COCCIDIA!!! Lost 30 birds!!

[Schmidt Hill Farm]

Continual use of Corid would cause a thiamine deficiency. This can cause problems walking.

If I were you, I would consult another vet for another opinion. Vets are mostly right, but it's possible to get one that's not well trained or has nutty notions.

If I had just lost that many chickens following this vet's advice, I would consult another vet.

I don’t know of any other avian vets in my area.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you ever get a follow up report? Did they test for Mareks?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Marek's or Avian Lymphoid Leucosis would be my best guess.
They found Lymphocytes in the brain and heart.
Intestines - Enteritis and Coccidiosis - this goes hand in hand. Severe Coccidiosis often does a lot of damage leading to Enteritis.

Likely the birds have damaged intestines, but I'd begin treating with a different Coccidiostat and get them on antibiotics to help with the Enteritis.

Marek's disease and/or AVL, there's not a lot you can do about that except treat symptoms when they arise.

I'm sorry you've been dealing with this.

 

[Schmidt Hill Farm]

Marek's or Avian Lymphoid Leucosis would be my best guess.
They found Lymphocytes in the brain and heart.
Intestines - Enteritis and Coccidiosis - this goes hand in hand. Severe Coccidiosis often does a lot of damage leading to Enteritis.

Likely the birds have damaged intestines, but I'd begin treating with a different Coccidiostat and get them on antibiotics to help with the Enteritis.

Marek's disease and/or AVL, there's not a lot you can do about that except treat symptoms when they arise.

I'm sorry you've been dealing with this.


View attachment 3889512

I did not see where is said mereks until you pointed it out

 

[Schmidt Hill Farm]

Marek's or Avian Lymphoid Leucosis would be my best guess.
They found Lymphocytes in the brain and heart.
Intestines - Enteritis and Coccidiosis - this goes hand in hand. Severe Coccidiosis often does a lot of damage leading to Enteritis.

Likely the birds have damaged intestines, but I'd begin treating with a different Coccidiostat and get them on antibiotics to help with the Enteritis.

Marek's disease and/or AVL, there's not a lot you can do about that except treat symptoms when they arise.

I'm sorry you've been dealing with this.


View attachment 3889512

The only thing is they haven’t had any bright green poop. Their poop looks like coccidia poop and not all of them are like that. When I first started losing birds there was a lot of cocci droppings, but now they’re dropping are back to normal. I have only lost three birds in the last 3 weeks. I feel like if it were mereks I would have lost a lot more at this point. At the moment, I only have maybe four birds that are showing any symptoms. The rest all seem to be pretty healthy.

 

[Schmidt Hill Farm]

Marek's or Avian Lymphoid Leucosis would be my best guess.
They found Lymphocytes in the brain and heart.
Intestines - Enteritis and Coccidiosis - this goes hand in hand. Severe Coccidiosis often does a lot of damage leading to Enteritis.

Likely the birds have damaged intestines, but I'd begin treating with a different Coccidiostat and get them on antibiotics to help with the Enteritis.

Marek's disease and/or AVL, there's not a lot you can do about that except treat symptoms when they arise.

I'm sorry you've been dealing with this.


View attachment 3889512

Also, only one bird had paralysis.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I did not see where is said mereks until you pointed it out

Oh, I'm sorry!
Yes, re-read your whole report.

With Marek's disease or Avian Leucosis (Leukosis?) the bird's system is often compromised. This allows other disease/conditions/parasites to take hold and make them harder to treat.

This may be one reason why they are still struggling so much with Coccidiosis, but I'd try a different Coccidiostat. Toltrizuril or a Sulfa Antibiotic. The enteritis may be helped with a Sulfa Antibiotic, but I'd do some research, I think Amoxicillin might help, but older literature mentions Lincomycin, Bacitracin, etc., which would need to be acquired through your vet.

Bright green poop is just 1 little "symptom" from long laundry list of symptoms one can potentially see with Marek's disease.

Only 1 bird with Paralysis. Marek's doesn't always cause Paralysis.
A lot depends on strains and how a bird is affected...

There are 4 major types/forms of Marek's. Ocular (eyes), Visceral (internal organs), Cutaneous (skin), Neural (nerves).

Your report shows Lymphoma on the brain and heart tissue, so if I had to guess, I'd say you are dealing more with a Visceral form (tumors affecting the organs), but I'm not a vet.

 

[Schmidt Hill Farm]

Oh, I'm sorry!
Yes, re-read your whole report.

With Marek's disease or Avian Leucosis (Leukosis?) the bird's system is often compromised. This allows other disease/conditions/parasites to take hold and make them harder to treat.

This may be one reason why they are still struggling so much with Coccidiosis, but I'd try a different Coccidiostat. Toltrizuril or a Sulfa Antibiotic. The enteritis may be helped with a Sulfa Antibiotic, but I'd do some research, I think Amoxicillin might help, but older literature mentions Lincomycin, Bacitracin, etc., which would need to be acquired through your vet.

Bright green poop is just 1 little "symptom" from long laundry list of symptoms one can potentially see with Marek's disease.

Only 1 bird with Paralysis. Marek's doesn't always cause Paralysis.
A lot depends on strains and how a bird is affected...

There are 4 major types/forms of Marek's. Ocular (eyes), Visceral (internal organs), Cutaneous (skin), Neural (nerves).

Your report shows Lymphoma on the brain and heart tissue, so if I had to guess, I'd say you are dealing more with a Visceral form (tumors affecting the organs), but I'm not a vet.

I’m going to contact the vet first thing Monday morning and tell them all of this. And then get their advice and I will try to see if I can find another vet to get a second opinion.

 

[2ndTink]

To verify what it is, you can send samples to RAL in Texas for DNA testing. Since Mareks is suspected, definitely check for that, but they do have an Avian Lympho Panel of 3 tests, Mareks, Avian Leukosis, and Reticuloendotheliosis. For the panel it does need to be over-nighted, for just Mareks it doesn't. You just order their sample collection kits, once they arrive you pick which birds to test, do the swab, clip a toe nail to get a little drop of blood (clean the clippers between each bird).

Here is the website https://www.vetdna.com/test-type/avian-bird

And here is a screenshot of the bottom of the test order form.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The only thing is they haven’t had any bright green poop. Their poop looks like coccidia poop and not all of them are like that. When I first started losing birds there was a lot of cocci droppings, but now they’re dropping are back to normal. I have only lost three birds in the last 3 weeks. I feel like if it were mereks I would have lost a lot more at this point. At the moment, I only have maybe four birds that are showing any symptoms. The rest all seem to be pretty healthy.

None of mine ever have green poop except when they stop eating. And mareks has different strains. Some are far more deadly than others. I thought the same thing, that mareks would mean that all my birds would pretty much just die off, but even after almost two years, I have most of my unvaccinated birds. When they're stressed is when they are more likely to start advancing to visible signs (I'm struggling with the heatwave now causing some of my birds to begin showing creeping paralysis) and coccidiosis could definitely stress them enough.