Chickstarrs
Crowing
I am very discouraged. I had plans for my chickens that now seem dead. 
I just started with my flock this spring. I had plans to build my little flock with certain breeds, then close it and raise my own chicks. I wanted colourful eggs; for my family, to sell and to donate to charitable groups like Women’s House, local soup kitchens and food banks. I planned to re-home any extra roosters or have them processed for the freezer.
COVID has made things very difficult. There were no chickens available from hatcheries (and they didn’t have the breeds I was looking for anyway). There were choices on line from home breeders. So I purchased from 4 different sources. 3 mixed breed laying hens, 4 Australorp day-old chicks, 4 one week old EE’s (which turned out to be barnyard mixes), and 2 legbar pullets chicks that were 3 weeks old. Everything was going great and I loved having my chickens.
Then one of the legbars decided to roost in the nesting box. I put her on the roost and didn’t think much more about it until the next day. I had to put her on the roost again but she fell right off and couldn’t seem to walk properly. I thought maybe she was hurt so I checked her out and let her stay in the nest box. Well the next day she could not walk at all. I put her in a box and moved her to the garage. She got worse from there, unable to control most of her body. She hung on for a couple more days until I decided that was enough and my husband put her down. 2 weeks later, one of the Australorp pullets started limping and sitting back on her haunches. Shoot! But she never got any worse and kept up with the others while free ranging and was able to roost.
After a week my husband came in one morning to say that one of the chickens died overnight. I was sure it was that pullet, but it was the Australorp cockerel. He was fine the night before and then just dead on the coop floor in the morning. The other chickens were all putting up quite a fuss about it. There were no injuries on him. Interestingly, my Australorp pullet has been walking better the last few days.
Fast forward another week and my other legbar wobbles.
. She did not decline quite as quickly as the first but was definitely going the same direction. I separated her. When she got to the point where both legs were not moving, I called the vet. They put her down and sent her for a necropsy. The news came yesterday, Marek’s. She also had coccidiosis. So I started treating with Amprolium today.
I tried to do everything right with advice from BYC and other sources. I keep my coop clean, much cleaner than many others I have seen. I fed all my chicks medicated starter for the first few months. They get fresh water and food everyday. They have plenty of room.
Just one of those things?
So now I am wondering what will happen with my plans. My two blue egg layers are gone. Are certain breeds more susceptible to Marek’s? Am I limited to buying vaccinated chicks, which means I am also limited to what breeds are available? (it is very limited in my part of Canada) That also gets expensive and then having to use the brooder every time. I was really looking forward to hatching my own chicks with broodies. There’s nothing like watching a mother hen doting over her chicks. What do I do with excess roosters? (apparently the only processing place has a year waiting list!) We are not set up to process them ourselves, and I am not sure I could do it.
Sorry for the lengthy post. Just frustrated and discouraged.
I just started with my flock this spring. I had plans to build my little flock with certain breeds, then close it and raise my own chicks. I wanted colourful eggs; for my family, to sell and to donate to charitable groups like Women’s House, local soup kitchens and food banks. I planned to re-home any extra roosters or have them processed for the freezer.
COVID has made things very difficult. There were no chickens available from hatcheries (and they didn’t have the breeds I was looking for anyway). There were choices on line from home breeders. So I purchased from 4 different sources. 3 mixed breed laying hens, 4 Australorp day-old chicks, 4 one week old EE’s (which turned out to be barnyard mixes), and 2 legbar pullets chicks that were 3 weeks old. Everything was going great and I loved having my chickens.
Then one of the legbars decided to roost in the nesting box. I put her on the roost and didn’t think much more about it until the next day. I had to put her on the roost again but she fell right off and couldn’t seem to walk properly. I thought maybe she was hurt so I checked her out and let her stay in the nest box. Well the next day she could not walk at all. I put her in a box and moved her to the garage. She got worse from there, unable to control most of her body. She hung on for a couple more days until I decided that was enough and my husband put her down. 2 weeks later, one of the Australorp pullets started limping and sitting back on her haunches. Shoot! But she never got any worse and kept up with the others while free ranging and was able to roost.
After a week my husband came in one morning to say that one of the chickens died overnight. I was sure it was that pullet, but it was the Australorp cockerel. He was fine the night before and then just dead on the coop floor in the morning. The other chickens were all putting up quite a fuss about it. There were no injuries on him. Interestingly, my Australorp pullet has been walking better the last few days.
Fast forward another week and my other legbar wobbles.
. She did not decline quite as quickly as the first but was definitely going the same direction. I separated her. When she got to the point where both legs were not moving, I called the vet. They put her down and sent her for a necropsy. The news came yesterday, Marek’s. She also had coccidiosis. So I started treating with Amprolium today.I tried to do everything right with advice from BYC and other sources. I keep my coop clean, much cleaner than many others I have seen. I fed all my chicks medicated starter for the first few months. They get fresh water and food everyday. They have plenty of room.
Just one of those things?
So now I am wondering what will happen with my plans. My two blue egg layers are gone.
Are certain breeds more susceptible to Marek’s? Am I limited to buying vaccinated chicks, which means I am also limited to what breeds are available? (it is very limited in my part of Canada) That also gets expensive and then having to use the brooder every time. I was really looking forward to hatching my own chicks with broodies. There’s nothing like watching a mother hen doting over her chicks. What do I do with excess roosters? (apparently the only processing place has a year waiting list!) We are not set up to process them ourselves, and I am not sure I could do it.Sorry for the lengthy post. Just frustrated and discouraged.
