Upper Respiratory Going Downhill

[Wyorp Rock]

Sad Update:

We went to the avian vet tonight. He radiographed her and found a huge mass that was preventing her breathing and eating. I made the decision to put her down. Necropsy revealed Avian Leukosis. He said she was filled with cancer at 4.5 months old. And now my entire flock is exposed.
I am a first time chicken owner with 6 -- 7 mo olds, 1 --19 week old and 2 --17 week olds.
This is kind of devastating.

I'm sorry about your pullet.

It is good that you were able to see a vet and find out more information.
@azygous has dealt with Leukosis so she may be able to give you some tips on care and managing the disease.

 

[M Brennen]

Was the vet concerned about the other birds? I would just watch the others and keep them clean. One source I read said it’s not highly contagious and others infected may not develop tumors.

 

[azygous]

Lymphoid leucosis is extremely contagious. Your other chickens were exposed very likely at the same time this Legbar was. LL can come into your flock as easily as the wind blows or you take a walk and bring it home on the soles of your shoes.

But, it's not a death sentence to every single chicken that carries it. I'm reasonably certain my flock has had LL from the first two adult chickens I adopted to start my flock, yet I still have several of the first chicks I got soon after. They are now quite elderly, ranging in age from ten through twelve. That should reassure you that many chickens manage to live long, healthy lives in spite of carrying the leucosis virus.

Over the years, yes, chickens have died, but there were the normal range of causes from bacterial infection to reproductive disorders to accidents and predation. As you would expect in any flock.

When I learned, from a necropsy on an eleven-month old cockerel that had been hatched within my flock, that he had avian leucosis and what that meant for my flock, I was devastated as you are. But LL is one of the most common viruses known to infect poultry. More flocks carry this virus where the flock keepers are unaware of it than there are flocks where the virus has been diagnosed. This is because so many chickens develop resistance to the virus and never show any symptoms. Evidence of this in my flock are those elderly very healthy hens.

You can help your chickens achieve resistance by good care, good hygiene, good diet, and practice good bio-security so the LL virus stays in your flock and no other viruses get in.

Another encouraging note is that many breeders and hatcheries are breeding resistance into the more popular breeds so you shouldn't feel fearful in getting new chicks and having the flock you wish to have.

About the only real adjustment to heart ache I've had to do is to accept that I cannot hatch chicks from my flock. The virus is passed vertically as well as horizontally. That means that hens pass the virus directly to the embryo in the egg. This is what happened in my flock to cause most of the deaths I've had from LL. They either die in the egg or die before they reach one year.

But I continue to purchase baby chicks every other year or so to keep the broad range of ages I have, and it really does make for a most enjoyable flock. LL is something I'd rather my flock not have, but most of the time I have no reason to think about it, and most of my chickens have had no problems directly attributed to it.

 

[M Brennen]

Lymphoid Leukosis in Poultry
(Avian leukosis)
By
John Dunn
, DVM, MS, PhD, USDA-ARS-Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory
Last full review/revision Oct 2019 | Content last modified Oct 2019

“The virus is not highly contagious compared with other viral agents and is readily inactivated by disinfectants. Transmission can be reduced or eliminated by strict sanitation. After the infection is eradicated, standard disease control and sanitation practices can keep chicken flocks free of the disease. The role of males in transmission of avian leukosis virus is uncertain. Infected cocks apparently do not influence the rate of congenital infection of progeny but act only as virus carriers and sources of contact or venereal infection to other birds.”

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Merck and the Merck Veterinary Manual