Flock becoming ill

[Beau plus penny]

I’m very sorry for your loss, and for your flock’s diagnosis

oh well this is what coccidiosis does

 

[Eggcessive]

Hey JPadronMiami. Hope all is well with you. Thanks for your response, I hope you have a cooler climate and laying hens now.
It has taken a while for the lab reports to come back, and because I was worried I may have had a Mareks outbreak, the lab did some extra tests, which took some time. The final results came in end of last week.
To cut a very long story short, both Mimi and Squeak had tumors in their livers and Mimi also had tumors in her brain. Mimi had an enlarged heart and she had some different form of tumors in her spleen, but none of the tumors were listed as the cause of death initially. The first lab report stated E.Coli as the cause of death in both hens, which I would agree with, as they both had secondary infections. However, in the second lab report the considered cause of death changed to a possible retrovirus, namely Avian Leukosis. This conclusion does seem to fit with the symptoms in both hens, and unfortunately the remaining six hens seem to now be showing signs of the affect of the virus. I am seeing a drop in laying and also a high number of rubber and misshapen eggs across all hens, when they do eventually lay.
All very sad, and I am at a loss to know what to do next. The flock I believe has to remain closed, as I can’t breed from any of them in case of a vertical spread of the virus from mother to chick.
I haven’t the heart to cull the remaining girls, but neither do I want them to get sick, so I will wait and see what the next months bring.

I am very sorry for your losses, but glad that you were able to get a diagnosis through a necropsy. Lymphoid Leukosis or big liver disease can be handled in a flock. @azygous, a long term member of BYC and an educator here also deals with leukosis in her flock. She may have some advice or some articles to give you. Here is one article to read:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/neoplasms-in-poultry/avian-leukosis-in-poultry

 

[Springchicken25]

I have not received anymore responses so far, but for completeness that may help someone else in the future, I will update the situation so far.

Poor Squeak and Mimi passed away last Wednesday. Squeak rallied and seemed to be perking up on the Sunday. She was eating and drinking on her own. Also, she started making a bit of vocal noise, which is usually a good sign. Monday and Tuesday however were very different and she slipped in to a deep sleep on Tuesday afternoon and passed away during the night.

Mimi had very different symptoms from Squeak, after the initial similarities. Day three of Mimi’s illness I noticed she was stumbling and losing balance. Day four she lost control of her neck and head. It looked like wry neck with her head twisting round and wobbling from side to side. She also had problems swallowing. Her walking got worse and by day six her beak was resting on the ground between her legs. We had already decided to take them both to the vet to be euthanised the next day (the Wednesday), but Squeak passed away before we got there.

The vet agreed to euthanise Mimi and to send both of them to the lab for an autopsy (necropsy). On seeing how bad Mimi was, the vet arranged for us to take Mimi to the lab alive for the lab to euthanise her and perform the autopsy as soon as she had passed away, so that there would be no decomposition of the body. We are now waiting for the full lab report which I will post when available.

I’m so sorry you lost your beloved pets. Thank you from a new chicken momma. Information is the key and I need all the info I can get. Have you gotten the results yet from MiMi? I hope you can get to the bottom of it, and please update when you can. Hugs from one chicken momma to another

 

[Springchicken25]

I’m so sorry you lost your beloved pets. Thank you from a new chicken momma. Information is the key and I need all the info I can get. Have you gotten the results yet from MiMi? I hope you can get to the bottom of it, and please update when you can. Hugs from one chicken momma to another

I saw you already posted an update. I apologize. I’m older and don’t always get the way it works to see updated posts. I truly am sorry about your flock and I pray that maybe somehow the rest beat it. It’s got to be discouraging, but the saying of when you fall off your bike best to get back on again right away. If you do find out something that has worked for you, let us know. Keeping you in my prayers.

 

[azygous]

Yes, it is true that I have had the leucosis virus in my flock for going on two decades. When I first learned that this virus was what was causing so much sickness and disability in my flock, I was overcome with despair. Then I began educating myself on what this virus is and how it behaves in a flock. While my present flock of fourteen chickens still carry the virus in their cells, it's been many years now that there have been any symptoms and sickness and death, with just one exception.

The exception is a rooster that is nine years of age and the only surviving chick hatched in my leucosis flock. The only chicken that is older is the hen whose egg he hatched from. Tootsie is the only chicken in my flock that has symptoms of the disease, and that is a tumor on his leg that grows steadily worse. Yet he lives an otherwise mostly normal and happy life. He's symptomatic now because he was infected vertically by his mother, who, by the way, still lives and has never shown any symptoms, and at ten, is the model of good health in a senior chicken.

Since I learned about the virus, I have only added hatchery chicks to my flock. There is no vaccination as there is with Marek's, but by adding baby chicks during their first couple of weeks of life when their immune systems are strong and building antibodies, these chicks all developed resistance to the virus, and have never shown any symptoms, all leading normal, healthy long lives.

The fact is, the leucosis virus is one of the most common viruses in backyard flocks, and due to its nature, most flock keepers are not aware it's even in their flocks since they've been intuitively managing their flocks to encourage resistance as I've done consciously. The results are the same, flocks that carry the virus yet show no symptoms.

Far from being a death sentence and the end of your chances to have a normal flock, it's a virus that can be managed as long as you are aware of the limitations - no hatching from within a leucosis flock, and no using a leucosis hen to cover and brood new chicks. If you avoid those two scenarios, you will avoid transmission of the virus in large enough amounts to sicken them.

One other scenario should be avoided, and that is adding an adult chicken to your flock since they have not built resistance to that strain of the virus and stand a high probability of developing symptoms and sickness.

And you already understand that you must never export any chicken or hatching eggs that will sicken another flock.