Mystery rooster illness- coccidiosis? Botulism? Vitamin deficiency?

[Cib]

Hi all, we are looking for insight on what might be ailing our rooster. He is 15 weeks old, mixed breed (maybe some Araucana?) part of a flock of 17 (he’s our only male) purchased from a hatchery this spring. I don’t think he was vaccinated but I can’t remember for sure. We have had chickens in the past, but started fresh this year after having some mysterious issues last fall with some adult birds we bought locally. Coop was empty all winter, cleaned out this spring, diatomaceous earth applied, fresh bedding, etc.
Our new birds have all been healthy until this issue with the rooster. On the 6th we let the flock out to free range as we do most afternoons and as he was running out with the rest he appeared to stumble and then struggled to get up. He did some somersaults and sort of flopped around before we isolated him from the others. We did some research and checked for other symptoms before deciding to treat for coccidiosis. We did a week long treatment of Corid and saw some improvement in his ability to move his legs and wings, but he still won’t stand. He’s been isolated from the others who are all still healthy so I don’t think it’s Mareks. He eats and drinks and has normal poops. We have been dealing with flystrike with him the last few days, which I think is a secondary issue caused by him not moving around and us struggling to keep his backside clean all the time. We started him on a liquid vitamin in his water yesterday and he seems to like it. Eyes look normal, skin looks normal, no obvious signs of injury or inflammation or mites. Any ideas? We have been amazed at how long he’s held on so far with only minor improvements in his condition. I’ve read a few threads on here with some similar issues, but none that match exactly, or they don’t follow up with results. Would love some insight or advice.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi all, we are looking for insight on what might be ailing our rooster. He is 15 weeks old, mixed breed (maybe some Araucana?) part of a flock of 17 (he’s our only male) purchased from a hatchery this spring. I don’t think he was vaccinated but I can’t remember for sure. We have had chickens in the past, but started fresh this year after having some mysterious issues last fall with some adult birds we bought locally. Coop was empty all winter, cleaned out this spring, diatomaceous earth applied, fresh bedding, etc.
Our new birds have all been healthy until this issue with the rooster. On the 6th we let the flock out to free range as we do most afternoons and as he was running out with the rest he appeared to stumble and then struggled to get up. He did some somersaults and sort of flopped around before we isolated him from the others. We did some research and checked for other symptoms before deciding to treat for coccidiosis. We did a week long treatment of Corid and saw some improvement in his ability to move his legs and wings, but he still won’t stand. He’s been isolated from the others who are all still healthy so I don’t think it’s Mareks. He eats and drinks and has normal poops. We have been dealing with flystrike with him the last few days, which I think is a secondary issue caused by him not moving around and us struggling to keep his backside clean all the time. We started him on a liquid vitamin in his water yesterday and he seems to like it. Eyes look normal, skin looks normal, no obvious signs of injury or inflammation or mites. Any ideas? We have been amazed at how long he’s held on so far with only minor improvements in his condition. I’ve read a few threads on here with some similar issues, but none that match exactly, or they don’t follow up with results. Would love some insight or advice.

"he appeared to stumble and then struggled to get up. He did some somersaults and sort of flopped around before we isolated him from the others."
That doesn't sound like any symptoms of coccidiosis I've seen or heard of.
A 15 week old bird should already have acquired resistance to coccidia unless he is new to your property and encountered a species he had not come into contact with before.
Marek's is the most likely event.
Just because your other birds aren't affected doesn't matter. Many birds are resistant or immune to Marek's.
Other common possibilities are infectious bursal disease, sudden death syndrome or osteopetrosis.
There are many other possibilities but are rarer like cryptosporidiosis, algae poisoning, tapeworm or fowl tick.

I would be ready to send him for a necropsy to your state poultry lab. What state are you in?

 

[Cib]

"he appeared to stumble and then struggled to get up. He did some somersaults and sort of flopped around before we isolated him from the others."
That doesn't sound like any symptoms of coccidiosis I've seen or heard of.
A 15 week old bird should already have acquired resistance to coccidia unless he is new to your property and encountered a species he had not come into contact with before.
Marek's is the most likely event.
Just because your other birds aren't affected doesn't matter. Many birds are resistant or immune to Marek's.
Other common possibilities are infectious bursal disease, sudden death syndrome or osteopetrosis.
There are many other possibilities but are rarer like cryptosporidiosis, algae poisoning, tapeworm or fowl tick.

