Outbreak!!! Bulging eye and unable to walk

[Aunt Angus]

We took him to the vet this afternoon. They put him down and will be sending his body for a necropsy at Iowa state tomorrow morning. I should get the results in a few days.

I'm so sorry.... But now you will know what you're dealing with so you can better help your flock. What a long sad situation.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We took him to the vet this afternoon. They put him down and will be sending his body for a necropsy at Iowa state tomorrow morning. I should get the results in a few days.

I'm sorry about your cockerel.

Please let us know what you find out.

 

[tombraider23]

The necropsy came back. That poor baby had so much wrong with him! It did come back as mareks. So doing a bunch of research. His brain was swollen his internal organs had lesions and 3X their size and he had lymphoma through out his whole body. He wasn’t showing any signs up until the day before.
Thank you all for your help and knowledge

 

[coach723]

I'm so sorry about your cockerel. There is a good article here, my journey was similar:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-i-learned-to-deal-with-mareks-disease.76944/
I also have Marek's in my flock, I decided to try to breed for resistance. That is a years long endeavor, and I'm a long time from any conclusions on that. So far it's manageable for me, I could change my mind at any time. There are many articles on Marek's. My personal experience is that symptoms can vary greatly depending on the strain you are dealing with, and each birds immune system. I've not had the progressive paralysis that so many articles talk about, at least not yet (going on 3 years). I've had mostly occular symptoms, with some with visceral tumors. Some have taken years to progress, some have shown no symptoms until they get ill and pass within a few days. Those are the ones that I find tumors in. I've lost young birds and old. I still have birds in the 7 - 8 year old range that are still symptom free.
What I'm trying to say, is that the literature is great for learning, but your personal experience may diverge from that, at least sometimes. One of the worst parts of Marek's is that it can compromise the immune system leaving them open to other things.
But it can be manageable, it just really depends on your own philosophy on keeping them and what you are willing to deal with. Sorry you are dealing with it, and I wish you the best, whatever you decide going forward.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The necropsy came back. That poor baby had so much wrong with him! It did come back as mareks. So doing a bunch of research. His brain was swollen his internal organs had lesions and 3X their size and he had lymphoma through out his whole body. He wasn’t showing any signs up until the day before.
Thank you all for your help and knowledge

I'm sorry about your cockerel.

This must be heartbreaking, but at least you now have a good idea of what you are dealing with and can begin some research about the disease and how to hopefully manage symptoms.
While Marek's is a terrible and puzzling disease, there's many here on BYC that have Marek's positive flocks. One thing they seem to have in common is they have not lost hope. Yes, they have grieved over losing birds, understandably so, but they have also dug in, researched and found a way to push forward.
Good advice and article link from @coach723

Thank you for sharing the diagnosis and I wish you all the best.