*Sick Chicks! More Sick Hens*VIDEOS/PICS*And Necropsy

I lost the sickest baby about 2 hours ago, one of the red broilers. Went in to check on them- they are in the laundry room at one end of the house, and it had passed. The body was still warm so I put it in a baggie and now it's in the fridge. The number to the lab in Austin is also disconnected :/ . But I will be in Austin tomorrow so maybe I can drop it off. Perhaps 411 has an updated number. My mom is coming down and bringing some Tylan50 and some syringes. Maybe it will help, at least with the big broiler, Sumo. Sumo is in my bathroom at the other end of the house, and I am not letting the kids near any of the birds. I also disinfected the whole chick room today with lysol, bleach and rubbing alcohol, changed the bedding and disinfected the feed/water containers too. And I disinfected the bathroom Sumo is in.
The thing with the chicks looks almost just like what the turkey poults had back in April/May. The poults were born fine and then at about 2-3 weeks their legs started going out. Their joints looked swollen and purplish, and they hobbled around like they were in pain. Eventually they couldn't walk anymore and stopped eating and drinking. Another brood of poults about a month later had the same problem, though I let the mom raise them outside since it was warmer and not rainy anymore. At about 3-4 weeks their legs started going bad. One poult's right leg started to twist backward. I thought maybe I was dealing with a vitamin or mineral problem, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually I had to put them all down.
I have raised broilers before, and this is the first time any of them have gotten sick, but it is also the first time I have tried raising any since the turkeys.
So far the EE's and silkies chicks still look fine. But I am worried, I really don't want to lose any more. I don't know if the antibiotics I have been using are working, though the broiler that died did seem to get a little better at first, then it started to get worse again after a day.
Sumo seems worse than ever. She won't eat or drink anymore either. I am wondering if it is gapeworm with her. no nasal or eye discharge still, no head shaking or muscus that I can see, but that sound she makes is awful. I am thinking the "sneezing" may even be coughing. And she was fine yesterday! And no diarrhea either.
Should she die, I will take her to the lab, or possibly do a necropsy here myself. I lost a bantam EE last week, and she was gasping and couldn't walk. I thought at first maybe she was eggbound, then I thought maybe a sour crop or blocked crop. A necropsy only revealed gas in her intestines and chest cavity. I think it may have been a bacterial infection, but I don't know. It's so strange. The symptoms don't seem to be consistent with all the birds but I feel it is related. Chicks have no respiratory issues that I can tell. Sumo has no leg problems that I can tell. And the bird we lost last week had respiratory and leg problems. And it has all happened so quickly. All of them have been hatchery birds too, except the silkies.
I am so disheartened by this. I know it is just another part of raising chickens but I have never had so many sick at one time. I have never lost so many in a single year.
I am right there with you in the way I feel about all of this. None of mine seem to be having leg issues, just respiratory, but it's like it all just came about so fast and hit us like a freight train. Growing up I lived on a farm and we kept about 300 chickens at all times. We always lost them due to old age or predators, we never had any sort of illness sweep through our flock like this has swept thru mine. Disheartening puts it mildly. My daily routine has become so complicated with all these sick chickens and the stress of not knowing what is going on, how long it will last, and how fatal it will be is really starting to get to me. Our oldest girls just started laying and now they have all quit, so now they aren't even earning their keep and I'm having to buy meds and syringes and electrolytes etc., and while I'm not destitute, I'm also not made of money, and it sure is putting a hole in my wallet. All of my birds have come from hatcheries, with the exception of 5 that I got from a breeder here locally, but he is regularly tested by the state. However, none of this started happening until a week or two after I got the chicks from him, granted they were not the first ones to come down with anything, but two or 3 of them are now sickly. I'm so sorry that you are going through this too and I totally know how ya feel!!!
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Please keep us posted!
 
Oh boy..So Sumo stopped her wheezing but she is still coughing/sneezing. Now she has a runny nose, but has been drinking and eating today, which she didn't do yesterday. She had jumped out of the tub and laid an egg on the floor of the bathroom then ate it. Another broiler chick has taken a turn for the worse and I don't think he's going to make it through the night. :(
Tractor supply was out of most everything so I got Vet RX. Maybe it is helping Sumo, but I don't know. The rest of the chicks are appearing less energetic today though they did seem to wake up when I gave them some meal worms and warm mash. Unfortunately two additional adult birds of mine have started marking what sounds like congested/runny nose sounds, but no discharge yet. Looks like I may have a real problem here. God I hope I don't lose them.
 