I would be ready to send him for a necropsy to your state poultry lab. What state are you in?

Thanks for the reply. I have come back to Mareks a few times, but have been confused by the lack of others symptoms, specifically in terms of his eyes and skin. I also expected to see others in the flock show symptoms if it was Mareks; I didn’t realize that they could be immune. A brief search of your other suggests doesn’t prompt any “aha” response so I will look further into Mareks and how best to keep our hens safe from it. Fingers crossed nobody else falls ill!
We are in New York State.

 

[Cib]

Just checked our order receipt and confirmed that our chicks should have been vaccinated for Mareks. My research says that it is possible that he could have contracted a particularly virulent strain. I wonder how likely that is compared to it being something else entirely. If it is a virulent strain of Mareks I wonder how worried we should be about our other birds. I realize folks in this forum can’t necessarily give definitive answers to these questions but I wonder if others have similar experiences.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I must say that in all my long life, I've never experienced Mareks in my birds. But here is what I know from teaching chicken classes.
A few things to consider. Not every vaccination is successful because the injection misses the mark, especially with bantams. And it isn't foolproof. About 5% of vaccinated birds get the disease anyway.
There are 4 different forms of Marek's. The cutaneous (skin form), nerve form, ocular (eye form) and visceral (internal organ form). Not all birds get all forms and mostly only one affects them.
I would definitely be ready to send a bird to your state poultry lab for necropsy and diagnosis.
At least then you'll know how to proceed. If he dies, refrigerate him. (double bag him) or just send him right off. Most labs will send a FedEx label for shipping. Label the box as biological test samples.
I usually keep a small box lined with pieces of 1" foam board. That way I can drop it in the box and ship it. I keep some freezer packs frozen and will put one in the box with the bird.
What state are you in?

How did you get a mixed breed from a hatchery?

 

[Cib]

I must say that in all my long life, I've never experienced Mareks in my birds. But here is what I know from teaching chicken classes.
A few things to consider. Not every vaccination is successful because the injection misses the mark, especially with bantams. And it isn't foolproof. About 5% of vaccinated birds get the disease anyway.
There are 4 different forms of Marek's. The cutaneous (skin form), nerve form, ocular (eye form) and visceral (internal organ form). Not all birds get all forms and mostly only one affects them.
I would definitely be ready to send a bird to your state poultry lab for necropsy and diagnosis.
At least then you'll know how to proceed. If he dies, refrigerate him. (double bag him) or just send him right off. Most labs will send a FedEx label for shipping. Label the box as biological test samples.
I usually keep a small box lined with pieces of 1" foam board. That way I can drop it in the box and ship it. I keep some freezer packs frozen and will put one in the box with the bird.
What state are you in?

How did you get a mixed breed from a hatchery?

Thank you very much for your reply. I have done a lot more research on Mareks today than I had previously. Obviously I had some misconceptions about it (thinking that neurological symptoms would necessarily be concurrent with ocular, etc.). It’s a complicated disease from what I can tell! My husband is still not convinced that it’s what we are seeing and doesn’t want to off him while he’s showing signs of improvement. We agreed that we can’t continue to nurse him at this level forever, but I guess we’ll keep it up a little longer since he doesn’t seem in distress.
I did look into where to send him for necropsy if it comes to that and it seems Cornell is the only place in New York State, which is surprising. Luckily we live a short drive away so wouldn’t need to ship him, but I think they’ll only test animals that are sent from a vet.
We got our birds from Cackle Hatchery and ordered their “Rainbow Assortment”. We have been able to identify some breeds, but also have some that seem like crosses to get Easter eggers or olive eggers. My guess is he’s an olive egger rooster, but who knows!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I know that in Canada they only accept samples that are sent by vets but I don't think that is true here.
Cornell is a good choice. Excellent vet school. Have you called them?

Animal Health Diagnostic Center
College of Vet Med, Cornell University
240 Farrier Road Ithaca
New York 14853-8002
Phone: 607-253-3900

If it is that close, considering his condition I'd probably hand carry the bird there. They will humanely euthanize and get busy with it.

I've hand carried live birds to the Mizzou vet school a couple times and shipped dead birds.
Once I dropped a live bird off at midnight, Friday night on a holiday weekend. They always have someone on call. Turned out, that bird had cancer so that put her out of her misery.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Could he have had a stroke, or seizure.
Like heat stroke maybe?