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

[seminolewind]

****. I have a little 8 month old cream legbar pullet that was hatched last spring - unvaccinated . Her two sibs both died of mareks (one necropsy, one a guess). Been thinking she might be a little "off" lately because she has been hanging out in the coop - but so have others with this variable weather. I've noticed that if I come in the coop and the other chickens leave, she goes to the waterer drinks and drinks and drinks. I've picked her up and hand fed her a couple of times, again feeling that she isn't standing up for herself to muscle her way into the feeders (multiple feeders).

so today, she is up on the shelf in that puffed out position. When she flew down to the floor she started high stepping. High stepping seems to me to be a mareks symptom followed in a couple of weeks by death. damnation.

and now I am wondering whether picking her up and hand feeding her is adding to her stress, stress=mareks outbreak.

It's very hard to make all the decisions to give a pullet a better chance to fight off Marek's. Bottom line is you do the best you can . If she is going to die of Marek's, then she will. I think of it as out of my hands if they live or die, and I try to do what I can to help them fight it. Most times it does not work. I call what you have a no win situation. Handling vs starving.

I had a rooster who started to get opportunistic ailments , 3 years old. He got dry pox real bad , then he got bumble foot after bumble foot and he was skin and bones. I had a choice of continuously cutting and digging into his feet, or euthanizing him, which I did, because I felt it was better than further torture. No win situation.

 

[lalaland]

thanks.

the worst thing is that I think it is likely 95% chance that she has mareks flaring up....and then when they show symptoms I've read that they are actively shedding the virus. so some say to quickly cull to stop the shedding. but...I only saw her high stepping for a few steps...then normal, what if she was just stepping over the hay?

so I second guess myself. It will be a few days before I can observer her for more than a few minutes.

 

[seminolewind]

I have separated, I have left unseparated. I've not seen a difference. I heard symptomatic birds shed more virus, but I hear a lot of things.
I hope she keeps improving.

 

[seminolewind]

Here's my preliminary Lab Necropsy Report



Associated Parties Owner, Submitter: Karen Fletcher
Purpose of Test Diagnostic-Necropsy
Animal Information Buff Orpington Hen ; Chicken - Orpington; Female; 1 Years; 1.36 kg
History Printed Found dead in pen. Other chickens appear well.
Pending Tests Test: Virology Send Out ( Test to be Performed at TVMDL ) Number of specimens in which test results are pending: 1 Test: Molecular Biology Avian Influenza Matrix RRT-PCR Number of specimens in which test results are pending: 1 Test: Molecular Biology Avian Paramyxovirus-1 (APMV-1) Matrix RRT-PCR Number of specimens in which test results are pending: 1 Lab Findings
*All Testing done at BADDL unless otherwise indicated
Necropsy Specimen Test Name Buff Orpington Hen - AVIAN - Chicken - Orpington - Female - 1 Years Animal-Dead - 1 Gross Exam Poultry (N.GEP) Clinical history as per submitter: found dead in pen. Other chickens appear well. Marek’s vaccinated. Marek’s exposed.
Submitted to necropsy was the carcass of a one-year-old, female Buff Orpington hen that weighted 1.36 kg. No external lesions were noticed. The quality of the feathers was fair, body condition was judged to be somewhat thin, the pectoral muscle mass was of poor condition. The crop, esophagus, oropharynx did not show any lesions. The lungs were somewhat congested and heavy.
Page 1 of 2 - Preliminary (2/26/2015)

