I have a flock of 75+ chickens ages 3 years to 7 - 8 weeks. July 28th I noticed one of our Salmon Faverolle hens was swollen under her left eye and watery eye discharge. No sneezing or coughing, no nasal discharge but was rubbing face on neck.
She did have a small yellow piece of something under the third eyelid that I did eventually get out 4 days later. I tried treating her eye with antibiotic eye ointment, the swelling did slightly better but did not go away. It is still there. She is not worse, it is still only the left eye. She is the only one with this issue other than Buckshot the Sussex pullet.
Early September, one of my 6 month old Speckled Sussex pullets, Buckshot, developed a pea sized lump in front of her right eye, between her eye and nostril. I was hoping it was from one of the older birds pecking her since she was lower in the ranking. I noticed it one night at roost time, it was about the size of a half pea. The next day it was twice as big then it double in size once more. It got no worse, but she became lethargic and didn't want to eat or drink, febrile, panting. I isolated her and kept offering her all the yummy stuff they usually like, but she lost so much weight. Soaked chick crumble, yogurt and soaked crumble, yogurt and scratch, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, instant mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, canned fruit. My husband started hand feeding her pieces of bread soaked in lard or gravy and that at least got her started again. I started her on Tylan 50 0.5ml intramuscularly for 5 days alternating breast muscles. I put her back in the coop after the swelling went down, she stopped panting and she was eating and drinking on her own. 4 days later, my husband found her standing by herself near the shed. All huddled up, weak. He offered her water, which she drank a lot of. He also gave her a bowl of chick crumbles. We isolated her again just so she could get her own food and water easily.
2nd day of food cage isolation, I came home from work and checked on her. She was standing in the cage panting again *sigh* But she got a drink and finished off her chick crumbles. I went down to the shed to get her more chick crumbles, scratch grains, BOSS and her SavAChick electrolyte powder. I came back up and she was resting in the cage. Initially I thought nothing of it until I talked to her and she didn't move. Then I realized she wasn't just laying down, she was dying. She was on her side, mouth open, head tucked tightly to her chest, unresponsive. Buckshot was dying and there was nothing more I could do for her but speed her passing. I ran in the house with the bird and asked my husband for his really sharp knife. I made sure to only cut her jugular veins so I could send her away. I apologized to her, and held her as she died. I immediately put her in a bag, in a cardboard box and in the fridge as it was a Thursday and I would not be able to send her out to have a necropsy done until Monday.
I sent her out Monday and received a phone call from the vet at the diagnostic medicine center at Penn State on Tuesday. Buckshot died because of massive tumors on her liver. The lump near her eye was also a mass. She had other masses as well but all I could hear was tumors of her liver. She couldn't breath well because her liver was so large that it was pressing on her air sacs and she just couldn't breath. She still had testing to do for exact cause of tumors but they appeared to be tumors caused by Marek's. She was testing for other causes of disease as well, parasites, mycoplasma etc. Awaiting final report. She recommended if I get anymore chicks that I get them vaccinated. I was expecting Mycoplasma or some other respiratory disease... I was not expecting Marek's.
I still have many pages of this thread to read.
My plans for selling excess pullets from our mixes and getting dark brahma breeding stock are ruined.
my bantam cochin is a little sick too, congested. This is very, very depressing. As you know.
My Mcmurray birds are remarkably unaffected thus far from the suspected mareks. I got 16 in Feb. and brooded them indoors. They didn't go to the coop with the big girls until 3 months old due to the cold night temps. And then another month on their side seperated for their safety before I mearged them all. I had no rooster then, but the 3 teenagers. They have been the healthiest birds I've had in 3 years of chicken keeping. I was going to try My Pet chicken this spring, as they have true Americauna now and I really want blue eggs. But now, unless they use the exact vaccines as McMurray,I'll have to give up my blue layers. Especially at $20 a chick. I wanted to get Cream Legbar but have since read they and Silkies are especially prone to mareks. I know McMurray vacinated birds work in my flock. I have not lost one and they are now 7 months old. Geez, I hope I don't regret typing this.
