Lost my first chicken :( Could I have saved her? (2nd try)

[Fluffy_Butt]

Mareks.

Okay...and as I've asked twice now, what would i do if i were? What lead you to think that? Were any of the symptoms (aside from the limp) I listed indicative of Mareks? Does digestion stop with Mareks?

 

[azygous]

Let's go back to the original symptom - lameness. Lameness is like an intersection in a road that takes off in five different directions. It can lead to completely different destinations. Marek's is such a common poultry disease, it's natural to think of it first. Okay. That's one road.

Let me say right up front that in thirteen years of chicken keeping, I've learned a lot about a lot of chicken woes, but when it comes to lameness, I'm still in the dark most of the time. In fact, I have a thread going right now on my own chicken with undiagnosed lameness. Lameness has so many causes, and it's one of the most common ailments afflicting chickens, but it's about as easy to figure out as why people choose the politics they do.

Lameness can be caused by viruses, bacteria, injuries, mold, insecticides, exposure to petroleum distillates such as transmission fluid and paint thinner, poisonous plants. This past spring, I lost two chicks to a poisonous caterpillar, for gawdsakes, beginning with lameness.

I'm leaning toward a toxin exposure as the cause of your little Silkie's death. The reason for my suspicion is the very short duration between onset of symptoms and death. Viruses and bacteria and injuries would all likely have caused a much longer period of suffering before death mercifully ended it.

All chicken deaths have possible implications for the surviving chickens, and it's always wise to try to track down the cause in order to remove it so other chickens don't suffer the same fate.

What I suggest is you take this time in quarantine with your kids to comb the yard where the Silkie had been ranging prior to your discovering her under that tree. Look for anything connected to the things I listed as toxins that cause lameness. I had a young chick die suddenly at my feet, following several hens turning up lame. It took me several days of going around and around and back and forth over the yard searching for the source of a possible toxin to finally spot my log splitter leaking hydraulic fluid onto the ground where I'd last seen that chick picking up grit under it.

It had never occurred to me that the oily mess on the ground under the splitter could kill a chicken.

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

The gizzard is normally quite firm, so I don't know if what you're describing as 'rock hard' is abnormal or not. Were there any lesions present in the gizzard?

Edited to add: It seems to me like some kind of poisoning or impacted crop...the latter because of the discharge from her mouth. Sorry you had this happen.

 

[LaFleche]

I am sorry you lost your beloved Silkie.

• On which side was she limping, right or left leg?
• Did she already lay? If so, when did she lay the last egg and how did it look?
• When opening up her body, did you see any egg yolks in different stages of development?
• When standing alone, was her tail pointing downwards?
• Did she have a rather laboured breathing?
• When did you last deworm?
• Was her body cavity filled with fluids? If so, were these fluids rather clear or yellowish?
• What did her liver look like? Did you see any whitish spots on it or was it yellowish?

If you still have her body you could send it in for testing, maybe just to get reassurance about the lingering 'Mareks' thought.

 

[LaFleche]

but I did just get covid

Take care of yourself and your family and try not to stress too much about the death of your Silkie. There is nothing you can do for her anymore and it is important for your own recovery to focus on your own wellbeing.

 

[Painted Calls]

Were your birds vaccinated for Marek's?

I've lost my entire flock in the last 6 months. 75% showed sudden lameness that progressed to curled toes, to paralysis. Most also were accompanied by a sort of crop stasis. Two more so than the rest. I tube fed, bought all kinds of meds to treat all the other things that went wrong, etc.

@casportpony can tell you the time and effort I've put into my birds over the last year.

I sent my closest girl to the state lab. Came back "likely Marek's".

I know you don't want to hear Marek's, but that is immediately what it sounds like. The lameness and the crop issue. I sent my girl off in September. Virus (Covid) was still prevalent. I wore a mask to drop her off. Keep an eye on the rest of your flock. If you experience any more symptoms similar to your first girl - get a state necropsy done.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. With Mareks disease, there will sometimes be tiny tumors along the surface of the intestines, liver, or other organs. The liver may have a speckled appearance. Tumors can be found in the gizzard or crop, but those mayy be less obvious. Hopefully, your pullet died of something else, not Mareks, but it would be hard to know without testing. RAL lab in Texas can test for Mareks by sending in some blood serum according to their instructions for around $20. So if any others show symptoms in the future, this might be something that you might want to do by contacting them. Here is contact info:
http://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf

 

[Fluffy_Butt]

Let's go back to the original symptom - lameness. Lameness is like an intersection in a road that takes off in five different directions. It can lead to completely different destinations. Marek's is such a common poultry disease, it's natural to think of it first. Okay. That's one road.

