Looking to find some help with what is going on with my flock. I have a small flock of roughly 30 chickens, consisting of four different broods, all non vaccinated and all cohabitating together:
The next dead bird was a 12 week old BR/RIR cross pullet on 5/23. She hasn't been great since we got her. She had an eye she couln't open that well and had some discharge, but she was eating and acting normal otherwise. I treated her eye with terramycin twice a day for a week and that seemed to make her eye better. A couple weeks ago, her eye got bad again and started having more discharge than before and she stopped eating and drinking well and became pretty emaciated. I put her in her own crate within the our coop with her own food and water supply, but after a couple days she couldn't stand and couldn't move. She died after a couple days in the crate. I did not take her for necropsy, as she had been sick before and I figured it was some recurring illness that her little body couldn't fend off.
The third dead bird was an 18 week old BCM that I found yesterday (5/27) afternoon. Like the dead EE, she was walking around and behaving normally up until I found her dead. I did not take her in for a necropsy, since I was convinced at this point my flock has Marek's and I will just have to wait and see what survives and what doesn't, or cull the whole flock.
I have not found bloody or green poop, worms, anything in the coop. Everything seems normal within my flock until someone drops dead and I can't figure out what it is. The common denominator other than our sick little BR/RIR pullet was the BCM and EE came from the same original flock. There are still three birds from that brood remaining, all of which seem completely healthy. Could these have been sick birds from the start and they were just ticking time bombs, or did they catch something from my existing flock when I got them? The rest of the flock seems in perfect health as well with no signs of illness.
If this was Marek's, wouldn't all my 12 week olds be affected in some way and dying sooner than the 18 week old brood? Everyone lives and has lived in the same coop together; they sleep together, dust bathe together, poop together, etc, yet only the 18 week old brood seems to be dying off overnight.
Thank you for your help!
- My oldest/original brood is a mix of 7 month old silkies and barred rocks
- Second oldest brood was of five 18 week old Easter Eggers and a BCM (got them 4/5)
- 12 week old BR/RIR crosses (father is a BR) (got them 4/6)
- 12 week old Golden Laced Wyandottes and a RIR (got them 4/11)
The next dead bird was a 12 week old BR/RIR cross pullet on 5/23. She hasn't been great since we got her. She had an eye she couln't open that well and had some discharge, but she was eating and acting normal otherwise. I treated her eye with terramycin twice a day for a week and that seemed to make her eye better. A couple weeks ago, her eye got bad again and started having more discharge than before and she stopped eating and drinking well and became pretty emaciated. I put her in her own crate within the our coop with her own food and water supply, but after a couple days she couldn't stand and couldn't move. She died after a couple days in the crate. I did not take her for necropsy, as she had been sick before and I figured it was some recurring illness that her little body couldn't fend off.
The third dead bird was an 18 week old BCM that I found yesterday (5/27) afternoon. Like the dead EE, she was walking around and behaving normally up until I found her dead. I did not take her in for a necropsy, since I was convinced at this point my flock has Marek's and I will just have to wait and see what survives and what doesn't, or cull the whole flock.
I have not found bloody or green poop, worms, anything in the coop. Everything seems normal within my flock until someone drops dead and I can't figure out what it is. The common denominator other than our sick little BR/RIR pullet was the BCM and EE came from the same original flock. There are still three birds from that brood remaining, all of which seem completely healthy. Could these have been sick birds from the start and they were just ticking time bombs, or did they catch something from my existing flock when I got them? The rest of the flock seems in perfect health as well with no signs of illness.
If this was Marek's, wouldn't all my 12 week olds be affected in some way and dying sooner than the 18 week old brood? Everyone lives and has lived in the same coop together; they sleep together, dust bathe together, poop together, etc, yet only the 18 week old brood seems to be dying off overnight.
Thank you for your help!
