Update 9/7-- Avian Leukosis!

[VettekLisa]

I have a pullet, about 9 months old. She has swollen lumps, I guess
is what I'd call them, on her left foot between two toes, and on the
left side of her face. She has not been sneezing, no discharge from
the eyes or nose, eating ok. She is limping some because of the
foot lump.
I have been applying dilute betadine to the lumps and giving her
Sulfatrim by mouth. The lumps do seem to be getting worse now.
The one on the left side of her face has now extended above and
below her eye. And her eye is now closed constantly. She is still
eating.
Any suggestions?
I have a few pics, but they aren't the best as taking pics by yourself is never easy.

 

[threehorses]

Did this baby come from vaccinated stock, vaccinated for Marek's? Can you get a picture of the bottom of her foot?

Because of eye involvement, I would highly recommend getting the service of an *avian* vet, truthfully.

Has the bird lost a good bit of weight?

 

[VettekLisa]

Thanks for the reply, threehorses.

I don't about the Marek's vaccination. I hatched this one
from eggs bought off Ebay.

I can get pics of the bottom of her foot tomorrow, but it looks
pretty normal to me. She has lost a little weight in the last
couple days, mostly because she can't see out of that eye to
find the food now. I have been giving her yogurt mixed with
the layer crumbles to encourage her to eat. She is still moving
around the pen.

None of the others are showing any symptoms like this at all.
I was wondering if it could be actual tumors.
I plan on taking her into my vet on Monday.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Well if you hatched it and didnt' vaccinate the chickens, then no - they're not vaccinated unfortunately. PM me if you'd like some articles if you'd like to know more about that possibility.

I'll look for the pictures of her foot. I'd like to hope it's just a staph infection and she somehow got it near her eye. I'm really curious what the vet says on Monday. I'm so sorry as she looks like a lovely little bird, and a real sweetheart.

 

[VettekLisa]

Just wanted to update this.
We put "Muffy" to sleep today.
She had stopped eating and drinking completely
and was just laying in one spot not moving.

My vet said that it looked like lymphoma to him from
cytology results. I sent her to A&M for a necropsy to
verify. No matter what it is I want to know.

All the other chickens that were in the pen with her
are completely normal still.
Thanks for your help, threehorses.

 

[threehorses]

I'm very sorry to hear that you lost her. But I'm quite relieved to hear that you sent the results off to TAM to get a histo done.
/hugs I wish I could have done more.

 

[VettekLisa]

Well, I got the necropsy report back today.
It is Avian Leukosis.

Since I sent Muffy off to the lab last Tuesday, I have now
lost 2 more Silkies. Both buffs, of course. Neither one of
these birds had any symptoms of anything. Just found them
dead in the run.
No one else is showing any symptoms of anything.

Any suggestions?

 

[crazyhen]

I am so sorry that you are dealing with this. It is very catching, and once they have it they become carriers. Use clorox strongly and scrub everything. Oxine can be sprayed over your birds and help kill the virus. It can pass vertically through the egg and also by feces. Where did you get your girls from?. Good luck with you pretty babies. Gloria Jean

 

[threehorses]

Oh, I'm so very sorry. ALV is absolutely some bad news.

Virkon-S (only get the one ending with S) is listed as definitely being effective against avian leukosis of the sero-type J, the cause of Lymphoid (avian) Leukosis. Unfortunately, Oxine does not show AVL of any sero-type on their efficacy sheet ( http://www.bio-cide.com/uploads/Efficacy Oxine.pdf ).

ALV is often asymptomatic, and it has a low morbidity (showing symptoms) and unfortunately high mortality. You're only really going to know if a histo is done, so honestly and practically you can assume that any bird that dies of Marek's symptoms or "mysteriously" can be likely ALV deaths.

There are no vaccinations that have worked (they all cause shedding of the disease) but they're still trying to get one. There are no treatments. The only prevention is by eradication through culling and selective breeding.

There are tests for LL using serology - in other words, live birds. I don't know at all how economically possible this would even be. What do you want to do with the flock? You can still keep them as pets - I would just never keep them with other birds as AVL is spread by the oral-fecal route, or through vertical transmission. You can never breed these to sell, never sell the hatching eggs, unless you can get the non-carriers identified and then retested in 4-6 months (the incubation time) to determine that they are indeed clean.

I would contact the people who did your necropsy and ask if they can do the serological testing on birds - and just get the information. It commits you to nothing.

Again, I'm so very sorry.

 

[VettekLisa]

Thank you, threehorses.

I am going to call Idexx labs tomorrow to find out how
much testing would run. I know that there are 3
different tests, and the one that uses cloacal swabs
would be the easiest. Finding a vein in a black skinned
silkie to draw blood from will not be the easiest thing to
do.

This was not good news for me. I bought these chickens
especially to show and breed. Now I've got lavender silkies
that are of no use to me, unless I get MAJORLY lucky and
they turn up negative on 2 tests.

How do large scale breeders deal with this kind of thing?