Out of my small flock of 8, 2 are sick. YIKES!

[Goldwingnut]

Sick Chick #1

I have a VERY LETHARGIC 9 month old Bielefelder pullet that has been separated in a dog crate inside our house for almost a month. She's getting worse, and now she won't eat. I suspected a large parasite load, since while I was holding her on my lap, a couple of tiny critters were seen on my arm. They were kinda auburn in color, and about a third the size of a flea.... maybe smaller. A couple of times I have seen her open her mouth in a gaping kind of way...but she's not panting, and it isnt regular, or very often.

There's no sign of a respiratory illness as I understand it. A few Ivermectin drops (Durvet pour-on) on her skin seems to have fixed the external parasites.

She also acts like she is half blind. I saw her wander off right into a metal building once, then pulled the plug on letting her run with the others. She was sleeping on the ground in the coop.

I'm only 2 years into chicken keeping, but Gapeworm has entered my mind, so I've administered some Panacure (Fenbendazole) but only last night. It might make a difference, but its too soon I think. She will NOT eat as I stated, but will drink a little water.

They've always LOVED the ADM Scratch Grains and for a while she would eat a little of that. Now, nothing at all. She's skin & bones at this point, 4 weeks this coming Monday.

I'm force feeding her some raw egg yolk through a syringe, because I'm out of ideas. This one is NOT going to end well, I fear....

Hobbs will miss her.

Sick Chick #2

ALSO...I've watched one of my 9 month old Black Australorpe Pullets doing some limping for several days, and is obviously not feeling well. She is lagging behind the others to snack parties.

She's increasingly isolating herself, although she roosts with the others. And she goes to bed with the others at dusk. But she is the last to go inside if I need to coax them in early with scratch grains, Boon Worms, or Mealworms... for whatever reason.

But today, I saw her gaping her mouth a small amount, but very rhythmically, every few seconds.

I'm pretty bummed. She's a little messy in her vent area. But she's reluctant to be handled.

Are these two problems connected? If so, does it appear to be parasite related?

I can't seem to upload an MP4 video of the sick Australorpe.

 

[amarsano]

Are they vaccinated for Marek’s?

 

[Goldwingnut]

Don't know. This Bielefelder batch were hatchery chicks that I purchased from a farm show type of event. The Australorpes were from Atwoods.

I'm planning to hatch my next chicks like I did 2 years ago. None of those were vaccinated.

Do the symptoms sound like Marek's?

 

[amarsano]

It could be. I had no issues with Marek’s until I bought from a hatchery that doesn’t do vaccinations. I’ve been steadily losing them to wasting and lymphoma caused by Marek's. I have a couple that have lost sight from Marek’s and several that have limping, which is a classic sign of a tumor on the leg nerve.
I have had issues with gapeworm before and I used ivermectin first then flubenzadole. That got rid of the gapeworm. Since your girl is showing problems that are outside of the standard gapeworm issues I would suspect something else. None of mice showed respiratory symptoms, just the neural and ocular issues.
As for the little bugs, those were mites. Ivermectin takes them out pretty quickly. I prefer to use electrasol PSP, but it’s not been above freezing here for a while, and I certainly can’t make the birds wet in this weather.
Sadly, without a vaccine there is nothing you can do about Marek’s. Everyone in the flock is considered to have it once symptoms are showing for one. Some people choose to breed for resistance, but that’s not proven to work. The vaccine doesn’t prevent the illness, it simply prevents symptoms (tumors) from the virus. It isn’t 100% effective, either, but I have had good success with the vaccinated birds, so far.
If you plan to expand your flock, I would say to have them vaccinated, but that’s just my opinion and you should do what feels right to you. I will continue to add to my flock despite the Marek’s, but I won’t send any anywhere else.
I assume you’ve tried giving her eggs. Mine always love them and if they won’t eat them, I know they’re not in good shape. Plus a high parasitic load that’s enough to get her to stop eating is likely to send worms into the eggs. You can always run a fecal float if you have a microscope and that will give you an idea of the parasitic load.

