Unsure if hen has coccidiosis, Marek's or other illness (video)

[TundraGhost]

I'm faced with a tough decision this weekend. My little hen, Faye, isn't doing too well. I'm feeling that the best thing to do for her might be to put her to sleep. She began looking hunched over, and less energetic. Had watery yellow/green droppings. I have been treating her for coccidiosis with Amprolium and E-lytes. Initially, I was administering these through her drinking water, but she lost interest in drinking. (I recently made a post for advice on medicated water too). For the last 4 days I have given her the Amprolium straight with a syringe, and the E-lytes straight for the last 2 days. She has only been slowly getting worse, though.

It might not have been coccidiosis at all, and perhaps Marek's Disease or similar. She's currently having these symptoms...

• Yellow/green diarrhea
• Left leg is tucked under her, right leg is stretched out. She's constantly leaning on one side unless propped up. However this morning I pressed my finger nail into her left foot and she reacted, so it's not paralyzed. I didn't check the right one.
• She tries to steady herself and push across the ground with her wings. Not walking at all.
• Not drinking unless water is held right up to her beak.
• Not eating commercial feed, only sugary fruits like blueberries or apples.
• Lost weight.

Yesterday and this morning she has been holding her mouth open and stretching out or neck, almost like she's adjusting her crop. She makes subtle burping sounds, but she's been doing it all night likely. I took a video of her doing this as well. I've propped her up with some rolled up towels to at least keep her balance. I half expected to wake up and find her gone this morning.

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I'm afraid my sweet girl is suffering, and I'm struggling with the idea of having to say goodbye to her. She's only 2 and I hate the thought of it. Part of me feels like that's the best thing, another part wonders if I'm missing something. Like I haven't done enough or I haven't done it right. I have tried to get ahold of our local farm vet, but they often take a week or so to get back to me as they're busy with other matters. After I post this I'm going to try and get some food into her and some water.

 

[azygous]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to confirm your conclusion that your sweet little hen is near death, and euthanasia is the right decision. This I can tell from seeing her in your video.

She could have Marek's and it could also be lymphoid leucosis. And leucosis is what I suspect. It's like Marek's with only some minor differences. If it's either one of these avian viruses, then your whole flock carries it.

I have leucosis in my flock. When one becomes symptomatic, it usually means that tumors have taken over her organs, heart, lungs, liver, etc. It causes difficulty in breathing and toxins build up in the body due the an enlarged liver.

Where are you located? One of the best things you can do for yourself and your flock is to contact your state animal testing lab, and take her there while she's still alive. They will euthanize her for you and do a necropsy, and they can usually tell you which virus she has. This is very important for managing your flock going forward. Yes, it's possible to still have a flock with these avian viruses.

 

[TundraGhost]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to confirm your conclusion that your sweet little hen is near death, and euthanasia is the right decision. This I can tell from seeing her in your video.

She could have Marek's and it could also be lymphoid leucosis. And leucosis is what I suspect. It's like Marek's with only some minor differences. If it's either one of these avian viruses, then your whole flock carries it.

I have leucosis in my flock. When one becomes symptomatic, it usually means that tumors have taken over her organs, heart, lungs, liver, etc. It causes difficulty in breathing and toxins build up in the body due the an enlarged liver.

Where are you located? One of the best things you can do for yourself and your flock is to contact your state animal testing lab, and take her there while she's still alive. They will euthanize her for you and do a necropsy, and they can usually tell you which virus she has. This is very important for managing your flock going forward. Yes, it's possible to still have a flock with these avian viruses.

Thank you for your reply, and I live in Newfoundland, Canada. I have called 3 vets today that claim to be open on Google, but none of them are accepting calls until Monday. So I am trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

I'll have to see with our local farm vet if they can do a necropsy and how much it may cost. Do you know if they will be able to give her remains back? If possible I would like to bury her with the rest of our dear pets over the years. But if not, the health of the others is more important.

 

[azygous]

I'm sure the lab would honor your request and return her remains, probably minus the organs they will need to slice and dice for testing.

If you fail to find a clinic or lab to do the testing, you can attempt a rudimentary necropsy yourself. It would involve simply opening the abdominal cavity and examining the organs. While the main indicator for Marek's is an inflamed sciatic nerve and not easy to see, the organs in a leucosis bird are far more obvious and even the greenest novice can spot the enlarged liver, (one of mine had a two-pound liver) and small white tumors dotting all the organs, especially the liver.

It takes no more than five minutes to do this, and it may give you enough information that you'll know what is killing this hen.

 

[TundraGhost]

She's gone...
We tried to give her a bite to eat and some water, and next thing she just shut down and passed in my sister's hands. It was very sudden.
I did put her in a freezer for a day or two until I figure out the necropsy situation. I want to be prepared in case the rest of them get something like this.

 

[azygous]

Do not freeze. Refrigerate. They can't accurately necropsy a frozen bird.

 

[TundraGhost]

Update — It was an abnormal case of being egg bound
I got the necropsy results, and that is what was up with my little Faye. Thankfully no Marek's or Lymphoid Leucosis or similar. Initially when I noticed her acting strange (hunched over, tail drooping, not moving as much) I immediately assumed she was egg bound. I tried to feel for an egg, and I gave her two Epsom salt baths to try and relax her, but nothing came of it. The look of her poop was yellow/green and very runny at the time too, all things considered I started thinking it might be coccidiosis. So that's when we started treating for that.

I was always told an egg bound hen would likely last about a two days or so, so the fact that she was going on for four weeks made me very convinced she wasn't egg bound. Plus when she began favouring one side/leaning on one leg, it made me wonder about Marek's or paralysis.

Do not freeze. Refrigerate. They can't accurately necropsy a frozen bird.

Also thank you for bringing this to my attention, I didn't consider the damage freezing a body could do and figured it was the correct approach. Thankfully when I called the vet that does necropsies they told me freezing her would be fine in most cases as long as it wasn't for a long period of time (which she described as 'a really long time'). I'm sure other necropsy services might say different though.

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The vet also did offer her remains back only if they were cremated, which I had to pay a bit for but she was the first hen that I lost and she was treated like a pet. So against most of my friends/family's opinions I did get her remains back so she can be with our other passed pets. Probably one of the stranger things I've done, but I don't regret it in the slightest.