Possible Marek's and not shell-less eggs after all??

[spiritpots]

I hope someone is able to help figure out what is going on with my 12 month old Easter Egger Olivia, who has been laying eggs with only a yolk for the past week. I posted this a few days ago in the forum relating to egg laying but am now wondering if her symptoms may be related to Marek's. I got Olivia last June when she was 6 weeks old along with two other chicks from the same breeder that I have gotten my other chickens from. Both of the chicks I got with Olivia died earlier this year from probable Marek's per my vet (he did a necropsy on one of the chickens). My vet told me to keep an eye on Olivia and everything has been going well for her until this past week.

I first noticed what I thought was simply the remains of a broken egg in the nesting box about a week ago so cleaned it up and didn't think much more about it. Six days ago when I checked the nesting box for eggs there was a perfectly laid yolk sitting in the middle of the box so I thought it was a shell-less egg. Then two days later I noticed that Olivia had a messy butt with a little yellow on it so figured that she was the one laying these yolks, along with the fact that I hadn't gotten a blue egg from her for about a week (she began laying in mid-February). Two days ago I noticed that her butt was messy again with yolk and found more yellow yolk in the nesting box. I completely clean the box each time I find any yolk in it so I knew it was from that day. I gave Olivia a bootie bath and her vent looked good. While I was washing her I could see yolk on her beak so knew she was eating some of it, too. Yesterday she had a messy butt again but I did not find the remains of an egg anywhere. I also noticed that although Olivia looked good and was fairly active she spent a good part of the day sitting under a shrub. She has been sitting by herself most of today as well. Olivia's comb is bright red, her eyes look normal and I haven't seen any signs of limping.

FYI - I feed my flock an organic layer feed and also offer oyster shells on the side and let them free range all day. The shells of all of the chicken's eggs (including those of Olivia when she was laying a normal egg) are very hard, so I don't think lack of calcium is the problem. I had a problem with mites begin a month or so ago but used Elector PSP a couple of times at a two-week interval, as well as deep cleaning the coop and although I still find a few mites on an egg once in a while it's much better than it was.

If anyone has thoughts on what's going on with Olivia please let me know. Thank you so much!

 

[azygous]

Marek's has lots of different symptoms, probably because there are several different strains of Marek's. And Marek's isn't the only avian virus that causes tumors. Recently, I had a necropsy done on a pullet I suspected had Marek's. I know for a fact she was carrying another avian virus called lymphoid leucosis since it's in my flock. The necrospy results returned "likely leucosis", but since many of the symptoms can be the same and tumors are usually a major component of both viruses, all they could do was select the virus that matched the preponderance of findings. Only a DNA test would be able to tell for sure which virus it is, and not all labs are set up for this sort of testing.

As for Olivia, if Marek's is a likely culprit in the death of those other pullets, then Olivia is more than likely carrying the virus also. If it isn't Marek's, it's leucosis. Both cause tumors, and they love the reproductive tract. It certainly can cause egg issues. In fact, just recently I discovered a shell-less egg yolk in the nest box. No self respecting hen would eat the shell and leave the yolk intact.

 

[spiritpots]

Marek's has lots of different symptoms, probably because there are several different strains of Marek's. And Marek's isn't the only avian virus that causes tumors. Recently, I had a necropsy done on a pullet I suspected had Marek's. I know for a fact she was carrying another avian virus called lymphoid leucosis since it's in my flock. The necrospy results returned "likely leucosis", but since many of the symptoms can be the same and tumors are usually a major component of both viruses, all they could do was select the virus that matched the preponderance of findings. Only a DNA test would be able to tell for sure which virus it is, and not all labs are set up for this sort of testing.

As for Olivia, if Marek's is a likely culprit in the death of those other pullets, then Olivia is more than likely carrying the virus also. If it isn't Marek's, it's leucosis. Both cause tumors, and they love the reproductive tract. It certainly can cause egg issues. In fact, just recently I discovered a shell-less egg yolk in the nest box. No self respecting hen would eat the shell and leave the yolk intact.

Thank you so much for this information @azygous. Olivia continues to eat, drink, and free range, although I found her resting by herself several times today. She's also been going to roost earlier than the others. My hunch is that she is ill so I'll keep a close eye on her and monitor her progress. And I agree, I can't imagine a hen eating all but a yolk of an egg.