Five-month old Australorp suddenly lame. Update: Now another pullet going lame!

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Thank you for printing the path report. My hope would be some conclusive additional information, if available, so you may know as best possible the disease which affected June.

My other hope would be, perhaps a case report written by the pathologists involved which would get published in one of the avian medicine or poultry journals. It would be a pity to not share all that has taken place (your diligence and June's "try") and, all that might be discovered with professionals who are seeing cases like June's or who might in the future. There is not enough deep information about, or solutions to, these poultry diseases that the small flock owner tries their best to manage and overcome. This is the frustrating part of the current state of avian medicine, IMHO.
 
The final word on June's necropsy and pathology tests is that while it's not possible to tell the difference between Marek's and Leucosis tumors, the predominance of the findings point to the leucosis virus as being responsible for these pullets' illness and disorders. This is Dr. Niles' conclusion.

An interesting take from Dr Niles on mitigation of either virus from a flock and premises is that it's really not going to gain much over the long run to cull an entire flock and begin all over as both of these viruses are "ubiquitous" as he put it. It would be like killing off your entire family to prevent the rhino virus (common cold) from happening again.

Many people have Marek's in their flocks and they manage it, expecting and experiencing periodic episodes of symptomatic individuals. This is something I've learned to deal with in my flock over the thirteen years I've kept chickens. I know now, going from symptoms, that LL has been in my flock since I adopted two adult chickens that started my flock back in 2007.

I would say that only 10% of my flock at any given time may show symptoms, and less than that become so sick that they need to be euthanized. Most of them, with good health management, become resistant to the virus producing symptoms.

This recent bout of symptomatic individuals is higher than usual for some reason, but it could involve factors such as the vitality of the breeds I've chosen of late to add to my flock. In other words, genetics probably is a factor. It would answer the question as to why my EE pullets, which preceded my Australorp pullets by only three months have been asymptomatic while three out of the four Australorps became desperately ill.

Then there's one that fights like crazy and survives against all odds. And one out of four that has remained symptom-free. It's not all bad.
 

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There's no doubt May has lymphoma. Probably multiple tumors. I know she has one in the vicinity of her spine as she yelps when I try to look her over in that spot.

Her prognosis isn't great. She's not gaining weight, it's apparent the tumors are sapping her energy reserves. But she's determined to squeeze the last drop of enjoyment out of her life as she can.

She is laying regularly, going into the coop and getting in and out of the nest on her own in spite of one lame leg. She is undaunted about mingling with the flock, even deserting Su-su to be a part of the flock.

Many of us know human cancer patients that push their cancer to the edges of their daily existence to remain interested and participating in life for as long as the cancer will permit. If May has a philosophy, that would be it.
 
So then is it likely that Tylan was Not the reason for June's apparent reversal of symptoms? I know you said June's final symptoms and May's paralysis were completely different. Do you think May's paralysis was due to demylenation, or more likely from the brain or spinal cord? Any theory as to why May mostly recovered from her paralysis? (Other than your extreme effort and time of course). Hopin you dont mind all the questions. Just trying to make sense of all the events within this thread over the past several months.
 
I just spoke with Dr Niles from the state lab. His findings are pointing to either lymphoma from lymphoid leucosis (LL) or Marek's. He found enlarged kidneys, which points to LL, but he sent tissue samples off the their pathology lab for further testing to try to pin-point what this is. (My flock has previously been diagnosed as carrying LL)

What it isn't is a respiratory disease or bacterial infection.

The results of the pathology tests could be in by tomorrow.

Stay tuned.
Thank you for the courage amd detail you followed this tragedy through with. I’m so sorry for your loss. :hitMay the information here help many others. May it be a benefit for all chickens everywhere. ❤️💕🐓
 
I am dealing with a similar situation. The pathologist said the chicken had died from Lymphoma. Avian leukosis and Marek's are two possible causes for this. He had said he is going to send tissue samples to Mississippi State to run a PCR test to rule out Marek's. I guess the test looks for a genome sequence specific to Marek's. Have you done this test?
 
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I can only guess why May has managed to recover partially from her original paralysis. June's pathology, from what Dr Niles described to me what he saw during his necropsy is mostly tumors and some bacterial infection. Of course there's no way to know what's going on in May's case, but it probably also involves tumors and previous secondary infections that may have responded to Tylan and the other antibiotics I tried at various stages.

We discussed May's and June's remissions, and he's at a loss to explain them.
 
I am dealing with a similar situation. The pathologist said the chicken had died from Lymphoma. Avian leukosis and Marek's are two possible causes for this. He had said he is going to send tissue samples to Mississippi State to run a PCA test to rule out Marek's. Have you done this test?
I tried early on to send a blood sample from May to the lab in Texas that does DNA tests. I gave up on that since our USPS has become as primitive as when it was started by Ben Franklin in 1775, I wasn't able to be assured the sample would be still viable when it got there. Colorado state labs do not have the capability of this lab test to determine virus DNA. I have no FedEx or UPS facilities in my area. This "Greatest Country in the World" has considerable areas that qualify as third world countries where services associated with advanced civilzation are non-existent.

I did get a PCR test done to determine if May had Mycoplasma synoviae. I got it done from Zoologix INC in California. She was negative.
 
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