Edited: Big Liver Spleen/ Graphic Photos

[Wyorp Rock]

received the report which I pasted a section of below. She says Marek's first and as a possible second, Lymphoid Leukosis.

I have not dealt with it or even really read up on Hepatitis in poultry. It will be interesting to see what others say and what you find out through necropsy of the other bird.

Keep us posted.

I'm very sorry. Thank you for sharing what you found out.

 

[Araucana Nest]

If I remember correctly, wet pox is the one that's more dangerous for the birds. I think dry pox for the most part is just an annoyance. Could be totally wrong though

Thank you. That would be the best. I haven’t touched him to be honest. I don’t want to spread anything but he is breathing okay and is eating when he locates the food. Never dealt with fowl pox either.

So sorry that you are dealing either with Mareks or Lymphoid Leukosis virus, along with fowl pox. I am not an expert on any of those, not a vet, but I think that @azygous recently was dealing with something similar. She has had LL in her flock for a long time, but recently had a hen who seemed to have Mareks. It is all in a rather long recent thread of hers, and I’m not sure about the conclusion. I had suggested getting the home test kit available from a couple of national labs to test blood from a cut toenail for Mareks. This pcr Mareks test is done by RAL and I think someone else did it through UGa. It is about $40 total I think. Here is the link for RAL if you want to check it out:
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf

thank you for the test link and information.
I read that thread you mention from beginning to end, pulling for May the whole way. I corresponded privately with @azygous on Sunday and had considered it was LL from what she shared and images I saw on my hunt for answers. The necropsy report yesterday confirmed it. I’m going to test my oldest residents first and then test others as possible.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you. That would be the best. I haven’t touched him to be honest. I don’t want to spread anything but he is breathing okay and is eating when he locates the food. Never dealt with fowl pox either.

thank you for the test link and information.
I read that thread you mention from beginning to end, pulling for May the whole way. I corresponded privately with @azygous on Sunday and had considered it was LL from what she shared and images I saw on my hunt for answers. The necropsy report yesterday confirmed it. I’m going to test my oldest residents first and then test others as possible.

Good luck. I'm considering getting a test kit if I can find one somewhere because we're worried we might have had pullets die from it last year (I had a thread but no one suggested this, so we thought maybe it had been rat poison instead they ate). I'll let you know if I find any that seem reasonable

 

[Araucana Nest]

Good luck. I'm considering getting a test kit if I can find one somewhere because we're worried we might have had pullets die from it last year (I had a thread but no one suggested this, so we thought maybe it had been rat poison instead they ate). I'll let you know if I find any that seem reasonable

Thanks That would be very helpful. I’m going to test my breeding flocks little by little and move them to the barn as I set it up for chickens instead of horses.and my best wishes for a clean flock for you

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thanks That would be very helpful. I’m going to test my breeding flocks little by little and move them to the barn as I set it up for chickens instead of horses.and my best wishes for a clean flock for you

At least from I've read (again, not an expert) it doesn't seem like as horrible a thing as mereks. Doesn't spread like wildfire and it seems harder for birds to pick it up from infected birds. At least, that's what I read.

 

[Araucana Nest]

Will this change your future Mareks vaccination plans, or because you aldready have vaccinated birds, you will continue the practice, even with the risk of additional LL cases in the future?

As I have continued to read and discuss, I've decided to not vaccinate for Marek's again.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

@Awakening Forest & @JacinLarkwell, have you found any test kits for LL? I had another Cream Legbar pullet die and while I am considering sending her to my state lab, I worry that they won't make a distinction between Marek's disease and LL (in other words not actually testing for the different viruses, as they did in your case). The link to VetDNA's avian submittal forum does not seem to include LL... though they do test for Marek's.

Also, my pullets were from McMurray hatchery, where did you get your Legbars from?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Awakening Forest & @JacinLarkwell, have you found any test kits for LL? I had another Cream Legbar pullet die and while I am considering sending her to my state lab, I worry that they won't make a distinction between Marek's disease and LL (in other words not actually testing for the different viruses, as they did in your case). The link to VetDNA's avian submittal forum does not seem to include LL... though they do test for Marek's.

Also, my pullets were from McMurray hatchery, where did you get your Legbars from?

I have not yet. Still looking

 

[Araucana Nest]

@Awakening Forest & @JacinLarkwell, have you found any test kits for LL? I had another Cream Legbar pullet die and while I am considering sending her to my state lab, I worry that they won't make a distinction between Marek's disease and LL (in other words not actually testing for the different viruses, as they did in your case). The link to VetDNA's avian submittal forum does not seem to include LL... though they do test for Marek's.

Also, my pullets were from McMurray hatchery, where did you get your Legbars from?

I'm so sorry, you are losing pullets. I've been corresponding with someone who just had a series of Marek's- like signs show up in her flock after a hen died this spring. She culled two and sent to our state lab and literally had to request and insist on the Marek's test because they settled on a parasite load (which she knew about and was treating in her flock) as a cause of death. Her final report came back showing Marek's positive. If your lab tests for Marek's it would be something to cross off the list of possibilities. You can call them and insist. I'm speaking as someone who has very little knowledge of these things because in my final report there was no definitive diagnosis after testing for Marek's....

I've not seen test kits that are available off -the-shelf for a hobbyist. They seem to be marketed to labs and veterinarians. You probably already know this... My vet just announced her semi-retirement and told me point blank she didn't want to learn about chickens in this stage of her life. I don't blame her of course. She's a wonderful human. I'm also semi-retired and she put a lot into perspective for me.

My CL flock came from four places. 1) Cackle - unvaccinated CL pullets with my unvaccinated Cinnamon Queen pullets - 5 years ago. One of the CQ died last year and when I opened her up she was riddled with tiny tumors which I thought was cancer and didn't think more of because no others died or showed symptoms. She didn't have a big liver/ spleen.
2) Greenfire Farms - vaccinated pullets, no deaths or illness.
3) Foxfire Farms - fertile eggs, no deaths or illness even in F1
4) My Pet Chicken -1 vaccinated pullet from MPC in a small order last year- she was the first to die this year and had the big liver and spleen.
All the CL were together in a breeding pen in spring and only that one from MPC wasted away this summer. Another CL hen from that spring pen is raising her chicks right now by Fernando, a tailed Araucana roo for my F1 blue-egg laying Peace chicks. So there has been some rearranging of hens and if it is LL, it has had the chance to spread into at least one breeding pen.