Something’s wrong... please help!!! She’s very lethargic, with messy poop on her butt... I don’t know what to do.

[Kiki]

I appreciate you taking time to respond, but the way you presented your advice was hurtful to me. I already struggle with guilt, and have done a lot of research. Phrasing your advice as though I had not researched at all was hurtful. As it was, I cried for two days straight from the thought that I had caused her death by not catching her illness in time... in the 3 years I’ve been keeping chickens, this is the first time one has gotten sick like this. I had researched common ailments... this wasn’t one of them. If nutrition was the problem, I imagine my other birds would have been ill as well... but they aren’t. The scratch grains could definitely be the problem, though. Maybe she was more sensitive to the diet change than the others were. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, I will do more research from here. But please be careful how you phrase your advice... thankfully when I saw your comment, I was in a calmer state of mind, but at the time I posted this I was a mess, and very emotionally vulnerable. Had I read your comment then, asking me not to kill anymore of my chickens by feeding them scratch grains, I would have been even worse off, being eaten up with guilt even more than I already was.

Please don't be upset and cry from reading words on the internet. It's not worth it.


If you continue to feed your birds scratch grains only you will end up with more problems and most likely deaths.

 

[NanaKimberlyB]

I received the preliminary results back on my chicken that had the same symptoms and I am devastated to find out preliminary results show a 6 cm mass on her intestine which highly suggests Marek’s. She had zero symptoms that I would have thought to be that until right before she seized and died she couldn’t stand. I’m struggling with the guilt of not vaccinating as my first batch came from a feed store and the rest I hatched. To the OP please don’t feel guilty about what you fed your babies. Even if you purchased the perfect chicken food she may have still gotten sick. I hope your flock stays healthy and whatever it was is not what I am facing. I lost a chick from the batch mine hatched from at 3 weeks and I suspect it was the same thing.

 

[Sunshine Chick]

Please don't be upset and cry from reading words on the internet. It's not worth it.


If you continue to feed your birds scratch grains only you will end up with more problems and most likely deaths.

Thank you for your kind reply, and for rephrasing the way you gave your advice. Hugs right back! I don’t usually bat an eye at hurtful things said online, but I may have when I was emotionally vulnerable. Sometimes people just don’t know that, that’s why I let you know. It was really unusual for me, I’m not sure why things struck me so hard... I literally just think it was guilt.
But, I’m looking at it this way: I’ve made a mistake, and I’m going to do learn from it so it does not happen again. I am feeding them layer feed now, and I’ll dig deeper and research, starting with that link you shared.

 

[Sunshine Chick]

I received the preliminary results back on my chicken that had the same symptoms and I am devastated to find out preliminary results show a 6 cm mass on her intestine which highly suggests Marek’s. She had zero symptoms that I would have thought to be that until right before she seized and died she couldn’t stand. I’m struggling with the guilt of not vaccinating as my first batch came from a feed store and the rest I hatched. To the OP please don’t feel guilty about what you fed your babies. Even if you purchased the perfect chicken food she may have still gotten sick. I hope your flock stays healthy and whatever it was is not what I am facing. I lost a chick from the batch mine hatched from at 3 weeks and I suspect it was the same thing.

I’m so sorry, Marek’s is awful... Thank you for your comforting words, and for sharing the results. The day my bird died, she tried to stand, but couldn’t. She would flop a bit, but she wouldn’t stand up. She wouldn’t even try, even if I picked her up and tried to help her stand. But she didn’t seem paralyzed until maybe the last few hours she was alive... she didn’t try to move her wings or legs at all. I don’t know if that would be a sign or not... I’ll have to look Merek’s up again.

I did not send her in for a necropsy. When I looked at my birds closely, after my feelings of panic had died down, I realized none of them had diarrhea... some had poop on their butt feathers (a small amount) but some of them always do. I watched one of those poopy-butt birds give a regular poop right in front of me, last night, and they all seem energetic and happy as normal. I thought, since she’s the only one who got sick, that it might be something genetically wrong with her. That might have been another mistake on my part... I hope not. We’ll see if the others remain healthy or not.

I am hyper-alert for any signs of droopy, lethargic hens, and I’m going to watch them poop while they’re on their perches tonight. That idea struck me just now. Giving those two medicines to everyone still seems like a good idea. Putting them out on pasture early instead of waiting for them to hatch out chicks seems like a good idea as well. Gets them out of the coop and away from any lingering traces of germs... it’ll probably give them a healthy boost, all that pasture. I’ve been letting them out to free-range since my bird passed.

I’m so sorry you lost a chick, too... again, I’m sorry it seems like Merck’s is in your flock... prayers your way that somehow that isn’t what it is... if it is, I hope your other birds are strong enough to only be carriers so you don’t have to go through another loss.

 

[Kiki]

I’m so sorry, Marek’s is awful... Thank you for your comforting words, and for sharing the results. The day my bird died, she tried to stand, but couldn’t. She would flop a bit, but she wouldn’t stand up. She wouldn’t even try, even if I picked her up and tried to help her stand. But she didn’t seem paralyzed until maybe the last few hours she was alive... she didn’t try to move her wings or legs at all. I don’t know if that would be a sign or not... I’ll have to look Merek’s up again.

I did not send her in for a necropsy. When I looked at my birds closely, after my feelings of panic had died down, I realized none of them had diarrhea... some had poop on their butt feathers (a small amount) but some of them always do. I watched one of those poopy-butt birds give a regular poop right in front of me, last night, and they all seem energetic and happy as normal. I thought, since she’s the only one who got sick, that it might be something genetically wrong with her. That might have been another mistake on my part... I hope not. We’ll see if the others remain healthy or not.

I am hyper-alert for any signs of droopy, lethargic hens, and I’m going to watch them poop while they’re on their perches tonight. That idea struck me just now. Giving those two medicines to everyone still seems like a good idea. Putting them out on pasture early instead of waiting for them to hatch out chicks seems like a good idea as well. Gets them out of the coop and away from any lingering traces of germs... it’ll probably give them a healthy boost, all that pasture. I’ve been letting them out to free-range since my bird passed.

I’m so sorry you lost a chick, too... again, I’m sorry it seems like Merck’s is in your flock... prayers your way that somehow that isn’t what it is... if it is, I hope your other birds are strong enough to only be carriers so you don’t have to go through another loss.

Please reconsider sending your next death for a necropsy. It is worth it.