Tail injury with swelling.

[Exopoulterer]

Here is the initial report:

 

[Exopoulterer]

@Eggcessive, @Wyorp Rock, @azygous
Does this mean that we have the worse form of mycoplasma? Probably visceral mareks or another disease that causes tumors (test pending). I have had my first tiny flock for 6 months, and feel so defeated and at a loss like I can never have more chickens here, or even go see other chickens, even after mine are gone, and love them so.

I hear other roosters crowing all over in the neighborhood. Mareks would be so bad to have if it can spread on the dander in the wind and on the people going to the stores. It is not a rural area...

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about the necropsy findings. Let us know when you get the final report later. It looks like she probably had mycoplama synovitis or MS, worms, coccidiosis, pneumonia, and lymphoma can be seen in Mareks or leukosis. Her liver with the small off white spots sounded like it was Mareks. Chickens with Mareks have low immunity and find it hard to fight common diseases.

Many people have Mareks in their flocks, and deal with it. It is best to close your flock. Some breed their chickens that don’t show any symptoms of Mareks. @coach723 has posted about her flock. I would worm your whole flock with albendazole or fenbendazole.

 

[azygous]

I can sympathize with you. Many years ago, not long after I began my flock with two adult chickens from a friend's flock, I found out from a necropsy that they had an avian virus. I was as depressed as you are, thinking it was the end of the world. But there are ways to deal with it and keep your chickens.

How close are the nearest neighbors with chickens? They do need to be informed. You can still visit your neighbors, but you must have clothes and shoes you wear only with your chickens. You must wear clean clothes and shoes when you step away from home.

You may still add baby chicks, but they must be vaccinated for Marek's. You can't have any chickens leave your property.

My flock has avian leucosis. I have added only baby chicks, and most have acquired resistance to the disease. But I've had more than my share of deaths from it. We play the hand we're dealt.

 

[Exopoulterer]

When I searched this site about Mareks I definitely see a lot of FL/N.FL posts. Oh dear...

 

[Eggcessive]

@microchick has Mareks in her flock as well, and has written a lot of posts helping others.

 

[Exopoulterer]

I can sympathize with you. Many years ago, not long after I began my flock with two adult chickens from a friend's flock, I found out from a necropsy that they had an avian virus. I was as depressed as you are, thinking it was the end of the world. But there are ways to deal with it and keep your chickens.

How close are the nearest neighbors with chickens? They do need to be informed. You can still visit your neighbors, but you must have clothes and shoes you wear only with your chickens. You must wear clean clothes and shoes when you step away from home.

You may still add baby chicks, but they must be vaccinated for Marek's. You can't have any chickens leave your property.

My flock has avian leucosis. I have added only baby chicks, and most have acquired resistance to the disease. But I've had more than my share of deaths from it. We play the hand we're dealt.

Thank you for this comment.

My hens have never left the run but the rooster has been put out for easy coop and run maintenance because he attacks us. He loves his ladies and won't go farther than 6 feet from the run... I am afraid of pitt bulls barging in to my property when they get determined enough to jump or rip through fencing.

The close by neighbor who already had chickens when I got mine hid in his trailer when we tried to ask him about the hen that came to our property, also to come get his dog, again. He seemed afraid of trouble and of my husband. His little kid came out and said it wasn't his chicken. That could actually be true because his chickens also visited in the vacant lot next door sometimes and they looked fibro and not like that other hen. His own dogs eventually killed all of his beautiful chickens and chicks as I was distressed to hear the commotion a couple of times.

I do not know the neighbors whose chickens I hear. Maybe 1 or 2 blocks over. There are some good people here but it is a strange and not so good place where most I see are roaming animals and many animals are abandoned or dumped. Many 1/4 acre to 1/2 acre lots with mobile or modular homes on them. Just as many druggies as good folk. I really keep to myself and my street for my safety.

A few years back, a mail lady was killed by loose dogs after a few people were already attacked, one hospitalized, on separate occasions (same dogs when owners even wanted them taken away because they couldn't control them) and the incidents were reported and not resolved by animal control.

I would like to tell the one chicken keeper on my way out of the neighborhood who has cute chickens that I only see out when she is watching. She will care and probably wont be stoned out of her tree.

I pretty much have "chicken clothes and shoes", even have shoes that I only wear if I go to a feed store and remove before going by the run because I was afraid of disease. I will definitely be more vigilant now. Fears came true anyway...

 

[Exopoulterer]

Sorry about the necropsy findings. Let us know when you get the final report later. It looks like she probably had mycoplama synovitis or MS, worms, coccidiosis, pneumonia, and lymphoma can be seen in Mareks or leukosis. Her liver with the small off white spots sounded like it was Mareks. Chickens with Mareks have low immunity and find it hard to fight common diseases.

Many people have Mareks in their flocks, and deal with it. It is best to close your flock. Some breed their chickens that don’t show any symptoms of Mareks. @coach723 has posted about her flock. I would worm your whole flock with albendazole or fenbendazole.

I dewormed with albendazole the day Scaley died. I saw the worms in her cecal poop the night before. I wonder if I should corid everyone too and just keep deworming more often than quarterly like I had planned before this. I dewormed in September and planned to do it December 23 but had to do it early.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry about the necropsy findings. Let us know when you get the final report later. It looks like she probably had mycoplama synovitis or MS, worms, coccidiosis, pneumonia, and lymphoma can be seen in Mareks or leukosis. Her liver with the small off white spots sounded like it was Mareks. Chickens with Mareks have low immunity and find it hard to fight common diseases.

