- Jan 20, 2015
- 10
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My situation with the girls has got worse.. I realize they might not have a problem with worms or mites but something more deadly.
I have 3 brown shavers: Pinky, Brownie & Fluffy. They have been with me for over a year now. They are my first chickens and I love them.
3 weeks ago, Pinky stopped eating and was kind of lifeless. I thought she had a sour crop (which felt watery) so I separated her from the flock and treated her with Clotrimazole (similar to what is in Monistat), syringe fed yoghurt, water and she got better after a week. The week after that she seemed fine, I let her out to the garden to scratch for a few hours a day. She didn't produce any egg. She was still separated.
Last week, she was sitting down all the time, tail down, excessively groomed herself and pulled her feathers out. Also one morning out of the blue, she started walking with a limp and started standing with only her left leg. I found this weird long poo in her coop that morning and even though the coop seemed secure, I thought some animals/rodents? might had got in and scared her, which led to the limping leg (I'm now not sure if it was other animal's poo or her poo and if it is related to her sickness). Here is a photo.
Is it possible for a chicken poo to be this long?
Her right leg seemed very weak and didn't hold much strength. Sometimes I also felt like she shivered a little although the weather has been hot (summer here in New Zealand). Tail down when standing and sitting. She still ate and drank a little. I thought she had worms/mites so I set up another spot for her in the garden (still by herself). I then sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth all over this coop and herself and treated her for worms with Aviverm. That was earlier this week. This is now Sunday and she seemed better for the last 2 days, walking around and scratching in the garden. Tail has also came pointing back up although she still has it down sometimes. I let her free range almost the whole day. She is separated from the other 2 chickens by a fence.
Yesterday, I noticed Brownie's right eye is abnormal. The pupil is not round!!! Scared the hell out of me I immediately thought of Marek. I'm not sure how long has her eye been like this as I was giving Pinky all the attention. But she has been acting normal. She is in the main coop with Fluffy. Fluffy doesn't show any symptoms.
Brownie's right eye. Odd shape pupil.
I then went to check on Pinky's (the sick chicken) eye (why I hadn't thought of checking her eyes earlier..) and I found that although her pupils are round shape, the edge is quite blurry and there is a gray ring around it.
Pinky eye. Blurry pupil with gray ring around it. She has this on both eyes.
Now I don't know what to do. Please help!! Is this definitely Marek? or it could be something else?
Pinky seems to be getting better, scratching in the garden, eating and drinking (though not much). She loves sweet corn but hasn't shown much enthusiasm with pellets. Her walking is also getting better. She doesn't lay any egg so far.
Brownie and Fluffy are in the same coop, laying 1 egg each everyday and haven't shown any other obvious symptoms that I can see. In case they have Marek, if I separate Fluffy now (she's the only one haven't got anything abnormal), would I be able to save her? Or is she already infected but not showing anything out yet? Brownie seems to be eating less than Fluffy. I just went out to check on them, fed them some grapes and cat dry biscuits. Brownie ate less than Fluffy and when I checked their crops, Brownie crop seemed quite empty. There was also a wet poop I don't know from which one. Color looks quite normal but it was wet, could it be diarreah?..
This all seems very weird to me as the girls are at least 1 and a half year old, may be even nearly 2 years old, so they seem old enough not to catch Marek? However I don't think they was vaccinated. I really need some guidance please.. what should I do from here? What is the best thing I can do for them?
I also would like to ask, if this is Marek, would it affect CATS? I have 2 cats and they like hanging out with the chickens! (even drink water out of the same bowl sometimes). I would really like to keep them safe from harm..
Thank you all very much!! Since the start of 2015, this ordeal has been stressing me out to the max. I just wish they were all well and healthy
I have 3 brown shavers: Pinky, Brownie & Fluffy. They have been with me for over a year now. They are my first chickens and I love them.
3 weeks ago, Pinky stopped eating and was kind of lifeless. I thought she had a sour crop (which felt watery) so I separated her from the flock and treated her with Clotrimazole (similar to what is in Monistat), syringe fed yoghurt, water and she got better after a week. The week after that she seemed fine, I let her out to the garden to scratch for a few hours a day. She didn't produce any egg. She was still separated.
Last week, she was sitting down all the time, tail down, excessively groomed herself and pulled her feathers out. Also one morning out of the blue, she started walking with a limp and started standing with only her left leg. I found this weird long poo in her coop that morning and even though the coop seemed secure, I thought some animals/rodents? might had got in and scared her, which led to the limping leg (I'm now not sure if it was other animal's poo or her poo and if it is related to her sickness). Here is a photo.
Is it possible for a chicken poo to be this long?
Her right leg seemed very weak and didn't hold much strength. Sometimes I also felt like she shivered a little although the weather has been hot (summer here in New Zealand). Tail down when standing and sitting. She still ate and drank a little. I thought she had worms/mites so I set up another spot for her in the garden (still by herself). I then sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth all over this coop and herself and treated her for worms with Aviverm. That was earlier this week. This is now Sunday and she seemed better for the last 2 days, walking around and scratching in the garden. Tail has also came pointing back up although she still has it down sometimes. I let her free range almost the whole day. She is separated from the other 2 chickens by a fence.
Yesterday, I noticed Brownie's right eye is abnormal. The pupil is not round!!! Scared the hell out of me I immediately thought of Marek. I'm not sure how long has her eye been like this as I was giving Pinky all the attention. But she has been acting normal. She is in the main coop with Fluffy. Fluffy doesn't show any symptoms.
Brownie's right eye. Odd shape pupil.
I then went to check on Pinky's (the sick chicken) eye (why I hadn't thought of checking her eyes earlier..) and I found that although her pupils are round shape, the edge is quite blurry and there is a gray ring around it.
Pinky eye. Blurry pupil with gray ring around it. She has this on both eyes.
Now I don't know what to do. Please help!! Is this definitely Marek? or it could be something else?
Pinky seems to be getting better, scratching in the garden, eating and drinking (though not much). She loves sweet corn but hasn't shown much enthusiasm with pellets. Her walking is also getting better. She doesn't lay any egg so far.
Brownie and Fluffy are in the same coop, laying 1 egg each everyday and haven't shown any other obvious symptoms that I can see. In case they have Marek, if I separate Fluffy now (she's the only one haven't got anything abnormal), would I be able to save her? Or is she already infected but not showing anything out yet? Brownie seems to be eating less than Fluffy. I just went out to check on them, fed them some grapes and cat dry biscuits. Brownie ate less than Fluffy and when I checked their crops, Brownie crop seemed quite empty. There was also a wet poop I don't know from which one. Color looks quite normal but it was wet, could it be diarreah?..
This all seems very weird to me as the girls are at least 1 and a half year old, may be even nearly 2 years old, so they seem old enough not to catch Marek? However I don't think they was vaccinated. I really need some guidance please.. what should I do from here? What is the best thing I can do for them?
I also would like to ask, if this is Marek, would it affect CATS? I have 2 cats and they like hanging out with the chickens! (even drink water out of the same bowl sometimes). I would really like to keep them safe from harm..
Thank you all very much!! Since the start of 2015, this ordeal has been stressing me out to the max. I just wish they were all well and healthy
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