Pullet has a mysterious and frustrating array of symptoms...

[sevenbabychicks]

Hello!

I've looked around at a lot of different threads on here, but couldn't find one that matches the description of my pullets problems, so here goes:

She is about 7 months old, a super sweet olive egger who used to lay just the nicest dark green eggs ever. However, this winter health issues started cropping up. First I went on a trip for a month and a half in January, and when I came back discovered that she'd gone blind - mostly. There appear to be cataracts. However, she seemed to see well enough to discern the food dish and feed herself. She laid eggs throughout this time, too.

Then I went away for a weekend a couple weeks ago. I came home to find her lethargic and thin, quiet, and not very interested in eating. She's been losing weight steadily since then, but has been eating egg yolks (only takes about 1/day) and drinking water.

In the past couple days, she's seemed more interested in eating - but only dog food. Doesn't like mushy things like oatmeal. However, today she doesn't seem able to get the pellets in her mouth... Also, her comb is purple, not the pale color I've seen in other sick chickens.

I'm about to try force-feeding her to try and get her strength up for worming meds or whatnot, but am unsure what to give her and would like to avoid giving her meds she doesn't need. Any thoughts as to what's going on with her and how I should treat her?

Thanks in advance!

 

[seminolewind]

It's hard to say , seems like most chicken illnesses have similar symptoms. Who took care of your chickens for a month and a half in January?

If she is 7 months, seems to have cloudy eyes(?), wasting, probably looks like she can't aim at pieces of food and pick them up, it all sounds like Marek's.

However, you need to think about your flock history as well. Was she a later addition? Any new chickens? Where did she come from? She may have something that is affecting her, or it could be genetic.

 

[sevenbabychicks]

Yeah, I was thinking Marek's too - but thought that only affected really young birds. She was a later addition, but so far the others seem fine. Poor thing looks s little better today - more interested in food. I'll keep her as comfortable as I can and hope for the best. I found the big BYC Marek's post, which lists some helpful dietary supplements.

Thanks for chiming in!

 

[seminolewind]

Sevenbabychicks, that FAQ has the most up to date thorough facts.

Marek's symptoms are usually just the most common ones: age 6-20 weeks , paralysis, cloudy eye, wasting. But there are more and more symptoms that fall outside the classics. The whole symptom category should read most common , most likely, usually, possibly, etc. There are no set rules. And the symptoms can mimic many other problems.

My first was 2 years old with all the classic symptoms. The next 2 years were filled with wasting away for no reason. Interest in foot but not really eating, or picking at food with poor depth perception. I thought they were bullied into not approaching the feeder.

Then I had a 2 1/2 year old display paralysis over night. I treated for a broken leg which was probably paralysis because it was the same wasting, and poor depth perception or poor control of the neck.

A 3 year old rooster presented with oval pupils. 10 chicks started to present paralysis and gasping at 6-14 weeks.

This is why a flock history is good, and when the chicken carrier was added to the flock. I could pin point who brought it in because prior to that I only had home hatched eggs or hatchery chicks EXcept for one. That's when the problem started.

There are so many people who are lead to believe that paralysis is not Marek's if it's not one leg forward and one leg back. False, but common.

A scenario where all your chickens were hatched by you or came as day olds from a hatchery would most likely not be Marek's. That's why a history is important.

 

[Nambroth]

Yeah, I was thinking Marek's too - but thought that only affected really young birds. She was a later addition, but so far the others seem fine. Poor thing looks s little better today - more interested in food. I'll keep her as comfortable as I can and hope for the best. I found the big BYC Marek's post, which lists some helpful dietary supplements.

Thanks for chiming in!

Alas, sadly Marek's was once thought a disease of young birds... but lately many of us are seeing it in older birds, too. My vet says that she sees it most frequently in the 7-12 month old range.

I do hope it's not Marek's, and maybe something easier to "fix". The purple comb is very upsetting, tough, as it means something isn't right either with her lungs and/or heart. She's not getting enough oxygen circulating in her system, which can be from heart problems (which can be genetic, or disease-related, or from tumor growth) and/or lung problems (respiratory distress from disease, or tumor growth, or parasites, etc).

Can you check her over carefully to see if you notice any discharge from her eyes, nose, mouth? Listen closely to her breathing. Can you hear any clicking, rasping, bubbling, etc?

 

[Nambroth]

Sevenbabychicks, that FAQ has the most up to date thorough facts.

Marek's symptoms are usually just the most common ones: age 6-20 weeks , paralysis, cloudy eye, wasting. But there are more and more symptoms that fall outside the classics. The whole symptom category should read most common , most likely, usually, possibly, etc. There are no set rules. And the symptoms can mimic many other problems.

I should probably add a little section that has the symptoms grouped like that. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[ten chicks]

Just throwing this out,birds have a nictitating membrane,the purpose is to protect/moisten eye,they can see through this membrane. Is it possible she has an eye infection and what you are seeing as cataracts could be nictitating membrane,which may explain weight loss also.


When i notice a purple comb the first thing i check is nostrils as they often become impacted with food,a couple of my roosters shove their whole head in their fermented feed resulting in impacted nostrils. When i see purple tinge to comb,i know it is time for some nose picking.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: I don't know, Nambroth, it's hard to improve an already wonderful FAQ!

 

[sevenbabychicks]

Thanks for all your wonderful responses! I checked her over; otherwise physically healthy: no raspy breathing or discharge, nictitating membrane looks fine. The cloudy areas are more "in" the eye; looks like her lenses are affected.

She seemed to be improving yesterday. Was even making little noises, which she hadn't done for the better part of a month. But then this morning she seems more lethargic, less interest in eating (will only accept diluted egg yolk), and seems to have a hard time keeping one of her eyelids open = paralysis?

Thinking back, I do believe that several of my birds may have had Marek's. A couple died of a strange wasting illness, one had a paralyzed leg (but fully recovered), and one had ongoing partial paralysis. None were vaccinated, and the symptoms did seem to appear after I started introducing birds from a breeder with many chickens from many sources. Strange/interesting that Marek's doesn't affect everyone, though. My other hens all seem fine.

 

[seminolewind]

Me too. My mysterious illness (wasting) went on for a few years with me wondering why and frustrated as well. Then I hatched 10 chicks that got paralysis one by one. Then I knew.

I did have one vaccinated hen that got paralysis, and was so sweet that I kept her in my bedroom for 6 weeks and she recovered. I've also had wasters that appeared to have remissions.

Most of my adult chickens were never affected. Marek's seems to be hit and miss. I hope the rest of yours are fine. My carrier was a pullet from a breeder.

Nambroth's FAQ is good at explaining "Yes, there is life after Marek's". Different practices, but many do survive. I think my percentage over 5 years has been 10% or less that die or are euthanized.