Many people have Mareks in their flocks, and deal with it. It is best to close your flock. Some breed their chickens that don’t show any symptoms of Mareks. @coach723 has posted about her flock. I would worm your whole flock with albendazole or fenbendazole.

I'm sorry about the results. I agree with the above post, this is how I interpret the results too.

Treating with Albendazole is a good idea, make sure to give the follow up dose 10days after the initial dose. I notice the report says Capillary worms too, so these may have been one reason she was having some respiratory distress. Capillary worms can be more dangerous than ones like Cecal worms, so the Albendazole should take care of what is listed.

It may not be a bad idea to treat everyone with Corid too. Most adults have built resistance to the strains found in their environment, but when in decline or suffering from other conditions and failing like Scaley was, Coccidiosis can take hold quickly. The Corid is mild and shouldn't hurt them even if Coccidiosis is not a problem within the healthy flock.

Once you get done with deworming and treating with Corid, give some probiotics for a few days each week for a while.

Since you are in FL, you may find that you need to deworm more often because of your climate. I believe @dawg53 and @coach723 both deworm about once a month or so.

I dewormed with albendazole the day Scaley died. I saw the worms in her cecal poop the night before. I wonder if I should corid everyone too and just keep deworming more often than quarterly like I had planned before this. I dewormed in September and planned to do it December 23 but had to do it early.

 

[coach723]

I agree with everybody, sorry you may be dealing with Marek's. Try not to panic, in many cases it's manageable. Birds with Marek's are more susceptible to many other things due to weakened immune systems, so doing what you can to keep things clean, minimizing things that can cause them stress, doing what you can to keep them as healthy as possible, can help. Some strains are more virulent than others, so that makes a difference as well.
Also, don't beat yourself up, Marek's is much more common than many people realize. I have no doubt that there are chicken keepers out there that have lost birds to Marek's and have no idea. Symptoms can be variable, and do not always look like the common ones described in literature. It could have been on your property for a very long time, it can travel on the wind for miles, you will probably never know how it got there (assuming the test comes back positive).
Read as much as you can, research articles, educate yourself as much as you can on the disease and the vaccine. Then you can make decisions about it, in the way that works for you. I will link a very good article by @microchick below. Her experience was/is very similar to mine, but every flock is a little different, and none are exactly the same. It depends on the strain, the breeds of birds (some are more susceptible), individual immune systems, millions of variables.
I don't personally recommend OR discourage the vaccine, I think every person needs to research and make a decision that is comfortable for them, that works for them. The vaccine does not stop them from contracting, carrying, or spreading the virus. It only stops the vaccinated bird from developing the tumors associated with it, and thus reduces mortality in the flock. There is a school of thought that by preventing birds from succumbing to it, it may cause the virus to become more virulent by allowing them to live longer with it. It is very hard to find good studies that are understandable for laymen that help with the information. Read what you can find.
I also understand the desire to not keep birds that are going to get sick and die if it's preventable. Thus the individual decision we all have to make. There is also a long thread here, which I will also link below, on discussions of breeding to develop birds that are more resistant. There are some breeds, like Fayoumi's, which are naturally more resistant to the virus (fayoumi's are not for everyone, always research a breed before getting them to make sure they will fit in your particular circumstance).
After the first couple of years (and I'm pretty sure I lost one to Marek's early on that I didn't realize at the time what it was, my canary in the coal mine) things have settled down in my flock. I lost one last year, I currently have one that has obvious occular symptoms, and one very old bird that may or may not have Marek's, she's got odd symptoms, but she's also 14 going on 15 years old (unvaccinated and in a Marek's positive flock!), and has had the symptoms for years. That's out of 40 current birds. So things can and do calm down and become manageable in many cases. I also have to say, despite her longevity, every chick I ever hatched from her was lost to Marek's. When I started losing them I stopped hatching from her, and at this point she hasn't laid in years. So if you do get a positive, and choose to continue, I highly recommend keeping a simple journal or log, so you can remember what happened to whom, dates, whether they were vaccinated or not, any chicks that you can ID who the parents are (hatched in your flock), because over time it all runs together in memory. I try very hard to only hatch from asymptomatic birds, and not again from any bird whose chicks have been prone to developing symptoms.
On the parasite question, sadly Florida is an environment in which parasites thrive. It doesn't get cold enough for long enough, even in North Florida, to kill them off. It's one of the reasons you see so many pastures burnt every year, to help kill some of them off. Any animal that eats off the ground is going to pick them up. And there is really nothing you can do to get rid of them in the environment.
I moved my birds to a new coop on new ground a couple of years ago, which has helped some, I still have to worm about every three months. And eventually that might become monthly again. Every flock is different, every environment has it's own parasite load. Over time you will figure out how often you need to worm to keep your flock healthy. It's a pretty safe thing to do, so I wouldn't worry about how often it is, just do what you need to do. And parasites can make them much sicker than many people realize, as well. And pretty preventable. I even have to worm my dogs more often due to the feral cat population where I live, who leave deposits everywhere and my dogs end up with hookworm.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-i-learned-to-deal-with-mareks-disease.76944/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ding-for-resistance-to-mareks-disease.894589/

And lastly this one I posted several years ago. It has necropsy photo's, if that bothers you. It also has some comments by others, including one on the vaccine, that might be helpful and informative:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/necropsy-photos-graphic-mareks-disease-for-info.1525851/