Prelim Necropsy results

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The vet said to offer them GOOD CARE and good calories.
Btw - the vet I'm working is an Avian Vet - all she does is "birds".

Again if the lab tests confirm AE

She said most mortality is with chicks less than 4 weeks. And they will often die because they starve and dehydrate. Caused by not getting to their food or being trampled by other chicks. They get too tired and they don't feel like eating.

It would make common sense to be sure they are not dealing with any other issues like Coccidia that will add to their ability to recover.

She also said to make sure they had good footing.

We are giving our chicks some scrambled egg (good food, good calories) 1x a day. She cautioned not to over do it. She said the Vits were fine to add to the water, again don't over do it.
She said to be very careful not to expose these chicks to other chicks for the next 2 weeks, she feels if no one else gets sick we should be fine.
Also to dispose of the litter carefully.

I will have more questions for my vet once for sure we know if what we are dealing with IS AE - that is what is looks like now, and this is from my vet. I need to treat them as if they could be contagious until I know that they are NOT.

If these chicks are confirmed by lab results to have AE.
no it is not caused by chilling or shipping (sigh).
It is caused by a virus and most transmission is vertical (i.e. it is passed from an infected hen to the egg that then hatches) It can also pass to susceptible hatch mates.

As SOON as we saw problems the chicks went into a hospital brooder where they could be more closely monitored.

We are using vit and electrolytes in the water 12 hours on, 12 hours off (ie we change the water 2x a day at night they just have regular water)

There are things I just don't know.
One is IF this is AE - how long is the virus shed by the chicks.
So I'm doing a 100% strip down of their brooder and cleaning 1x a week. In the past I would just get about 75% and call it good. I will be doing 100% strip down again on Monday.

The first thing I noticed with my chicks was less activity, sitting and rocking back on hocks and walking stiff legged, peg legged, like they were on stilts. Also when they would sit down they would try to balance with their wings. 4 out of the 5 had tremors. They also stopped doing normal "chick things" other than eating; when they ate they often sat down to eat.

We have opted to euthanize chicks that do not make full turn around.

And I can't say what is happening with other chicks.
That is why I took mine to the vet; I wanted to be sure as to not risk other people other flocks. Our 24 chicks now in 2 households were to end up in 4 households.

I need to stress that the best way to do a necropsy is to take a live chick showing problems and let it be euthanized, and have the vet pathologist do their work.
I stress do NOT freeze chicks if you are saving them for a necropsy - put them in the fridge - but time is important and tissues degrade after death. Our chicks were in perfect condition for necropsy; this allows us to rule possible issues "in" as well as "out".

CS

 

[farm_mom]

Thank you for your advice and recommendations. I appreciate it.

 

[max13077]

great report

 

[1mommahen]

So sorry about your chicks! I have an order coming 3/31, any idea how quick this AE could be stopped??? I haven't heard of any past the first week of March or so but is that because they (chicks since then) wouldn't be showing signs yet? I would like to be hopeful but not stupid at the same time! :|

 

[amaliayosa]

cluckincoop~
My chicks will be 2 weeks tomorrow, it may still be too soon to tell, but so far they are very healthy and active. So I am in that group that would be the second week of march. I'll of course keep everyone posted, good or bad.

 

[MNKris]

I am not a vet and can't tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do, but you might want to take a close look at what is happening here at my place. I have the chicks at the lab, but don't have an official tissue diagnosis yet. But, from what I have read and been told by our poultry vet, typically in AE, you will see breed specific losses, and then a lessor amount of loses of other breeds that became infected during the hatch/shipping process. This virus is primarily passed from hen to egg.

For example, I have 11 breeds, 167 chicks from 2 orders on 2/9 and 3/1. I only have 5 breeds affected, 6 breeds are completely healthy and thriving and I have not lost a single chick. I have 93 chicks in those 5 sick breeds and 74 that are in the healthy 6 breeds.

