- Apr 8, 2009
- 4
- 0
- 7
Hey guys, I am hoping for some help.
We started with backyard chickens about a year ago when we purchased three 5 month old chickens from a small farm with about 20 chickens. The first chicken died suddenly at 7 months old -- our vet said it was pneumonia. The second chicken died at 8 months old. A necropsy revealed tumors in her intestinal tract--she displayed the same symptoms as the first chicken and died that same night. At this point, we contacted the person we bought the chickens from and she told us that they hadn't been vaccinated for Marek's.
A few months later we purchased 4 chicks from a local feed store, which we were told were vaccinated. They are now 7 months old. About a month ago, one of the chickens started to display paralysis in her legs and lethargy--she died that night. Tonight we found another chicken with the exact same symptoms--leg paralysis and lethargy. We are assuming that she will not be alive in the morning.
We are freaking out. We now have four remaining chickens--we've lost half of our flock. This has obviously occurred over a long period of time and all the chickens are more or less the same age when they die--7-8 months old. We've checked their food and water, and they haven't had access to anything poisonous. We are worried that we're doing something wrong but have done a lot of research and asked a lot of people, and it doesn't seem like this is our fault.
Does this sound like Marek's to you? If it does, is it possible that the chicks weren't vaccinated? What the heck do we do?!
Thanks in advance.
We started with backyard chickens about a year ago when we purchased three 5 month old chickens from a small farm with about 20 chickens. The first chicken died suddenly at 7 months old -- our vet said it was pneumonia. The second chicken died at 8 months old. A necropsy revealed tumors in her intestinal tract--she displayed the same symptoms as the first chicken and died that same night. At this point, we contacted the person we bought the chickens from and she told us that they hadn't been vaccinated for Marek's.
A few months later we purchased 4 chicks from a local feed store, which we were told were vaccinated. They are now 7 months old. About a month ago, one of the chickens started to display paralysis in her legs and lethargy--she died that night. Tonight we found another chicken with the exact same symptoms--leg paralysis and lethargy. We are assuming that she will not be alive in the morning.
We are freaking out. We now have four remaining chickens--we've lost half of our flock. This has obviously occurred over a long period of time and all the chickens are more or less the same age when they die--7-8 months old. We've checked their food and water, and they haven't had access to anything poisonous. We are worried that we're doing something wrong but have done a lot of research and asked a lot of people, and it doesn't seem like this is our fault.
Does this sound like Marek's to you? If it does, is it possible that the chicks weren't vaccinated? What the heck do we do?!
Thanks in advance.
