Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[ochochicas]

Thanks for the feedback both of you! I'm trying to stay hopeful. I lost one baby from this batch, but she was my least favorite so it wasn't as hard somehow. The chick with the weird eyes is one of the favorites! Then there is another pullet that seems a little on the "slow" side and she is one of my favorites, too. All of my chicks from now on will be VACCINATED so at least I'll know I've done all I can and hopefully avoid some losses.

 

[Nambroth]

Opinions on my pullet's eyes? She's 18 weeks. Sister died from Marek's.

I have seen eyes like that in dark colored birds (my cochins especially), and they eventually "clean up" and look normal. It could be Marek's, but keep your chin up, it might not be!!

 

[casportpony]

Opinions on my pullet's eyes? She's 18 weeks. Sister died from Marek's.

Right side


Left side

Thanks for sharing. Hope you don't mind, but I forwarded the pictures to my pathologist and he asked if she had been vaccinated for Marek's?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Just read another post of yours which sort of implies that she was not vaccinated.

-Kathy

 

[lalaland]

I know what you mean about losing chicks. I had one with a grey eye. Then I had a roo that was about 2 years old and I just noticed one day that one of his pupils was oval, not round. He wasted away and died.

So I wonder if it can be different types of things.

I know this isn't a great pic, but it is of a grey eyed hen - she and her sister had the same eyes this fall. I sacrificed the sister and sent her off for testing, she came back with a negative mareks....The hen I still have with the one greyed out eye is doing great. Just another example of an eye issue that wasn't mareks!

 

[casportpony]

I got another one that doesn't look long for this world

. He's been walking funny for several weeks, though not like they usually do, and I noticed he was straining to poop, very much like an egg bound he, so I checked the inside of his vent and I'm pretty sure I can feel tumors. Additionally, his crop had not cleared yesterdays feeding. His eyes also look funny. Not much to do, right? Decided to worm him with both fenbendazole and ivermectin, treat him for coccidiosis with Baycox and tubed 120ml of pedialyte. Weight before tubing was 2.8kg.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Can you take new pictures of both eyes?

-Kathy

 

[ochochicas]

No, my pullet is not vaccinated. I think it was the right eye that started with the funny coloration about 3 - 4 weeks ago. When I checked her again yesterday it is now both eyes. Her pupils still respond to light and she eats and runs around normally.


One of the other sisters is sick now. Not really showing any specific Marek's signs, just won't eat. I've been tubing her water and corid, plus hand feeding her. She has lost a lot of weight already and does not look better, I guess I'll give her until the end of the week. I hate to see them suffer and die on their own. As hard as it is, I'd rather end it for them.

 

[casportpony]

So sorry... The one that already died, did you have a necropsy done on it?

-Kathy

 

[ochochicas]

I had 20 chicks from that batch ( all hatched in an incubator and went out to live in a horse stall at 6 weeks) They are 18 weeks old now. I gave nine boys away before I knew they had been exposed to Marek's.

I had an older pullet start limping and get sick. In January I had a pullet from the batch of 20 start limping. Over a 3 week period she progressively got worse so I took them both in for necropsy and Marek's was confirmed in both of them. They were full of tumors (in different organs) and had sciatic nerve degeneration. That leaves me with 10 chicks from that hatch - two cockerels and eight pullets. One pullet has the weird eyes, one is sick/not eating, and the other 8 are normal. The people I gave the other birds to said no one is showing signs of illness. It seems like I'm just going to sit here all spring and watch them drop one by one.

So sorry... The one that already died, did you have a necropsy done on it?

-Kathy