I didn't make it by the lab today as I forgot the dead chick at home. I will call them tomorrow and see what they say. This is all new to me, I have had so many chickens (usually 5 or less though, though now we have 19) through the years and never had any get sick like this. Well now that I think about it, that's not true, there was one of my mom's bantam hens that got sick and ended up paralyzed. But i took it to live with me in my dorm and fed it with a syringe and gave it antibiotics and within a week it was up and waking again.
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I actually cried today for a couple minutes while watching the sickest broiler chick. Poor little guy flopped over and couldn't right himself, he was so weak. I helped him up but then he just stood still, closed his eyes and drooped his head down. The chicks are starting to sound congested too. I have also noticed the other broiler chick has a distended abdomen. Not sure why or what, but it is purple-looking.
i really don't want to lose any more birds...I think I have typed that probably 3 or 4 times in this thread now.
Got some new pictures and videos..will post later.
 
Another thing the chicks have been doing is shivering though their brooder is 95 on the warm end. And one silkie had been moving its head back and forth but in a strange way i haven't seen before. I will try to get a video. It has only down this twice. Made me think something was stuck in its crop?
Video of sickest broiler, Note the stance, hunched over but straightened legs, as if in pain. I don't think he will make it through the night.
Never had a bird this sick. :(
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I really have zero experience with broilers, other than when I was little my great grandfather raised chickens for Pilgrim's Pride and i would occasinally rescue one with leg problems, but they never really made it. I am so sorry you are going through this, I totally know your frustration and sadness and fear. it is not a pleasant thing, at least not for me. I think about it 24/7, and what repercussions all of this illness is going to have on my flock and possibly my property. Will I ever be able to get new birds, is it going to stay in the soil, WHERE DID IT COME FROM?! etc. i hope you do not lose any more. Maybe the others will have enough spunk to pull through it. Are you giving them electrolytes/probiotics? Sorry if you already answered that, i briefly read back thru for a refresher but possibly did not absord all information lol. Mine seemed to start doing better when i started the electrolytes.

As far as your silkie goes..... does he do something like this?
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I also have another smaller silkie that is only a week or two old that is doing the same thing as this guy. no one has really given me a firm answer on what it could be, but I have gotten a lot of scary suggestions, from wryneck to mareks to some crazy virus stuff. Some have suggested vaulted skull issues, possibly being pecked in the heck, neurological stuff. But other than the weird head thing he does (usually when he drinks, or shakes his head hard) he seems perfectly healthy.
 
Wow, that looks exactly like what the little silkie is doing. Only one that does it too, and seems fine otherwise. I am sure the silkies didn't get vaccinated for Mareck's since they came from a breeder. Maybe that's one of the things I am dealing with. Or something else.
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And only after it drinks, or in last night's case, after I put VetRX on it's beak.
The chicks seem better this morning, more perky and actually running around and doing cute little chick things. I am surprised that the one really sick looking broiler chick is walking around, eating and drinking today. I didn't think he'd make it through the night. Yesterday they were lying down a lot. I started adding electrolytes to the water yesterday, and have been making their feed into mash with the water. I put some meal worms on top of the mash and they went crazy for it. I started giving them yogurt this morning, with meal worms too.
I talked to a vet today and he seemed to think it's a bacterial infection and to treat with tetracycline, which is what I started doing a couple days ago anyway. He said they didn't have the resources to find the specific cause and that they just look for things like Pullorum and Avian flu. So I decided to do a necropsy on the broiler chick that died. Turns out it had a broken leg! So today I am going to get some viatmin/mineral supplement of some kind and see if that helps. What would be the best one to get though? I will also ask in the broiler forum and see what they say.
I have them on a commercial starter so wasn't thinking I would have leg problems (never had leg problems before this year). But then again anything can happen I guess. The chick also had gas in its intestines like the hen I lost last week- and the cecum contents were horrible smelling. So I am thinking a bacterial infection is probably correct. Its little abdomen was also distended, so maybe some kind of bad gut bacteria caused it? I think it's a Mycoplasma or E. coli or maybe. Though none of the necropsies show any kind of lesions. The swollen legs though makes me think M. synoviae. But I am just guessing really. The state vet gave me some numbers of local vets but all of them are in Austin, a good hour or more drive from here. And I am between jobs so can't really afford the vet right now. It'll be at least 4-5 weeks before my new job starts up and I start getting a paycheck. So unless they are still sick by then..don't know if it woul be worthwhile to take one of them in.
The big hens are doing about the same, still sounding congested and sneezing/coughing, but they are eating and drinking. They absolutely love the yogurt! And they love the mash I have been giving them too. They are being good today and staying in the bathtub. :p


