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

[ochochicas]

Quote:

...and I've used it on myself after that...

-kim-

You are both comedians! DH likes to self-medicate, so we have tons of vodka around the house.

 

[seminolewind]

Sometimes with sick chickens the only thing left to do is self medicate!

 

[casportpony]

Looks like I have a rooster with the visceral form...

Anyway. can you guys and gals take a look at this thread?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/961881/informal-survey-what-do-you-feed-and-why

Really could use some input from this group.

-Kathy

 

[lalaland]

well dang it. Have you guys ever heard of salpingitus? It is a bacterial infection in the oviduct that produces cheeselike pus globs that sometimes get encapsulated in egg shell, sometimes not, and are laid by the hen. Usually fatal in a year or so.

I was posting on another thread about a weird egg like thing hanging out of the vent in a pullet that just started laying. It was semi-soft shelled, a little longer than a little finger, wiggly shaped, and I only noticed it because the hen was trying to expel it and was standing in a weird posture. I picked her up, gently pulled it out of her and almost immediately another hen jumped, grabbed the thing and ran off with it. I never saw it again after that. In the few seconds I had it in my hand, I had the impression that there had been eggwhite material inside but that it had been squeezed out of it.
SHe had a very dirty backside - I think she just couldnt get the danged thing out. it was about the diameter of a little finger, too.

anyway, someone posted that it might be salpingitus, which on a websearch comes off as the most common cause of death of laying hens! related to a respiratory infection (?) and starts with a variety of ecoli working its way up the oviduct.

sigh. immune compromised? shoot. I'll keep my fingers crossed it is just a pullet having some beginning laying mechanism glitches, but really. I am missing the peaceful early days of early chickenkeeping I had for so many years. the last y ear or two it has been one thing after another. it is discouraging!

 

[ochochicas]

I am missing the peaceful early days of early chickenkeeping I had for so many years. the last y ear or two it has been one thing after another. it is discouraging!

I'm feeling the same way, but I'm hoping the worst is over for me. I did lose one adult hen that was a year old, but none of her sisters are showing any signs of illness. All of my chicks from now on will be vaccinated, so hopefully that will reduce my losses.

Currently I'm keeping an eye on three sick pullets. One I'm pretty sure has Marek's and will have to be put down. One has an impacted crop that could be Marek's but I'm not 100% certain. The third is her sister and doesn't want to eat. The last two are doing a bit better, so I'm still hopeful.

Every once in a while the pullets will lay a strange egg like you described. I don't think it means she has salpingitis. If it happens repeatedly you might want to investigate it further. I had a hen lay an egg like you described, but it only happened once and didn't happen again. Wishing you luck!

 

[mightymax]

@casportpony ...You say that you have a rooster with the visceral form of MD? If I may ask, how could you tell if he's still alive? I was under the (possibly incorrect)
impression that the visceral form could really only be determined through a necropsy since the evidence of it are tumors located on the internal organs of the bird.
I'm not trying to be insensitive or a smart-*** or anything

, this question is merely for the sake of my own edification.

And as long as I'm on the road to perhaps pissing people off...

@lalaland ...Could your hen possibly have worms? I only ask because I know that worms (roundworms, I believe) can occasionally make their way up the oviduct and make themselves at home there, and have even been known to bore their way through the shell of an egg, only to be observed after cracking. Icky, I know, but just another option to consider versus attributing it soley to MD.
Just an thought...IDK !!!

-kim-

 

[ochochicas]

@casportpony ...You say that you have a rooster with the visceral form of MD? If I may ask, how could you tell if he's still alive? I was under the (possibly incorrect)
impression that the visceral form could really only be determined through a necropsy since the evidence of it are tumors located on the internal organs of the bird.

My first hen that died had the visceral form that involved tumors in many of her organs, but they also spread to her muscle. She had a large mass in her pectoral muscle that you could easily feel with your fingers.

Not saying this is the same case as the rooster, but could be.

 

[lalaland]

And as long as I'm on the road to perhaps pissing people off...

@lalaland ...Could your hen possibly have worms? I only ask because I know that worms (roundworms, I believe) can occasionally make their way up the oviduct and make themselves at home there, and have even been known to bore their way through the shell of an egg, only to be observed after cracking. Icky, I know, but just another option to consider versus attributing it soley to MD.
Just an thought...IDK !!!

-kim-

nah to the pissing off! I don't think she has worms because they were dewormed last fall. Anything is possible though - She is of a good weight, looking/acting well....I'll keep an eye on her. I'm ordering molly's herbal worming formula which I have used before to start them on now that its spring. Well, almost spring, it snowed today but got to plan ahead.

 

[mightymax]

@ochochicas ...You're right. My bad. I totally forgot about it migrating to the muscles !!!

I even had a hen die from that form. She had an outwardly protruding tumor on her right pectoral muscle !!!

I must still be asleep...lol !!! Thanks and my apologies to casportpony...

-kim-

 

[casportpony]

@casportpony ...You say that you have a rooster with the visceral form of MD? If I may ask, how could you tell if he's still alive? I was under the (possibly incorrect)
impression that the visceral form could really only be determined through a necropsy since the evidence of it are tumors located on the internal organs of the bird.
I'm not trying to be insensitive or a smart-*** or anything

, this question is merely for the sake of my own edification.

And as long as I'm on the road to perhaps pissing people off...

@lalaland ...Could your hen possibly have worms? I only ask because I know that worms (roundworms, I believe) can occasionally make their way up the oviduct and make themselves at home there, and have even been known to bore their way through the shell of an egg, only to be observed after cracking. Icky, I know, but just another option to consider versus attributing it soley to MD.
Just an thought...IDK !!!

-kim-

He's dead now, but he had the ocular and cutaneous forms and was wasting away. I didn't necropsy him, but I had another just like him that was loaded with internal tumors.

-Kathy