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

[Nambroth]

I also save feathers from the birds I leave for necropsy. I personally save a few to frame with a photo, as I like to remember them. My vet does it (advanced avian necropsy) in house (she sends samples to labs for testing, which most state vets do anyhow) so I have the option for cremation, etc, should I wish. Last time I wrapped my hen up and brought her home to bury her; the knowledge that she is recycled back into the earth was more settling for me. We used to jokingly call her a 'mud chicken' because she was careless about getting filthy, so it seemed fitting. We miss her.

 

[KAT Bird]

I also save feathers from the birds I leave for necropsy. I personally save a few to frame with a photo, as I like to remember them. My vet does it (advanced avian necropsy) in house (she sends samples to labs for testing, which most state vets do anyhow) so I have the option for cremation, etc, should I wish. Last time I wrapped my hen up and brought her home to bury her; the knowledge that she is recycled back into the earth was more settling for me. We used to jokingly call her a 'mud chicken' because she was careless about getting filthy, so it seemed fitting. We miss her.

I saved some feathers as well. I have been keeping them in my jewelry box but I like the idea of putting them in a frame with a photo. Thanks for sharing that idea.

 

[mightymax]

Hi again all of you!
Somehow I knew you'd all be here when I returned...lol !!!

I'm sure you all know that old saying...'when life throws you lemons...make lemonade'. Well, do you ever jump out of bed in the morning and say to yourself, "Self, since life
has been kind enough to keep dumping these here mountains of lemons on me...I think I'll just go ahead and make me some lemonade !!! Can any of you see yourself
doing that ???.........................................................................Yeah,...me neither...lol !!! But what I can see myself doing is taking all those lemons, squeezing the piss out of
them, pouring the juice into a rocket launcher and then just sitting back and waiting! Because when 'Life' comes around again to deliver me some more lemons (and you
know he will), I'll be ready for him this time and I'll be aiming straight at him, an eye for an eye...lol !!!

Well I guess you just had to be there. In my mind, that is. Because that lemon-in-the-eye scenario I just wrote about, was a whole lot funnier when it was just an undeveloped
stream of consciousness rolling around in my brain !!! Can't win them all, I guess!

So I've got Miss Pear-Pear all packed and ready to go on her trip this Monday afternoon! But until then, if anybody who doesn't know me (and maybe even some who do),
opened up the spare fridge in the garage, they'd be calling me in a long overdue reservation for the next available rubber room at the local Funny Farm (straight jackets optional,
of course) because somewhere in between the bottles of assorted antibiotics, the numerous nondescript brown bags containing 'the next big thing' in home remedies
and the copious numbers of Romaine lettuce heads, there sits on a shelf all alone, a perfectly packaged, with the up most of respect, a little white box with a one way address.
I don't ever recall Pear-Pear distinctly saying that she wanted to go Tulare someday, but I know she always wanted to go to medical school, and since the lab there is affiliated
with UC Davis...well, anyway, you get my point, right? I don't think she'd be upset that I'm sending her there, it could be worse (couldn't it?) !!! LOL !!!

We've all said our Goodbyes...
Not one person dry eyed.
It's so hard to lose you, I called you a friend...
But please Pear-Pear please...
please know in the end...
when we do meet again...
our hearts...they will mend...

Good Night Pear-Pear !!!

-kim-

P.S. You haven't even left yet and I already miss you !!! RIP always my little feathered friend.

 

[schnebbles]

I'm so sorry I've lost all of my original chickens and even a vaccinated one. It's awful and there are no words to describe the devastation it can cause. This forum was a lifesaver for me.

I currently have only vaccinated girls who were older when I got them. I hope they all do well.

 

[Nambroth]

@KAT Bird , I am having a giant brain fart. You may have already told us, but-- where in upstate NY are you? (only curious, because a lot of people call anywhere that isn't NYC "upstate" lol)

 

[seminolewind]

@KAT Bird , I am having a giant brain fart. You may have already told us, but-- where in upstate NY are you? (only curious, because a lot of people call anywhere that isn't NYC "upstate" lol)

Or out on the Island

 

[seminolewind]

We've all said our Goodbyes...
Not one person dry eyed.
It's so hard to lose you, I called you a friend...
But please Pear-Pear please...
please know in the end...
when we do meet again...
our hearts...they will mend...

Good Night Pear-Pear !!!

-kim-



Very sweet and well said.

Most people think that chickens are worthless. Well my last dear little feathered friends were of much importance and I hope they know that they were so important to me that they got sent to a lab. I don't think a chicken does a more important job than that!

 

[seminolewind]

I've had a skinny vaccinated Polish hen who's 3 years old and was sleeping all day. I took her and she had been wormed 2x, I put her in a hutch with a heat lamp and gave her a course of Sulfadimethoxine and Tylan for 5 days. In that 5 days she really chowed down and got special treats and layer feed mush. She's back out now in her pen and actually clucks for food! She is like a different chicken.

You know how we all get desparate and try anything when we feel they are suffering from Marek's wasting or something related to immunosuppression. From my last 3 necropsies, I had worms, cocci, e.coli, enteritis , etc. There's also a bacteria (clostridium) that causes sub clinical enteritis that is chronic and causes wasting, but responds best to Tylan. I treated for all of these and she is 100% better. It will be something I will try from now on because the necropsies were all Marek's negative, but immunosuppression secondary to Marek's may have let opportunistic bacteria or cocci grow out of control.

Maybe it's something to think about. It will be my last ditch effort to see if the wasting I've had here can be fixed. Who knows.

 

[Suzie]

mightymax...

I just read your post and the wonderful poem...

Pear-Pear is one of those that we shall never forget..she is.etched in our hearts too! She will help future chickens and that is a wonderful accolade...thanks to her and you maybe one day we will be free from the dreaded Marek's....

I am blubbing right now in my glass of wine...salt tears in wine are an acquired taste...

( By the way it is evening here...I don't drink alcohol all day....)

Take care...

Suzie

 

[mightymax]

Thanks again to all of you who offered unwavering support and sympathetic words for my most recent encounter with Marek's.
Although it didn't end well for Pear-Pear, perhaps her very short life will have more meaning to all of us once we get the necropsy results back from the Lab.
I dropped her off at FedEx this afternoon and right now I guess she's on a bus headed for Tulare, CA. Hope she doesn't miss her stop...lol !!!
I either have to laugh at my really stupid little jokes or else I'd just be crying all the time right now. Why does it seem that these things always happen around
the Holidays? I just found out today that my grandma (who practically raised me along with her 4 younger children (my mom's siblings) who were 10 years older than me, while my mom worked and my dad went to war) is probably not going to live out the rest of the month. They say she hasn't eaten anything in the last several days and that you can hear the fluid gurgle in her lungs when she breaths without a stethoscope. That's muy no bueno. If Pear-Pear's necropsy goes like Snowy's did, I should probably have the results before Thanksgiving (yes, for all you doubting Thomas's out there...of this year !!!). Anyway, as soon as I get them I'll let you all know!
Thanks Everybody!
You're great!

Until next time...

-kim-


@seminolewind ...
...have any your birds tested positive for Marek's? I know that 3 tested negative, but how many positive? Just curious! Thanks!