New Jersey

[chickobsessed]

Oh boy, not to happy about the cold either. Not completely prepared! ! I need to seal up some drafty eves on the coops. I opened them up for the summer.

 

[mame1616]

Do you wrap the whole outside? I've wrapped under the coop only for my three ducks. They really need their own pen but since they get along with the chickens they can stay.

I get a big plastic tarp - 6 mil thick - and wrap all the way around to the people door. One big sheet. Between the crack in the door jam and the chicken door, that allows for enough ventilation to prevent dampness. Spent the day working on someone else's coop, ironically!

 

[zach N houdan]

Champion Waterfowl- Black Musocvy Hen
Reserve Champion Waterfowl-Blue Musocvy Pullet
Champion Large fowl and Super Grand Champion of the Show - Blue Sumatra C

This past weekend at the Middlesex Co 4H Poultry Show!

Here is a pic of my Sumatra that won BIS

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

Sumatra Cocks always look with elegancy.

 

[samboni]

Hi, I'm pretty certain my 9 month old easter egger has Mareks. She can't walk at all. The other hens (naturally!) pecked her head before I found her, and since Friday she has been in my spare bedroom in a dog crate. I treated her wounds with blu-cote. At first she ate the layer pellets and scratch I offered her but she is now refusing all food. (I tried scrambled egg but she refused that as well.) She dips her beak in water but doesn't really drink. She has pooped a few times, normal looking, but messy since she can't stand up but generally seems weak and tired. Her comb was gray when I first found her but it pinked up once she was warm.

Any suggestions? I have a (ahem!) $90 vet visit scheduled for 2pm today (exam plus euthanize).... I can't kill her myself, but she is paralyzed and can't live in my house.

The rest of my flock of 6 is doing fine. No symptoms. They were all vaccinated at the hatchery so this seems to be just bad luck.

Does the state here do free necropsy? I really don't want to pay $90 to have her put down but don't want her suffering either.

I'm in Cherry Hill....

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

If she was vaccinated, it probably is not mareks. Mareks vaccination is pretty effective. I'm thinking she may be suffering from a vitamin deficiency. I would ask your vet about it. Frequently vitamin E (and vit B I think, not quite sure) deficiency can cause marek's like symptoms. Also, trauma is always a possible differential in these sorts of things.

If it is in fact vitamin E deficiency, it can often be treated by administering vit E supplement. Here is a good article for you to read about it.

http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/node/600

I've been learning that although a lot of people tend think mareks is a chick disease, it actually manifests from about 4-7 months and is often misdiagnosed. A lot of times you see chickens affected around laying age. I've been doing more research about it and it is fascinating.

I wish you the best of luck. It may be worth trying to administer some vitamin E and B before trying the vet and if that doesn't help then go the euthanasia route.

I'm not sure about necropsy, but there is a poultry health diagnostics center is Trenton. I'm sure you could call and find out.

 

[samboni]

Thank you for your suggestions. MUCH appreciated! If if is a vitamin deficiency, what do you recommend for dosing? (Can just buy them at tractor supply, right? Or give polyvisol kid vitamins?)

I've been reading about vitamin deficiencies - and it could be that- so maybe I'll hold off on the culling but keep the exam appt. And give her vitamins. She is normally a very active bird and happy to eat just about anything but she has stopped eating. I've offered all the good stuff! She hasn't laid any eggs in a week or two, but out of the 7 total, only one hen is laying now anyway. I've felt her for a stuck egg, but don't feel anything. She normally "talks" all the time, and is now much quieter.

They get a lot of fresh vegetables and their layer pellets BUT I have one fairly dominant hen who does chase off the others from the food and treats. I also read about aflatoxin poisoning (from the scratch grains I give as a treat before closing them up at night), but none of my other birds have any symptoms.... maybe I'll toss the scratch and get more?

I need to look closely at her eyes - that is another Marek's symptom. I have read that the vaccination is only good on that strain - and like flu, it mutates. Hence my concern.

OH, and NJ Dept of Ag will do necropsies, but they charge $61. After paying for the vet exam ($45) and putting her down ($45), not sure I want another bill.... I called my dog vet and they won't even see hens. I called two other vets and the first was $90 and the second $120 for exam/cull. And neither of them see chickens regularly. Mostly "exotic" birds....Staff recommended I take her to U of Pennsylavania vet school, which isn't far, but seems excessive.

 

[chickymom52]

I did not even know that my chicks could be vaccinated I live in Gibbsboro are there vets nearby for my chicks?

 

[samboni]

Well, you can buy a Marek vaccination on line. I read that today here on BYC. If you buy from a hatchery you can request they vaccinate. I'd do it just in case.

Our hen didn't have Marek's according to the vet. She had a traumatic back injury he thought, that caused the paralysis - she weighed 6 lbs even though she hadn't eaten for 4 days so her weight might have been contributory. It is possible one of the other hens attacked her, or she hurt herself leaping from the roost. Who knows? Our dog vet doesn't see chickens, so we took our hen to VCA Maple Shade Animal Hospital to see Dr David Heller. He was very good with her and was very kind to us (my kids went since they had a half day at school). We all cried a lot. She was a very popular hen at our house. She would follow us around clucking and murmuring and would investigate everything. She was always peering in the windows at us.

They put her down. They charged less than they quoted on the phone, and it was worth it this time. Dr. Heller seemed to know birds (it is part of his specialty) and treated our hen with a lot of respect as did his nurse/vet tech. Very nice people.

Even though I swore that she was "just a chicken", we are all very sad.

 

[chickengirl1193]

I'm so sorry for your loss at least your family can be happy that she had a great life in your care and you didn't let her suffer. she was a very lucky hen