slow growth poorly looking light sussex

[Garona]

She's still on flubenvet. Since her treatment she has been loosing weight - could it be a problem side effect of the flubenvet since she was at least stable before.

She's been isolated still loosing weight - 625 now I fear she won't last the week if this continues.

But in addition one of my bl Wyandotte hens has suddenly lost weight too (the flock was also given flubenvet but is now finished and back on usual food) and her comb/ears have gone very pale.

I'm weighing them all regularly and the rest are healthy weights and putting weight on each week.

I isolated the bl wynadotte too, I fear the original pair of light sussex have brought some kind of disease in to my flock

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Okay here is the original thread which started out as a breed check over here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/938227/i-was-told-this-was-a-light-sussex-true-just-wrong-age

The consensus seems to be she is a light sussex but something is definitely wrong with her and not just a younger age.

Please read the previous thread for a more complete history of where she came from because it is very relevant.

I also obtained another picture of her today which more accurately reflects how she composes herself - which is very different to the other chickens



Symptoms that could point to illness include:

1. she isnt growing, shes been looking like this from age 16 to 23 weeks despite getting special feeding attention and eating with an enormous appetite.
2. she has greyish eyes
3. her comb is pale and possibly underdeveloped for her age
4. she looks disheveled in appearance. i have monitored her and she does clean/groom her feathers but doesnt seem to ever get them to a great condition.
5. she sticks her chest out but always tucks her head in like this picture. it makes her appear very compact and squat compared to the other proud perky chickens we have.
6. she arrived with another chicken of the same type and size which died right away (see previous thread)
7. shes a bit of a loner except at night when snuggled under Roxy our 27 week old RIR.

Its a dollar against 4 quarters that she has Mareks disease. Do a search on this sight for "gander eye" or gander eyed

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks disease was suggested in post #2. Mareks disease can cause wasting, and because of a low white blood cell count, it reduces the chicken's ability to fight off most infections. There are 4 types of the disease--she may have the eye form, or possibly internal tumors (visceral form.) So sorry that she is losing weight and doing poorly. Getting her tested could alert you if may have Mareks in your flock. Here are 3 good links to read about Mareks, including one on testing in the UK:
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
http://www.fwi.co.uk/poultry/new-faster-test-for-marek-s-disease.htm

 

[chickengeorgeto]

eggcessive, Your right but once I read the second line in the OP's post there was little doubt in my mind what the problem was. Just too many things all coming together imho for it to be anything else. Therefor I didn't read through all 4 pages of replies.

garona, don't panic, Mareks is as common as crabgrass. Every chicken keeper has either a little or a lot of the Mareks viruses lying around. The kicker is whether the chickens in your possession can fight off the scourge or whether they become a carrier or else a casually. If this is your only Mareks casually then you are doing well.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Quote:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
http://www.fwi.co.uk/poultry/new-faster-test-for-marek-s-disease.htm

I am unsure if this applies to the USA but I would be surprised if Mareks testing is ever adopted in the USA. I am unsure if the test will diagnose the active form of the disease or if it will only confirm that the chicken being tested has been exposed and antibodies produced. In the latter case testing MAY prove beneficial in large confined poultry houses where wild birds etc has been excluded but in a back yard setting and especially with free ranging I don't expect to see any benefit.

I may be wrong and I hope I am but that is how I see it.