Let me say right up front that in thirteen years of chicken keeping, I've learned a lot about a lot of chicken woes, but when it comes to lameness, I'm still in the dark most of the time. In fact, I have a thread going right now on my own chicken with undiagnosed lameness. Lameness has so many causes, and it's one of the most common ailments afflicting chickens, but it's about as easy to figure out as why people choose the politics they do.

Lameness can be caused by viruses, bacteria, injuries, mold, insecticides, exposure to petroleum distillates such as transmission fluid and paint thinner, poisonous plants. This past spring, I lost two chicks to a poisonous caterpillar, for gawdsakes, beginning with lameness.

I'm leaning toward a toxin exposure as the cause of your little Silkie's death. The reason for my suspicion is the very short duration between onset of symptoms and death. Viruses and bacteria and injuries would all likely have caused a much longer period of suffering before death mercifully ended it.

All chicken deaths have possible implications for the surviving chickens, and it's always wise to try to track down the cause in order to remove it so other chickens don't suffer the same fate.

What I suggest is you take this time in quarantine with your kids to comb the yard where the Silkie had been ranging prior to your discovering her under that tree. Look for anything connected to the things I listed as toxins that cause lameness. I had a young chick die suddenly at my feet, following several hens turning up lame. It took me several days of going around and around and back and forth over the yard searching for the source of a possible toxin to finally spot my log splitter leaking hydraulic fluid onto the ground where I'd last seen that chick picking up grit under it.

It had never occurred to me that the oily mess on the ground under the splitter could kill a chicken.

Thank you, this was incredibly insightful! I'm sorry for your losses but very much appreciate the opportunity to learn from your experiences. I agree that toxin exposure sounds likely. We very recently moved and we did out best to set up an existing pole building as a coop, but it was priorly used as a workshop and I spent two days cleaning everything from glass shards and holiday decor, to shelves full of chemicals (the guy had quite the collection he was "kind" enough to leave). In the end we laid a few inches of sand over the whole floor (not an easy feet since the building is huge) in hopes of hiding anything we missed. I definitely need to do another (or many) comb through the inside and outside though. Yikes! At least I've got a few more days until I'm back to work.

 

[Fluffy_Butt]

I am sorry you lost your beloved Silkie.

• On which side was she limping, right or left leg?
• Did she already lay? If so, when did she lay the last egg and how did it look?
• When opening up her body, did you see any egg yolks in different stages of development?
• When standing alone, was her tail pointing downwards?
• Did she have a rather laboured breathing?
• When did you last deworm?
• Was her body cavity filled with fluids? If so, were these fluids rather clear or yellowish?
• What did her liver look like? Did you see any whitish spots on it or was it yellowish?

If you still have her body you could send it in for testing, maybe just to get reassurance about the lingering 'Mareks' thought.

Thank you!

• On which side was she limping, right or left leg?:

left

• Did she already lay? If so, when did she lay the last egg and how did it look?:

She hadn't laid yet

• When opening up her body, did you see any egg yolks in different stages of development?

No, no evidence of egg or yolk

• When standing alone, was her tail pointing downwards?

I'm sorry, I don't recall.

• Did she have a rather laboured breathing?:

no, no respiratory distress at all

• When did you last deworm?

two weeks ago (no evidence that anyone actually has/had worms though)

• Was her body cavity filled with fluids? If so, were these fluids rather clear or yellowish?

There was a bit (not much, certainly not filled) of a yellowish fluid)

• What did her liver look like? Did you see any whitish spots on it or was it yellowish?

It looked pink and healthy (my novice self thought they were the lungs at first), no spots

 

[azygous]

Good luck to you on this. I learned the hard way that you can't cover up bad things and think chickens won't bother to dig very deep.

Years ago, I disposed of moldy, rotting squash in my compost pile, digging all the way down to the bottom, dumping it, then pulling about eighteen inches of good compost over it. In spring, as everything was thawing, my new Cream Legbar pullets, being master excavators, managed to uncover the rancid compost and ate it. One dead pullet in under 24 hours and a week later, another very sick pullet that I managed to save by noticing the symptoms early. Now, I no longer put anything rotten or moldy in the compost.

You would not believe how many chickens I've lost due to ridiculous ignorance. And that chickens seem to always be on a quest to find things that will kill them doesn't help matters.