Curved keel on 25 w.o. pullet

[Airyaman]

I recently lost a pullet to some type of what I believed to be a respiratory issue.

Let me back up slightly: I think Marek's exists in the my flocks. I have not confirmed it but all of the signs point that way in a subflock. The following is about a girl who is not in that subflock.

One day the pullet was in the woods more often than usual. Then the next day she was making a funny sound when she breathed. Other than that I think things were normal. The next day she was chased by a cockerel and it took her a while to catch her breath and breathe normally. Later that day, it happened again, and she really never recovered after that.

I put her in isolation for two days and treated her with VetRX (it was all I had over a holiday weekend). She died shortly after.

When the AL state lab did a necroscopy, no Marek's signs, no infections, just a curved keel?

Could a curved keel end up being fatal in the description above?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have a copy of the report that you can post?

A curved keel can be due to genetics, developmental issues or some other Musco skeletal deformity.

Did the report say she developed the deformity, or could this have been an injury that she was unable to recover from?

While a crooked keel may not cause death in itself, it could be a contributing factor is the bird is uncomfortable, not eating well, not moving about much, etc. Failure To Thrive.

I'm sorry that you are not finding all the answers you are looking for. Sometimes they don't come easily or immediately.

 

[Airyaman]

Here is the report, called "Pixie report". For comparison and the reason I suspected Marek's (that and two other birds in that same flock with Marek's symptoms), I've added another prior report called "Pullet report".

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the reports.

I'm so sorry for your losses and it must be disheartening to deal with all of this.

Hopefully @coach723 and @microchick may be able to chime in with some thought.

On the Pixie report, the finding is emaciation and Rickets. The Rickets would have likely caused the curved Keel.

Recommendation on the report is to keep the birds on a Chick Starter until at least 18wks or at the begin of lay.

Rickets can be due to Vitamin D3 and other nutritional deficiencies. Make sure feed is in date and not rancid. See that the birds also have access to sunshine, this will help with D3. I found a few links about Rickets to help you get started on learning about that. It does seem from what little I have read, that perhaps Rickets can of course have some similar symptoms (looks like) to Marek's disease like weakness, paralysis (body/bones is unable to support the bird), emaciation, stunted growth, etc.

Pullet Report. Yes, there's evidence of Marek's disease in the organs and the Sciatic Nerve. Coccidiosis is also an issue. With a weakened state of Marek's disease, Coccidiosis and/or other conditions/parasites take the opportunity to thrive since the bird's immune response would be struggling.

Hard to know, but since you do have Marek's within your flock, any youngsters/chicks you bring in, think about vaccinating for Marek's. Some do, some don't and just cull those that become sick in an effort to help build resistance. There's no one way to handle this disease, it's very complicated and there is no cure, so often managing symptoms is the best you can do.

You can help manage Coccidiosis, so with youngsters, at any hint of sluggishness, treat with Corid or Totrizuril. There was found 2 strains of Coccidia (E. Acervulina and E. Necatrix), so treating can help reduce damage. There are 9 strains of Coccidia found in poultry, it's found in the soil and in poop, so it's not uncommon to find Coccidia in the system, but when there's an overload (Coccidiosis) this becomes a problem, and the protozoa can cause lasting damage if not treated. So, have your treatment(s) available when you have chicks.

While no worms were found, it's probably a good idea to periodically get a fecal float to make sure worms are not an issue going forward. It doesn't appear that way right now, but worms can affect the health of the bird and if you have disease within the flock, then you'd want to get on top of any parasites that may take the opportunity to weaken them.

Just my thoughts/observations of what I read and think.

I do hope things start looking better for you and you can continue on and not be discourage.



https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...eral-deficiencies-in-poultry#Rickets_v3346936
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/rickets
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/case-studies/rickets-in-backyard-chickens/

More on each strain of Coccidia and how each one affects the system.
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...oultry#Clinical-Findings-and-Lesions_v3340078

 

[Airyaman]

She got plenty of sunshine, she was out free ranging every day. She had strong hard eggs until she quit laying, which I think was like one day after she started hanging out in the woods but one day before I could hear her breathing funny.

Yes, all of my flocks are on all flock feed but they get plenty of calcium, I put out some every day and the pullets devour it. She was too until she quit eating. Like I said, all of their eggs, hers included, have very strong shells.