Like you I am wondering where this all came from! Wild birds? The new chicks? The weather? The soil? The turkeys? It's all so frustrating. I just want this to be over with already! Grrrr!
 
Wow, that looks exactly like what the little silkie is doing. Only one that does it too, and seems fine otherwise. I am sure the silkies didn't get vaccinated for Mareck's since they came from a breeder. Maybe that's one of the things I am dealing with. Or something else.
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And only after it drinks, or in last night's case, after I put VetRX on it's beak.
The chicks seem better this morning, more perky and actually running around and doing cute little chick things. I am surprised that the one really sick looking broiler chick is walking around, eating and drinking today. I didn't think he'd make it through the night. Yesterday they were lying down a lot. I started adding electrolytes to the water yesterday, and have been making their feed into mash with the water. I put some meal worms on top of the mash and they went crazy for it. I started giving them yogurt this morning, with meal worms too.
I talked to a vet today and he seemed to think it's a bacterial infection and to treat with tetracycline, which is what I started doing a couple days ago anyway. He said they didn't have the resources to find the specific cause and that they just look for things like Pullorum and Avian flu. So I decided to do a necropsy on the broiler chick that died. Turns out it had a broken leg! So today I am going to get some viatmin/mineral supplement of some kind and see if that helps. What would be the best one to get though? I will also ask in the broiler forum and see what they say.
I have them on a commercial starter so wasn't thinking I would have leg problems (never had leg problems before this year). But then again anything can happen I guess. The chick also had gas in its intestines like the hen I lost last week- and the cecum contents were horrible smelling. So I am thinking a bacterial infection is probably correct. Its little abdomen was also distended, so maybe some kind of bad gut bacteria caused it? I think it's a Mycoplasma or E. coli or maybe. Though none of the necropsies show any kind of lesions. The swollen legs though makes me think M. synoviae. But I am just guessing really. The state vet gave me some numbers of local vets but all of them are in Austin, a good hour or more drive from here. And I am between jobs so can't really afford the vet right now. It'll be at least 4-5 weeks before my new job starts up and I start getting a paycheck. So unless they are still sick by then..don't know if it woul be worthwhile to take one of them in.
The big hens are doing about the same, still sounding congested and sneezing/coughing, but they are eating and drinking. They absolutely love the yogurt! And they love the mash I have been giving them too. They are being good today and staying in the bathtub. :p


Like you I am wondering where this all came from! Wild birds? The new chicks? The weather? The soil? The turkeys? It's all so frustrating. I just want this to be over with already! Grrrr!
Don't say that about the Marek's and the silkie!!! That is NOT what I wanna hear lol!! I have done a lot of research and the odd thing i kept finding was that the only chickens having that problem, in the exact same head bobbing manner, were all silkies. And my little pasty butt babies that i rescued from the feed store i have kept from getting in contact with any of the others and one of them still does it too. I literally deal with them either first thing in the morning, or after my shower so that I'm not spreading any funk to them from my other sickly birds. i don't really know what the deal is, but it has to be something exclusive to silkies. My large one that does it has no other health issues, the little one does it and is totally healthy otherwise. Also, i'm going to need you to refrain from using that dirty word "mycoplasma" lol because it totally freaks me out to think we may have that!! Please do not let it be!!

As far as the vitamin & mineral supplement, I heard that Nutri-drench was a really good one. Some other folks may have other suggestions that are better tho. That pic of yours in the bathtub are too funny!! Mine also love love LOVE the yogurt and mash AND the mealworms!

SO MANY PEOPLE dealing with what we are dealing with, has to be something going around and being spread by wild birds or something!! i just cant think of any other reason!!
 

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