Of the sick breeds, so far, about 15 died on their own, 10 are at the MN VDL and will be destroyed during testing.
Affected Breeds - all standards
Cuckoo Marans - received 12 on 2/9, 10 total affected, 2 of those dead, 4 severely affected, 4 may recover. Received 10 replacements on 3/1, 6 affected, 1 dead, 2 seriously affected, we are waiting on the rest.
Partridge Cochins - received 7 on 2/9, 5 dead, 1 severely affected, 1 partially recovered but not normal. Received 7 replacements on 3/1, 7 affected, 3 dead at lab, 4 severely affected.
Buff Rocks - received 7 on 2/9, 6, possibly 7 affected, 2 dead at lab, 1 dead, 2 severely affected, 1 partially recovered, 1 still in brooder but acts slow. 8 Replacements received 3/1, 1 dead at lab, 5 others affected.
Blue Cochins - received 7 on 2/9, 6 affected, 3 dead, 1 severely affected, 2 partially recovered. Received 19 on 3/1, 1 dead, 1 dead at Lab, 8-10 more affected so far in the brooder.
EEs - received 8 on 2/9, 5 affected, 2 severely affected, 3 partially recovered. Received 8 on 3/1, 1 dead at Lab, 2-3 more affected so far in the brooder.

I don't want to scare anybody at all, but my Cochins have taken this VERY hard. They won't eat or drink once they get sick. We have hand fed two of the partridge cochins since February 22 (yes, 4 weeks), and one is strong enough to eat, drink, walk, run, etc. now but isn't right mentally, and the other can eat and drink, but not walk. The Marans seem to be able to hold their own and are a bit more determined to stay alive. They have had the best recoveries of any of the chicks. The buff rocks will eat and drink if you baby them, but will not make a great effort. None of my buff rocks have recovered so far. Some are gaining weight and eating and drinking, but they can not walk after 4 weeks. The EEs have been flighty and will try to get to food and water too. Some have really bad bobble heads though and it is hard for them to eat and drink. They are surviving better because even if they can't walk, they will fly where they want to go.

Breeds Not affected at all...
7 Australorps
7 White Rocks
28 EE Bantams
7 RIRs
12 Blue Andalusians
11 Red Stars
1 Rare Chick (I think it is a white faced black spanish pullet)
1 Extra Chick that I don't know what it is. It's black and has some feathering on it's feet, but not puffy like a cochin and a lot smaller.

There are some other breeds that have been hit pretty hard too, but we didn't get them.

 

[crazychickens]

I have been online trying to find the answer to this question, maybe someone here can help.

Some of my chicks that have AE like symptoms, are not getting as sick as the others, yet they are very, very small. No joke, I have two silkies that are the same size as when I got them as day old chicks. They are now 21 days old. So my question is, if they live and it looks like they will, will they be healthy as adults?

 

[MNKris]

Quote:
That's a really good question. I asked our vet because I have several EEs that are literally the same size they were at 12 days old and they are now 6 weeks old. They are smaller than the Bantam EEs that I got on the very same day, like yes, no joke, they are 1/4 to 1/5 the size they should be. Then I have "Tard", the partridge cochin that was mentally "damaged" through this, and that one is the same size as the partridge cochins from the second order that are 3 weeks younger. Interestingly, Tard did something today that was "normal chick" stuff. He/She scratched at the feed. Couldn't believe it. After 4 weeks of TLC, I have seen a light. I feel like I am "The Miracle Worker" today. Will it start to grow now? I don't know. The EEs haven't and they have been able to "do their thing" for the last 2 weeks or so.

So, anyway, back to the vet. My answer was, well, they were sick. However, if they don't start to grow after getting back to regular feed intack, it is probably a genetics problem and not the illness. My EEs are all over the place in size. Most were sick, but size wise, there is no consistency at all.

 

[fleenorfarmmom]

I guess through all this we have learned patience. I just lost the cochin I have been treating, one of the speckled sussex will probably be dead in the morning. The other three speckled sussex seem to be doing a little better. They still "vibrate" and are still unsteady, but are eating the yogurt/startercrumble mix a little. Time will tell.

 

[RedTailRanch]

Quote:
I also have one chick who has not grown at all in 21 days. She is a Golden Penciled Hamburg. Other than the fact that she is literally the size of a 2 day old chick she seems healthy. She has not shown any of the sumptoms that my other affected chicks have shown. I remember though, that she was the ONLY one, in the beginning, that I thought might be sick. Perhaps she was affected earlier and was able to recover, but now has stunted growth.

Also, MNKris, my Blue Andalusian is not so lucky. She has been affected. The ones that show NO signs of infection are my Anconas and my Black Minorcas. All are strong, healthy, and a huge pain in the butt right now!