 

[Goldwingnut]

Ok. Now, I do think this IS likely Marek's. But I can't see driving 4-5 hours round trip, and dropping $105.00 for a necropsy....a process that will undoubtedly "put me on a list" that I do not wish to be put on.

I've thought about trying it myself. A necropsy, I mean. My own DIY version, with surgical gloves, of course.

I can't really do a blood test. But I can probably obvious recognize tumors if they exist. I think I've gutted and processed enough chickens to maybe see something that's obvious???

Is this as horribly stupid of an idea as it seemed to me at first??

Also, if there happens to be an excessive parasite load, I might be able to see it. Like Gapeworms in an airway.

Tell me I'm nuts, that's okay. But just maybe I'm not....

 

[amarsano]

Ok. Now, I do think this IS likely Marek's. But I can't see driving 4-5 hours round trip, and dropping $105.00 for a necropsy....a process that will undoubtedly "put me on a list" that I do not wish to be put on.

I've thought about trying it myself. A necropsy, I mean. My own DIY version, with surgical gloves, of course.

I can't really do a blood test. But I can probably obvious recognize tumors if they exist. I think I've gutted and processed enough chickens to maybe see something that's obvious???

Is this as horribly stupid of an idea as it seemed to me at first??

Also, if there happens to be an excessive parasite load, I might be able to see it. Like Gapeworms in an airway.

Tell me I'm nuts, that's okay. But just maybe I'm not....

That's not nuts! I just did one on my roo that died Monday. Unfortunately, I can't tell, without a histopathology, if it's MD or AL. He had some many small hemorrhagic tumors. You should be able to tell pretty easily if you've processed birds before. I did find a website that shows some photos from necropsies. It's bitchinchickens.com and the poultrysite.com.
I can send photos of my birds necropsy when I get home.
Sorry you have to do all this and lose your babies.

 

[Goldwingnut]

What is AI? <late edit> nevermind, I found it. Avian Influenza.

I assume MD in this context is Marek's Disease.

Yep. I've watched some Necropsy videos now. Thanks for the encouragement, @amarsano

Gulp. Time to do some unpleasant duties, to find out what I'm up against.

Backyardchickens.com truly is a great place! This thread was helpful:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/necropsy-planning.1571935/

 

[Goldwingnut]

Yep. It's Marek's.

I sent off 2 pullets for testing, a Bielefelder and a Black Australorpe, both 9 months old. I'm not sure why they stopped short of doing an actual PCR test (or is it PRC?) because it seemed like that was available from what the report said.... but all the findings are consistent with Marek's Disease.

So now what?

I like to incubate and hatch my own chicks, but vaccinating them in small batches seems prohibitively expensive. And vaccinating a broody gal's offspring is next to impossible.

At least it isn't Avian Influenza.

I'm a bit bummed, but I love this hobby.

 

[amarsano]

Yep. It's Marek's.

I sent off 2 pullets for testing, a Bielefelder and a Black Australorpe, both 9 months old. I'm not sure why they stopped short of doing an actual PCR test (or is it PRC?) because it seemed like that was available from what the report said.... but all the findings are consistent with Marek's Disease.

So now what?

I like to incubate and hatch my own chicks, but vaccinating them in small batches seems prohibitively expensive. And vaccinating a broody gal's offspring is next to impossible.

At least it isn't Avian Influenza.

I'm a bit bummed, but I love this hobby.

I'm so sorry! If I incubate my eggs, I wipe them to try to eliminate dander. I also buy the vaccine. It's a bit pricey with shipping, but it's worked for me in the past. A vial is needed for each batch, though. I have had some hatch under broody and they haven't had symptoms yet. It's a roll of the dice, though.
I'm not giving up my hobby, but I also keep hoping that this will fade as the flock has some resistance built in. And I plan to continually have only vaccinated birds come in.