- Bronson Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory - Accession No: K1502313
Necropsy Specimen Test Name The pericardial sac of the heart and air sacs in general were thickened and slightly opaque. The coelomic cavity was swollen and inflamed. The intestinal omentum and serosal surfaces in general of gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, , kidneys, spleen, and reproductive tract were markedly thickened and effaced due to thick multinodular and grayish-while plaques and plastrons of what grossly appeared to correspond to neoplastic proliferation. The liver was congested while periportal regions were markedly and diffusely delimited by thick, grayish – white material congregated in rings. Spleen was enlarged and swollen. At cut surface the tissue depicted pinpoint whitish-gray nodules. The kidneys were markedly enlarged and appeared like amorphous masses of yellowish-gray tissue. Brain and peripheral nerves did not show any obvious lesions.
GROSS MORPHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSES: Carcinomatosis VS sarcomatosis. Coelomic linings, chronic, severe, generalized. Systemic neoplastic infiltration, ( kidneys, spleen, liver, lungs) most likely lympho-proliferative, chronic, severe.
COMMENTS: Gross lesions are strongly suggestive of Marek’s or avian leukosis disease. Ancillary testing in progress. As per your approval representative tissues will be sent out to a contract laboratory for the purposes of Marek’s PCR analysis.
Bulletin(s) Effective December 19, 2014 we are no longer performing Drug Screening or Toxicology analyses. Please contact us at (321) 697-1499 with any question.
In response to industry requests, the BADDL is now offering real-time PCR assay for the detection of equine EHV-1 and EHV-4. For more information on sample collection, submission, cost and turnaround time, please visit the laboratory main web page

 

[lalaland]

sad reading. thank you for posting it, though. poor baby.

 

[lalaland]

the little cream legbar pullet is doing pretty good - comb is a little paler than I would like to see but the top edges are frostbit so I might be misled - such a tiny comb to start with doesn't leave much room with the frostbit tip for the comb color. So maybe I didn't see what I thought I was seeing, or maybe it will devleop more in the coming weeks.

ALmost 6 months since the first mareks diagnosis so I am thinking the strain I have in the flocks is less virulent . 21 in the flock, with 3 deaths in 6 months that were mareks (i necropsy, 2 assumed). Everyone is looking good, the older hens (5 and 6 years) do not look as vigorous as the younger ones but perhaps that is an age thing. These are the oldest hens I've had so I don't know what aging looks like in chickens!

 

[seminolewind]

It felt like if there's a break it was high up. So we went to the vet. He's very nice and only charges me for a visit and that's it. He said it's very broke. He splinted it by folding the leg up to the body and wrapped it onto the side of her body. He said 4 weeks like that and some weeks after that because of the way the leg is positioned. She's drinking a lot. I just hope she eats well. I made her an egg. It's a good feeling to feel it's not Marek's-for once.

So, it's been a week and she's still drinking a lot. Today I found out that she is crazy for white rice! We had Chinese food and nobody eats the white rice.

I changed her bandage yesterday and she was panting. So I gave her an aspirin. She must feel good today because she laid another egg!

 

[mightymax]

@seminolewind ... it's good to hear how well she's doing !!! Especially after just reading your post that contained your buff orph's necropsey report. I'm so sorry about that one, but very happy to hear about this one. And what's this you say about Chinese food...nobody eats the white rice ??? Well, you must be speaking of only the people in your household because in our house we love it sooo much that we gave it a new name. We call it 'Mama Kim's Sticky Whicky White Wice' and it's Whunderful...lol !!! (I guess I know where I'll be sitting if I
ever come over to eat Chinese food at your house

...with the chickens

!!!)

wa'n an...

or as we like to say in Ye Ole U. S. of A....

Goodnight John-Boy... (what can I say, I just couldn't resist !!!)

-kim-

 

[Sonya9]

Today I found out that she is crazy for white rice! We had Chinese food and nobody eats the white rice.

LOL....yup my Marek's bird is crazy for white rice too. It doesn't have much nutrition but mixed with other things, or a dish with rice on top gets her eating.

It is warming up here (will hit 75 thurday...so they say) so she is spending most of the day in the chicken run with a small fence around her keeping the others away. I have noticed when she is out on the grass she will eat most anything that i spread on the ground for her. She would turn up her nose at chicken food in a dish but if it is on the ground she gobbles it up.

Not sure if it is because it is more fun to eat it off the ground or because the other birds are always at her fence wanting her food too (even though they have the same thing in other dishes, of course somebody else's food always looks better than what they have in front of them).

 

[seminolewind]

Sonya, I've always believed one thing. If they are not eating or not eating enough, I will give them whatever they like and as much as they like. Calories are important. She eats a piece of bread in the morning. I put a sprinkle of vits and electrolytes in her water.