Entire flock of 50+ chickens became very weak in matter of few days.

[NiketP]

Edit: 7-8 have died now.
Entire flock of chickens became very weak and two of them died. It happened all of a sudden, two days ago they were doing just fine.

1) What type of bird , age and weight
- Chickens mix breeds. Male and Female. Age ranging from months to years. More than 50. Only a few of them seem normal now.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
- They became very quiet and mostly sit around. Eyes have become a bit red and teary and they sneeze. Gape with a harsh sound, I will post a link to a video of this (https://www.mediafire.com/file/0yqtkf9ef16ow52/WhatsApp_Video_2021-05-28_at_08.58.13.mp4/file).

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
- Just a couple of days.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
- Ducks(5) are doing fine. Turkeys(3) are also not doing that great.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
- None
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
- I have no idea.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
- Regular feed of wheat, rice, etc. they are still eating but very little.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
- Green and Runny
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
- None

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
- Home treatment

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
-

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
- Enclosed in a coop at night. Roam around the house and backyard in a day. Last day they were so weak they couldn't properly jump off 4-5 feet when I opened the door to let them out of the coop.

 

[DobieLover]

Sorry you are having such a massive problem.
Have you had any of the birds that died necropsied?
How long have you had this flock? Have you added any new birds to it within the last month?
Feeding wheat and rice is not a complete diet at all. Do you feed a poultry feed that is designed for a mixed species flock like you have such as All Flock or Flock Raiser?
What kind of body condition are they in?
How large is the coop you have them in? Do you have multiple coops? You have a very large backyard flock for a single coop unless it is quite large.
Could they have gotten into something toxic on the property?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Suggest reviewing THIS.

As I understand it, you have VERY high mortality rates (90% +), affecting chickens and turkeys, but seemingly not ducks (or to much less extent).

Onset of symptoms to morbidity is rapid - 5 days +/-

Symptoms include:

Redness and leakage at the eyes.
Sneezing
Lethargy
Weakness
Gaping/Labored Breathing
Green Runny poops

and you have, effectively, no biosecurity. and your ground has been the sight of prior outbreaks.


Green watery poops are common symptom of four diseases:

Marek's
Quail Bronchitis
Chlamydiosis
Mycoplasma

vND (virulent Newcastle Disease) has been in the news lately, and there have been some major world outbreaks. High mortality rates (up to 80% in some versions) fits, as does conjunctivitis, lethargy. But no green poops, it affects all avians, so your ducks would not escape, slower progression, and your symptoms lack the paralysis, trembling, and neck twisting characteristic of the disease. As a not vet with access to the internet, my guess is NOT THIS.

Quail Bronchitis - affects primarily quail - and while the respiratory distress is present, with lowered food water consumption, its not nearly so fatal. and you have the wrong birds. So again, as an "I am NOT a veterinarian", but I do have access to the internet, my guess is NOT THIS.

Chlamydiosis - affects ducks, but rarely chickens. Already doesn't fit. Slow progression through turkeys, rarely affecting more than 50%. Based on those facts alone (there are other reasons it doesn't fit, too) as an "I am NOT a veterinarian", but I do have access to the internet, my guess is NOT THIS.

Marek's is associated with cancerous growths throughout the body. Its a slow progression, usually affecting older birds (you lost chicks), and missing some of the other symptoms. Greenish wet poops present only end stage, as cancerous growths destroy the organs. I am NOT a veterinarian", but I do have access to the internet, my guess is NOT THIS.

AI (Avian Influenza) - highly contagious, can approach 100% mortality, and can move through a flock rapidly. Wet poops are one of the symptoms, not necessarily green. Ducks don't get a pass, you didn't mention blue combs and wattles. Best guess as someone unqualified to do so?? NOT THIS.

That leaves Mycoplasma.

I'll quote from the source linked above:

MYCOPLASMA SYNOVIAE​

Synonyms: MS, infectious synovitis, synovitis, silent air sac

Species affected: chickens and turkeys.

Clinical signs: Birds infected with the synovitis form show lameness, followed by lethargy, reluctance to move, swollen joints, stilted gait, loss of weight, and formation of breast blisters. Birds infected with the respiratory form exhibit respiratory distress. Greenish diarrhea is common in dying birds (see Table 1). Clinically, the disease in indistinguishable from MG.

Transmission: MS is transmitted from infected breeder to progeny via the egg. Within a flock, MS is spread by direct contact with infected birds as well as through airborne particles over short distances.

Treatment: Recovery is slow for both respiratory and synovitis forms. Several antibiotics are variably effective. The most effective are tylosin, erthromycin, spectinomycin, lincomycin, and chlorotectracycline. These antibiotics can be given by injection while some can be administered in the feed or drinking water. These treatments are most effective when the antibiotics are injected.

