I need long time chicken keepers help.. pullet losing feathers, huge scabs, pus filled pores, not being picked on/no bugs?

[SmiYa0126]

You did a wonderful job caring for her, I'm so heartbroken for you

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

I wanted to post an update here as I’ve got another pullet (a sister to the one this thread is about) with these same lumps and scabs in similar places. She has the head tilt and the lethargy already as well.

With this second pullet having similar signs as the first, I was able to contact an animal hospital located in Toronto that is looking into Mareks testing with blood/feather samples for me. It’s not the Guelph lab, the number I contacted on their website had no help for me with my situation. Although I don’t want her to be kept alive for long, I want to be able to do the samples and see if it is in fact Mareks. With my many issues since this first thread from these chickens I’ve had countless deaths. Some show similar signs while others are completely different or only hav some overlapping sign.

Wether I’m caught with Mareks or have other issues going on as well that have similar signs, I do know some of my hatched out hens have reproduction issues as one had a broken eggshell stuck half in her vent I had to help remove this morning. She’s been acting lethargic and I imagine that has something to do with it as she strained to push the shell out as I gently held onto the lower part of it and very lightly added resistance to help the shell come out.

I’m worried if it is and what that means for my future flock. That being said having this clinic available to me might Help with future birds to get them vaccinated if the results come back positive.

 

[Sally PB]

Thank you for looking into this issue. I'm sorry you and your hens are going through it. Please post again if you learn something.

Thank you for taking the time to share what you know and have learned.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

So I had a chat with the Animal Hospital I called in TO. The Mareks testing through blood/feather sample will cost $300 plus tax CAD.

If I fork over the money for this test for one chicken that, most likely, isn’t going to make it based on her progression of signs similar to Chelsey’s earlier in the thread (wry neck, scabs, yellow bumps around follicles that turn to scabs but also aren’t just on the follicles it seems, stumbling due to what seems like vision issues but could also be from the wry neck?).

I’m reading over Mareks a lot again and I’m having more faith in being able to keep my birds. Although, I’m worried that the person who sold me this group of chickens experiencing these issues has Mareks in their flock and do not know. I’ve had issues from chick stage with this second group.
Would it be worth it to get the testing done or be better to inform this person of the likelihood of Mareks disease as they are the person selling chicks around and I don’t believe they have certification for a clean flock as I’ve seen listed for others before.

If I wanted to eventually sell hatching eggs/live birds, I imagine I’ll be needing to get the testing done for sure so as to not infect other flocks with the strain of Mareks I might have here. But for now I should be okay with having a closed flock to let this play out and allow the birds I have to show me who has resistance or not. I imagining the BYM chickens I hatched out will have stronger immune systems as they are from an older flock and some are from my first flock I had on the property and never had any of these issues with them. That is why I am thinking I may have gotten it from the person I got birds from. A friend who got chicks from the same person is not experiencing these same issues though. She did not get the same breeds as I did though. I got the Swedish Flower Hens, Mosaics, Ameraucanas, and Marans whereas my friend got Isbars and Ameraucanas but never received her Swedish or Mosaics from them. Could it be the breeds I got are less resistant as they are “newer” breeds if I’m not mistaken? That’s what I’m going to do some research about today and I’m also going to go back over to my friend’s place and check out her birds again while talking it over with her. I’ve had her cull the first bird for me and they took her back to their house. She has also been around my flock before but she’s not experiencing any of this like I am. I’ve lost more birds than she’s processed this year I’m fairly certain..

I’m going to keep updating this thread to help people out and maybe someone will pop up with the same experience as me with these scabs and it can help them in trying to figure out what’s wrong. I am leaning towards it being Mareks but I am unable to afford the testing currently for my little personal use flock. If I do want to develop my flock farther and get into selling birds I am for sure getting the testing done and will be doing a lot more for my bio security than I have been, although I’ve been really good as I don’t wear certain shoes out and about because they are my coop shoes for the coop only and same with my jacket. But I do know others on the property don’t follow the same standards I try to uphold with my flock, I can’t expect them to either unfortunately.

I want to say thank you to everyone on here who has helped me. It’s taking a while to get through this and t’s only just the beginning for my flock unfortunately.

 

[Chickens123446679]

Hi, I have the same problem and can't find any information or cure on what it might be. My silkie has been like this for nearly a year plus her ears get clogged with scrambled egg looking stuff. I clean her eyes and ears every morning, it's like her skin/feathers over produce oil and it builds up into scabs. If you found any resolution I'd love to know, I've tried everything and nothing has made a difference. She's fine in herself, eats drinks and doesn't seem to mind but would love to cure her of this if possible.