Unidentified issues

[Anika8]

First off, sorry for the long post. I am at my wits end and don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have had birds in the past, I raised dozens by hand and most lived until long after they stopped laying. Recently I got a place and am able to have them again but this has been the absolute worst experience and I don't understand what is going on. I have big dogs in the house so I decided to purchase birds from a local place that buys chicks, raises them for a few months, then sells them. They operate under the same regulations as a hatchery so I figured they'd work out well. I picked up 6, then placed an order for 9 more once they were available. The first 6 never acted like chickens. They didn't roost until they were nearly 7 months old, didn't peck at anything that wasn't crumble, didn't really scratch much. I was thinking of them as puppy mill chickens with no life experience. Since then I have lost 4 of the 6. I had a coccidia issue that I didn't know what it was, lost 2 essentially overnight before I found info here on how to handle it with Corid. When I brought the next batch home, I picked up medicated feed hoping that that would give the new birds a chance to build up immunity to the native coccidia. Prior to moving everyone together, I discovered that 2 of the original 6 had Merricks. They were euthanized and I cleaned everything as thoroughly as I could. Now I have everyone together, the new ones and the 2 that were left. I went out there to give them treats 2 weeks ago and found one dead. I've had one hen develop wry neck in the past week. Then another baby didn't roost one night and had a bit of clearish poop and was dead when I went to check on her the next morning. The young ones are about 6 months old now, and the older 2 are 8 months. This has all been over the past 6 months, with 2 months of them all being separated. The coop is brand new, no other birds have ever been kept on the property.They had a bit of diarrhea during the coccidia issue but otherwise have had no recognizable symptoms. What am I missing here?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

discovered that 2 of the original 6 had Merricks.

I'm no expert but it sounds to me as if the birds you bought already had Merek's when you got them. If no chickens have ever been on the property before, that's the only explanation.

Let me tag in a couple of Educators to see if they agree or have any other insights or suggestions. I'm really sorry about your experiences!

@Eggcessive @azygous @coach723

 

[azygous]

I totally sympathize with your tragic predicament. Were the two birds you euthanized for Marek's sent to a lab to confirm Marek's?

Once Marek's is on the premises, it can take up to two years for the pathogen to degrade in the soil. Even thorough cleaning can't get it out of the dirt.

The only way to adequately manage Marek's is to avoid adult chickens and only buy Marek's vaxed chicks.

Also, a certified breeder still can have a Marek's or leucosis problem. The only safe and sure way to start a flock is with hatchery baby chicks. All other sources are risky.

 

[Anika8]

I confirmed prior to ever picking them up that they were vaccinated for Marek's. The place that I bought them from buys vaccinated chicks to raise and when I was originally suspicious of it, I contacted them again just to be sure I didn't misread that. After having pretty much every symptom of it, I euthanized them and buried them. I originally thought the first hen just had a splay leg issue that had been missed because of the mass housing set up. When the second hen had the same symptoms pop up and the first had gotten worse. I knew I had been very wrong. I just dismissed the possibility initially because they had been vaccinated.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I wouldn’t advise euthanizing any more birds. Any that survive will be resistant and if you get vaccinated chicks in future you will have a more resilient flock than if you euthanize and get vaccinated chicks since it is already in your soil.

 

[Anika8]

Ok so I guess my next question becomes what do I do from here? I have been giving poultrydrench to the one with wry neck hoping that it's a vitamin e issue, maybe caused from the coccidia damaging her ability to absorb nutrients? Is that possible? And what could have caused the 2 unexplained deaths?

 

[coach723]

Without a professional necropsy, it's impossible to know. There are state labs, many are very reasonable. I would recommend that your next loss, you have the bird necropsied. They will do labs and if you do have something viral going on, they will hopefully tell you what it is. There are some other diseases that can look like Marek's (lymphoid leukosis for one), so it's really a good idea to get a positive identification so you know for sure. If you have it confirmed, then it's assumed after that, but without positive confirmation, it's possible that it's something else. It's also possible to lose more than one bird in succession and have it be coincidence. It can happen.
For wry neck treatment, you are better off using a straight vitamin E supplement, you need the higher level to get it reversed, if that's what it's caused by. You can use human gel caps, poke a hole in it and squeeze into the beak, or just pop it in and have them swallow it. Some selenium to help with the absorption of the E is helpful, you can use sunflower seeds, tuna, scrambled egg.
Marek's disease is more common than most realize, and it can be brought in by wild birds. The vaccine does not prevent them from being infected with it, it just reduces the incidence of the tumors formed by the disease and reduces mortality. So a vaccinated bird can still be infected, it's just much less likely to die. The vaccine does not cause Marek's disease, but a vaccinated bird that is exposed and infected can spread it. That is why a Marek's positive flock should be a closed flock, any bird that comes in will be exposed, any bird that leaves could spread it elsewhere.
This is a list of state labs, contact your nearest and get particulars so that you know what to do to get one necropsied. If you live close enough you may be able to drop off rather than ship to them.
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html