try to prevent visceral Marek's, so each time I would come inside from taking care of my adult birds, I would do a complete clothes change (and I keep my hair bundled up in a bag with a hat on top to keep it in place... yes it looks really stupid!!). Then I wash up any exposed skin, before I go in to take care of the chicks. Any time I forgot or couldn't get my hair up I would shower between taking care of the adult birds and my new chicks. I do this for a minimum of 4 weeks, by which time I admit it gets really old and I'm tired of the routine! The idea is that chicks need a minimum of 3-4 weeks after hatching and proper vaccination for the vaccine to be the most effective. After the 4 weeks pass I slowly ease up on my biosecurity between the adults and the chicks, in order to (I hope!) expose them more slowly. This part is pure speculation on my behalf as I can only guess, but do not know for sure, that exposing them to small amounts of the virus may possibly be safer than larger amounts (e.g. being around an actively virus-shedding adult). Short of having clean room level containment, this is the best I can do.

 

[Woodfamilyhens]

It would really be nice to keep Coco our last healthy chicken. So maybe purchasing vaccinated 6 week old chicks would be my best bet, and then keep everyone separated for a few weeks? Does anyone know of a list of breeds that are bred to have an immunity? Does anyone know of any responsible breeders that I could order my chicks from that vaccinates? Im just in research mode so any information is greatly appreciated!