She was the lowest on the pecking order. Although the necroscopy did not show an injury, I'm thinking she may have injured herself trying to get away from one of the roosters. She hated being mounted and did her best to avoid it.

 

[coach723]

I've had two birds with curved keel bone, both were from being malpositioned in the egg, both hatched here and required assistance to hatch. That in itself did not cause any other health issues with my particular birds. None of these are criticisms, just my thoughts on possibilities.
Two things struck me:
1. You say you put out calcium every day and they devour it. It really should be available 24/7/365 in a separate feeder or feeders. Needs can vary bird to bird and season to season. It's best to have it available in quantity all the time so they can take what they need. My calcium feeders can stay full for a while, or sometimes empty quickly, needs change all the time. Since they devour it every time, suggests maybe they are needing more.
2. The bird with Marek's also showed coccidia which can cause intestinal damage and affect absorption of nutrients. Marek's can weaken the immune system and give the coccidia more of a chance of doing that.
Also, Breathing issues can also be from heart or other organ failure, which could happen with malnutrition. Those organs would not necessarily be "abnormal", just unable to function properly without proper nutritional support, and sometimes smaller than normal. They did not remark on any of that other than to say no significant abnormalities. One of the first things to shut down in starvation is the digestive tract, as the body tries to conserve energy. The lack of fat stores and muscle wasting suggest that was probably what happened. Eventually kidneys will go, etc. Starvation can weaken them to a point where they cannot recover from even a small injury or stress.
4. They suggested historical rickets, usual causes of that are poor feed quality, absorption issues in the digestive tract, lack of sunlight (which you say they have plenty of), and stress/over crowding.
If the hen that laid the egg that this chick was hatched from was deficient nutritionally she can pass that deficiency into the embryo in the egg she lays, setting the chick up for issues during development.
**EDIT** Necropsy said ovary was inactive, how sure are you that she was actually laying? I have doubts she was with her state of emaciation.

How many feeders are accessible to the groups? Depending on personalities and temperaments, some lower pecking order birds may be kept away from them. This is not uncommon. Adding feeders and waterers, and spreading them out may help. Flock dynamics vary and every group is different. Adding or removing birds upsets whatever balance there was, and things can change a lot. Once a bird becomes malnourished, things can go down quickly, and it may not be noticed as the fluffy feathers make them appear just fine. Unless you pick them up and check their body condition, you might not know until it's really bad. Once they feel bad, they don't eat, and downward it spirals. Every environment is different, and depending on space and what the actual area holds, free ranging is not always enough to provide daily nutrition. My birds free range for most of the day, they also consume quite a bit of feed. The space that is available is large, but doesn't contain enough to feed the number of birds out there every day with their full needs.
What happened to your first hen may be totally different than what happened to the second, it's very hard to say. Whether the underlying Marek's was the cause of the first seems a reasonable assumption. Did nutrition also play a part, I don't know. I would be checking feed mill dates on what you are feeding, make sure it's fresh, or even possibly trying a different feed, if you find multiple birds that are feeling thin in your flock. I would also be looking at flock dynamics, feed assess ability for all, making sure the lower pecking order birds have enough access, adding feeders and waterers if necessary. I would do a physical exam on all of your birds, actually pick them up and check body condition, to see if there are any others that are thin. If they are hard to catch, do it after dark when they have gone to roost. Take them off the roosts and check them.

 

[Airyaman]

@coach723, to clarify, I refill their calcium every day. There is still calcium in their dish when I refill, so they never go without.

As to knowing whether or not she was laying, at the time, only 3 other pullets were and they were all CCLS with blue eggs. So she laid an egg at least 4 (maybe 5?) days before her death. She was consistently laying every other day before that.

All of the feeds have been fresh, in fact most were packaged the same month they were consumed. I use Tucker Milling and the turnover rate for the feed is pretty quick so they rarely have any older stock.

She had been eating well prior to when I started noticing her change in behavior. I started to take feed out to her in the woods where she liked to hang out and she stopped eating well about the same day her breathing issues came up. Her last few days in isolation she would drink but not eat, and the way she was gasping for air I did not feel it was safe to force feed her.