I have no idea...molting? crop?

[lilmillefleur]

I culled her about an hour after posting the video.

This chicken stuff is a heck of a lot crazier than I had ever imagined. Besides the apparent broken toe, I have no clue what was going on with this chicken. There is nothing online that I could find that show similar symptoms or anything what she was going through. There was obviously something much more serious than a toe issue.

I'm sorry you had to cull. Poor thing
Can you send her in for a necropsy, or even do one yourself?

 

[Kiki]

I am sorry.
Are you in the US?
If so you can send her body to your state lab for a necropsy which will give you an answer.
Are you familiar with Marek's?

 

[Kiki]

You are in Texas.

You can send her here:
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu

 

[micstrachan]

I’m so sorry. I thought perhaps she had hurt more than just her toe. However, the video immediately made me think of Marek’s. If it’s not too late, I highly recommend necropsy.

 

[Eggcessive]

I tend to agree that she may have had Mareks, but it would require getting a necropsy by your state vet to confirm. The body must be kept refrigerated, then call them in the morning to get instructions on sending it.

 

[jellyroll]

Yes.....in Texas.

Well crap.........after culling, she went into the deep part of the forest next to our property.
It's still relatively cool........65.......not sure if it's worth locating and placing in the freezer.

This is our first rodeo at chickens, so I'm just trying to coast with what seems natural. No other birds have had any similar symptoms. After this one, we have had a total of 6 die.
The first one after day 2 in the house (no idea), #2 was a snake, #3 was a hawk, #4 was an illness and kept in the house for 2 days (still unknown), #5 was dead in coop with no signs of illness (no idea), and #6 was this one. But the ones that have died with weird conditions have none of the same symptoms.

This bird had the strangest of all of the symptoms. Also, her eyes were black (even up until culling).....not grey and although she had limited use of her legs, her wings worked fine. Anytime I picked her up, she immediately began to flap.........that's why I initially though it was a molting condition.

I will use this situation as a huge warning flag with the other birds to make sure I look more closely at what is going on.

And seriously, should raising chickens be this chaotic? I just wanted some eggs and entertainment.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Marek's can present in a number of ways, so it's very possible that may have been the cause of her decline.
Here's some reading for you, so you can understand the disease better
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

I'm sorry that is has been chaotic for you and you have had several losses. If you would like to post photos of your set-up (housing, run, chickens, etc.) and tell us about how and what you feed, we may be able to make some suggestions to make life easier for you.
You may be doing everything just right - sometimes, birds are not healthy - genetics or disease may be your problem, so if you lose another one, getting some testing would be a very good idea.
Refrigerate the body, don't freeze it.

 

[jellyroll]

Sorry if I sound like a putz. That is not my intent. I wanted to start off with maybe 6 chickens and work up to a larger flock later (after more work to our inherited chicken coop and run that was an absolute joke of construction). And one night, my wife was insistent (after a martini) that we buy 24 (WHY???!!!!!!???!!!!.......I now understand) and now that she's gone during the week this all comes back on me.
I don't want any of them to suffer and I am quite efficient at applying quick and painless culling techniques.
So sometimes I just vent........... Please excuse the sarcasm. I do hate to lose them, especially the hens.

 

[jellyroll]

So even at 65-degrees (it's been about 4.5 hours since the culling) do you think it'll be okay to refrigerate?

I'll post some photos on another post of the setup. We have made some improvements to this coop, but I know more is needed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Vent all you want.

It's worth a shot to get the body and refrigerate it.
Are you close to one of the labs where you can take it directly to them in the morning?