Prevention: Eradication is the best and only sure control. Do not use breeder replacements from flocks that have had MS. The National Poultry Improvement Plan monitors for MS.

There are other forms of Mycoplasma, but this one, I think, best fits, and that only partially - no lameness or breast blisters. MYCOPLASMA GALLISEPTICUM is virtually identical in symptoms, but also affects ducks. Both are highly contageous. What I don't understand is the mortality rate. Near 100% deaths are unheard of. Even 15% is high. Same with the speed of progression thru the flock and rapid mortality. Based on those factors, I'm going to eliminate Mycoplasmosis as well.

...leaving me out of diseases to offer you. I'd look for another cause - likely something they ate but the ducks didn't, possibly while they were at large. That you broody hens, who don't travel far, are also unaffected gives further weight to that theory.

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your location in the world? Is exotic Newcastles disease common where you live? Sorry for your loss. Here is a description of Newcastles:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...ease-information/avian/virulent-newcastle/vnd

 

[NiketP]

What is your location in the world? Is exotic Newcastles disease common where you live? Sorry for your loss. Here is a description of Newcastles:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...ease-information/avian/virulent-newcastle/vnd

I am in Maharashtra, India. Never heard of this disease before. I'll research it some more. Thanks.

 

[NiketP]

When you added the new chicken did you quarantine?

Only for few days, I'll check with the place where I got it from to see if they are having any issues. I got new ones I am guessing a month or so back.

Edit: It was more like 2 months back. And place where I got it from are not having any issues.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is there a vet in your area that could perform a necropsy on a couple of the bodies?

 

[NiketP]

Yes, I am going to look into accidental poisoning more. Cause many chickens don't go far from coop.
Also, I'll try to see if I can find any similar pattern in this time and the last time when I lost the flock.
I really appreciate the help, If I find the cause I might have a chance to start again.

 

[poultryprofessor]

Curious as to your source for symptoms - I've been relying on this - which didn't mention greenish diarrhea (one of the key symptoms offered by the original poster), and appeared to emphasize the neurological symptoms (twitching, paralysis) and swelling (not mentioned by the OP) - but several of us had mentioned vND, and India did have an outbreak that made the news in early 2020 - their version, vvND, is even worse than the version we in the States had in California.

Always happy to improve my resources.

That's not a bad source at all for general information. I'm surprised it doesn't mention greenish diarrhea because I've come across a lot of sources that do mention it, but it may be a strain-dependent symptom that isn't commonly seen in the US. It's hard to say.


I usually try to look at multiple sources, but the two that I usually turn to for disease information are MerckVetManual.com and PoultryDVM.com.

Their pages on Newcastle Disease:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...virus-infections/newcastle-disease-in-poultry
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/newcastle-disease

Newcastle also has a decent wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virulent_Newcastle_disease

And has an entry in USDA APHIS because it is a reportable disease here:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...erence-Guide/Poultry/Exotic-Newcastle-disease


Of course, it's impossible to say that these birds do or don't have Newcastle (or any other disease) without testing. Symptoms aren't always disease-specific and it can be hard to find somewhere that will do the testing needed. That's always the thing that frustrates me the most about poultry diseases.

 

[NiketP]

Sorry you are having such a massive problem.
Have you had any of the birds that died necropsied?
How long have you had this flock? Have you added any new birds to it within the last month?
Feeding wheat and rice is not a complete diet at all. Do you feed a poultry feed that is designed for a mixed species flock like you have such as All Flock or Flock Raiser?
What kind of body condition are they in?
How large is the coop you have them in? Do you have multiple coops? You have a very large backyard flock for a single coop unless it is quite large.
Could they have gotten into something toxic on the property?

Have you had any of the birds that died necropsied?
-No, I am in a rural area and we have no such facilities.
How long have you had this flock? Have you added any new birds to it within the last month?

- I had this flock for around 3 years before that my 100+ chickens died the same way, fine one day and all of the flock of entire 100+ chickens dead within a week. I have had chickens for more than 10 years. I did add a new chicken last month.

Feeding wheat and rice is not a complete diet at all. Do you feed a poultry feed that is designed for a mixed species flock like you have such as All Flock or Flock Raiser?
- I feed chicks feed starter. And chickens Wheat, Rice, Leftovers, Vegetables and once a week chicken feed. They roam around the entire village for feeding. Most neighbours who have less than 10 chickens don't even feed anything chickens go around the village and forage just fine.

What kind of body condition are they in?
- As the chickens just started showing these conditions a few days before the body condition is just fine.

How large is the coop you have them in? Do you have multiple coops? You have a very large backyard flock for a single coop unless it is quite large.
- One large coop two small ones.

Could they have gotten into something toxic on the property?
- I am not entirely sure. As I said they roam around so maybe?

5 more chickens are dead now.

Thanks for the reply.