I’m devistated

[Chey1214]

My prize bird I noticed has had an empty crop at night. I’m crazy I feel every birds crop before I go to bed so I can get an idea of their health, I noticed her crop has been empty, I think it’s because one of my bantams protects the food. I stay in there and let her eat and toss away any bird trying to eat. Yesterday I go in to say good morning and she is sneezing. Today she is limping and won’t even eat meal worms, she will eat raw eggs, not cooked. I ran to tractor supply to buy small tubing and a big syringe. I took her pellet feed and soaked it down. I then added water to it and blended it. She is getting fluids with food. I fed her three times and her crop was full.

This is all I can afford right now Christmas is killing me.

I do have a 14f tube coming Wednesday but I’m not waiting around till then. This bird is my whole breeding program.

I hope in five days her leg gets better and by tube feeding her she doesn’t starve.

I measure their weight by the bones under their breast, I’m aware of every birds status.

I’m pretty sure i have mereks in my flock. This is a pattern limp starve die. One was able to over come it.

I have three rounds of Mereks vaccine now in my fridge. I’m not playing with this crap anymore. All birds get Mereks vaccine. It’s easier to ship in the winter since it’s cold outside and stock up for the spring.

Anyways I am feeding 40 ml via syringe. Making it the size of a clementine.

Am I right for what I’m doing?

One thing I noticed was all birds who are vaccinated have lived through ones who haven’t, most have died.

I’m really upset

 

[Tonyroo]

Your feeding her correctly, using a high protein feed turned into mash will give her faster digestion.

Generally you want several feeding and watering stations for a flock of birds to deter one chicken hoarding it.

And sorry if your flock is going through Mareks.

 

[Chey1214]

Your feeding her correctly, using a high protein feed turned into mash will give her faster digestion.

Generally you want several feeding and watering stations for a flock of birds to deter one chicken hoarding it.

And sorry if your flock is going through Mareks.

I have 6 feeding stations and two water stations for 25 birds.

It has to be mereks there is no other possible explanation. Every bird has a full crop at night, it’s like one every 4 weeks goes through this.

Really upsetting

 

[Tonyroo]

How do you manage poop in the coop? And are there wasted feed laying around the feeder?

 

[Tonyroo]

I'm trying to determine your ammonia level that your chickens are dealing with. From what you've mentioned of your routine I can see your chickens developing issues.

As for the feed, my concerns would be mold developing around there feed stations exposure to it can be dangerous for chickens.

But since I don't know much of how your maintaining it. I can only hope you can maybe be more proactive in these instances. Just trying to help.

 

[Stephine]

It sounds like it could be Marek‘s. How old is your girl?
Don’t think it’s your coop, that does sound ok. Though personally, I don’t believe in power washing and disinfecting the coop: both bacteria and mold need water to be happy and I wouldn’t want to introduce that much water to the inside of my coop (unless it was made out of plastic or metal and could be dried off). As far as disinfecting, I don’t think there’s much chickens pick up from their coop, per se. They will much more likely be infected by flockmates and wildlife, so unless you have a new infectious outbreak and have already removed all infectious birds, there is little point to that. It’s more important to keep the coop nice and dry, and the birds well fed, hydrated and stress free.
If you have Marek‘s in the flock, it makes sense to clean out the coop (dry) well after an outbreak, because sick birds shed a lot of the virus, but any birds that have been infected without showing symptoms (because they are protected by the vaccine), will also shed the virus, as long as they live, so there is no point in going overboard.
So sorry you have to deal with this. I hope the vaccine will work for you - though I have read that what is available to small breeders is not as effective as the vaccines the big hatcheries use. If you can keep your chicks well separated from your flock and ensure good biosecurity to avoid Marek’s exposure for their first five months of life, it seems that they are immune to Marek‘s after that.

 

[Chey1214]

What type of pellets - I may have missed it - are you feeding an all flock or chick starter feed?

I'd cut out the scratch and oats for now and focus on giving chick starter or an all flock feed that is 18-20% protein.

Yes all flock! The purple bag lol!
She’s doing somewhat better today I feed her 3 times a day. Tomorrow my actual tube feeder comes in the mail. Poops are looking great doesn’t appear to be loosing weight, I’ll keep at it

 

[Chey1214]

With Mareks it is best to cull or isolate the flock and do not sell or add any more to your flock until all poultry is gone.

I suspected mereks from the beginning, I wouldn’t give anyone a bird from my flock just by speculation. However, I now stock up on these vaccines so I have it available for hatching. I’ll have to really plan my hatches this summer to get the most out of this vaccine since it’s only good when activated.

 

[Chey1214]

How do you manage poop in the coop? And are there wasted feed laying around the feeder?

There is waste everywhere, I clean my coop once a week. I make sure the feed is clean as well as the water stations (since I also had cocci this year). Twice a year I power wash it and disinfect it. I also spray to prevent mites. Girls get wormed twice a year as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I noticed her crop has been empty, I think it’s because one of my bantams protects the food. I stay in there and let her eat and toss away any bird trying to eat. Yesterday I go in to say good morning and she is sneezing. Today she is limping and won’t even eat meal worms, she will eat raw eggs, not cooked.

Do you have photos of how they are housed - your coop/run set up?

I see she's in a cage right now? Do you have current photos of her and her poop - like from today?

Could she have gotten a foot or leg hung in the cage and injured it?

If she's being kept from feed, then some, maybe most of her problems may be due to lack of eating and drinking.

She's sneezing? Have you added new birds recently?

I'd see that she's eating her chick starter, work on hydration. I'd also give 1/4tablet B-Complex to see if that helps with the legs.

Have you had any testing done to confirm that you are dealing with Marek's? That's always a good idea if possible, this way you know for sure.

Curious what you mean about 3 Rounds of the Vaccine, do you mean 3 Vials of vaccine that you have are waiting to rehydrate come springtime and vaccinate day old chicks?
You have a brooder where the chicks can be quarantined away from others so they are not exposed to the virus for a couple of weeks right?

And this pullet is your breeding program? What are your goals?

I have three rounds of Mereks vaccine now in my fridge. I’m not playing with this crap anymore. All birds get Mereks vaccine. It’s easier to ship in the winter since it’s cold outside and stock up for the spring.