Need Help to Determine Death of Hen

[dorkings]

I am looking for answers for a sad end. We have a flock of 7 months old Chickens. We got them as day olds they were vaccinated for merrk’s as chicks before we got them. We had a hen that looked a bit off Sat. morning so I brought her in the house she ate and seemed to bounce back within hours so we put her back in the coop that night. Sunday morning she looked fine, by the afternoon again she was lethargic so we brought her back in the house. She had parrot green and white diarrhea so I took a stool sample to the vet to check for coccidiosis and the test came back negative, but we treated her with sulmet. She went off food and water so Monday and Tue I used a dropper and gave her sugar water, water with amoxicillin and Pedi lite every hour per the vets recommendation. She also would swallow pellet feed when I put it in her mouth. The diarrhea stopped by Monday afternoon. Regrettably this very nice girl died Wednesday morning seizing. It was very hard to do but I cut her open looking for some answers. I don’t know what an internal laying hen looks like. Below are some pictures. Her liver, gizzard and heart looked good.

Can anyone help? Thank you in advance

 

[SteveBaz]

Classic Marek's disease causes paralysis of one or more limbs. It attacks nerve primarily Signs of difficulty breathing or dilation of the crop may occur. Besides lesions in the peripheral nerves, there are frequently tumors on or in the skin, skeletal muscle, & organs. Organs that are commonly affected include the ovary, spleen, liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, and adrenal glands. Cancer of the chicken; NOT contagious to humans. Cause tumors in nerves (paralysis), in liver, ovaries, testicles, muscles and skin - sudden death. Mortality can go to 20%. No treatment; prevention by day old vaccination at hatchery.

Just bc it was not marek's does not mean she could not die of other easy causes. We have so many different breeds now. It could be respiratory, heart, intestinal or other crazy things. You have 7 and 1 out of 7 seems like a high % of anything other than the luck of the draw. Sorry about your girl. Best of luck.

 

[dorkings]

Thank you Steve for your input. It is safe to say we can rule out marek's. She did not appear to have any respiratory issues. The chickens are 7 months old and we have 15 of them.