Hi. I'm so sorry to hear that you have another bird showing symptoms. Unfortunately silkies are particularly prone to the disease, if that's what it is.
It is very difficult to say for sure of course but if it is Marek's then that is most likely what she has too. I broody reared 56 chicks the year before last and only 3 came down with it and one of those, a pekin cockerel (bantam cochin)made a full recovery from the outbreak, so I can assure you that it is not all doom and gloom by any means but there are more virulent strains and milder ones and I believe I have a milder one. Mostly if affects adolescent birds, so if they get past the 1 year mark they are less likely to suffer from it, but may still be a carrier. I breed from birds that survive as they are more likely to be resistant or have stronger immune systems. I have had older birds come down with it but it is less common or they have survived an attack when younger. I lost one last year that had a dropped wing as an adolescent and then fully recovered after a few weeks but had a second attack at 2 years old. She battled it for months with supportive care but sadly her quality of life deteriorated and I had to end it for her. I had a 4 year old start with it a few months ago, she staggered and hobbled for few weeks and whilst she wasn't really bad I was toying with euthanizing because she was a bird that I inherited from my neighbour and was not overly attached to her and not a good layer and the others were picking on her. I decided to let her out of the pen and free range in the garden since it was autumn and not much was spoiling and she came good after a few weeks of not being harassed by her coop mates and having access to grass. Being free range also seemed to boost her self confidence when the others were penned and she has now been back in the pen a couple of months and you cannot tell she has had it. She holds her own in the flock and has just come back into lay.
The good news as regards Mark's is that it is not passed down in the egg, so you can potentially still sell hatching eggs, if that's what it is, but obviously chicks would pose a significant risk.
If you are doing the necropsy yourself, cut away or pluck the abdominal feathers, lay the carcass on it's back and pinch the flesh just below the rib cage. Make an incision across the abdomen into the pinched flesh. You are least likely to cut into the intestines at that point. Once you are through into the abdominal cavity carefully cut down from each end of that cross incision towards the hip joint on each side to make an abdominal flap that you can pull down and expose the intestines and use pruning shears to cut upwards through the rib cage on either side to expose the thoracic area where the liver heart, lungs and gizzard are. If you work carefully you should not break into any organs and there should be very little mess or smell. The lungs are tucked into the rib cage (literally embedded in it at the back, so the liver heart and digestive tract needs to be lifted out to access them, but take photos of them in situ and then removed. The gonads will be in that vicinity too.... they look like little white beans. I try to spread the digestive tract out with it's associated network of connective tissue and blood vessels and I palpitate it and sometimes cut into it if I feel what may be round worms.... I do that last as it is the smelliest and most unpleasant part.... not always necessary to establish cause of death but useful to know if your flock may be harbouring a worm infestation and need treatment.
Have you processed a chicken before..... if so, you will be familiar with the layout and should be able to spot abnormalities.
There are You Tube tutorial videos which demonstrate doing a necropsy on a chicken but they tend to be much more detailed than is usually necessary, if you have an idea of what you are looking for like with this guy. I try to keep it as simple as possible, otherwise the process becomes too daunting to even start, but if you feel you want to follow the processes in these videos then feel free to be as thorough as you can.
Tumours can look like white fatty material or sometimes flesh coloured but almost eggy looking when you cut into them.
There are a few threads here on BYC where we post photos of our necropsies and it might be useful for you to look at some of those, to give you an idea of what you will be looking at..... I'll find one and link it....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ning-contains-graphic-necropsy-photos.823961/
It is very difficult to say for sure of course but if it is Marek's then that is most likely what she has too. I broody reared 56 chicks the year before last and only 3 came down with it and one of those, a pekin cockerel (bantam cochin)made a full recovery from the outbreak, so I can assure you that it is not all doom and gloom by any means but there are more virulent strains and milder ones and I believe I have a milder one. Mostly if affects adolescent birds, so if they get past the 1 year mark they are less likely to suffer from it, but may still be a carrier. I breed from birds that survive as they are more likely to be resistant or have stronger immune systems. I have had older birds come down with it but it is less common or they have survived an attack when younger. I lost one last year that had a dropped wing as an adolescent and then fully recovered after a few weeks but had a second attack at 2 years old. She battled it for months with supportive care but sadly her quality of life deteriorated and I had to end it for her. I had a 4 year old start with it a few months ago, she staggered and hobbled for few weeks and whilst she wasn't really bad I was toying with euthanizing because she was a bird that I inherited from my neighbour and was not overly attached to her and not a good layer and the others were picking on her. I decided to let her out of the pen and free range in the garden since it was autumn and not much was spoiling and she came good after a few weeks of not being harassed by her coop mates and having access to grass. Being free range also seemed to boost her self confidence when the others were penned and she has now been back in the pen a couple of months and you cannot tell she has had it. She holds her own in the flock and has just come back into lay.
The good news as regards Mark's is that it is not passed down in the egg, so you can potentially still sell hatching eggs, if that's what it is, but obviously chicks would pose a significant risk.
If you are doing the necropsy yourself, cut away or pluck the abdominal feathers, lay the carcass on it's back and pinch the flesh just below the rib cage. Make an incision across the abdomen into the pinched flesh. You are least likely to cut into the intestines at that point. Once you are through into the abdominal cavity carefully cut down from each end of that cross incision towards the hip joint on each side to make an abdominal flap that you can pull down and expose the intestines and use pruning shears to cut upwards through the rib cage on either side to expose the thoracic area where the liver heart, lungs and gizzard are. If you work carefully you should not break into any organs and there should be very little mess or smell. The lungs are tucked into the rib cage (literally embedded in it at the back, so the liver heart and digestive tract needs to be lifted out to access them, but take photos of them in situ and then removed. The gonads will be in that vicinity too.... they look like little white beans. I try to spread the digestive tract out with it's associated network of connective tissue and blood vessels and I palpitate it and sometimes cut into it if I feel what may be round worms.... I do that last as it is the smelliest and most unpleasant part.... not always necessary to establish cause of death but useful to know if your flock may be harbouring a worm infestation and need treatment.
Have you processed a chicken before..... if so, you will be familiar with the layout and should be able to spot abnormalities.
There are You Tube tutorial videos which demonstrate doing a necropsy on a chicken but they tend to be much more detailed than is usually necessary, if you have an idea of what you are looking for like with this guy. I try to keep it as simple as possible, otherwise the process becomes too daunting to even start, but if you feel you want to follow the processes in these videos then feel free to be as thorough as you can.
Tumours can look like white fatty material or sometimes flesh coloured but almost eggy looking when you cut into them.
There are a few threads here on BYC where we post photos of our necropsies and it might be useful for you to look at some of those, to give you an idea of what you will be looking at..... I'll find one and link it....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ning-contains-graphic-necropsy-photos.823961/
I know how much courage and strength of character it takes to end it for them, especially when you have had to care for them so closely.... I have had it many times with birds from my own flock. Young lives that never got a chance to reach their potential due to a horrible disease.
