urgent help, one chicken is dying and the others might follow

[C3 mommy]

Maybe try a feed mash, just soak it in water so it's soft. I would give her another day with that and see what happens.

 

[Kat C]

Just made the call to the vet, after explaining that besides the start of the treatment only made 24h, the animal is not showing any improvement and is has been like this for 3 days now.

Was trying to feed her again, she actually grabbed a pellet food for some times but then she drops them and chews with empty beak. She drank a bit more but without food she will keep going down.

So we are going to cull it today. So sad but it is for the best I believe. I am very animal friendly and watching them suffer is something I really do not bear.

Thanks to all who helped me over here.

I also got wood shavings today so the other chickens will go again inside the coop.

I know culling is a hard call, but I believe in many cases it is the kindest call. Sorry for your loss but I applaud you for doing the hard but right thing.

 

[cmaranhao]

it is done, not easy at all, but if it was me and no one knew what was wrong I would be thankful.

once again many thanks for everything.

one last question. what should I do with the feeder, drinker, etc that were with Susete? if I wash them can I use them with Lisete and Lurdete?

edit> I did try wetting the feed yesterday and she also did not eat.

 

[Kat C]

Probably washing is enough, but you might feel better if you use a bit of chlorine bleach to disinfect. Marek's is a herpes virus http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/90/mareks-disease/
This site says for human herpes "Use a fresh cloth to disinfect those areas with fresh bleach solution consisting of ¼ cup of chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water. " https://healthfully.com/disinfect-herpes-shingles-virus-6174857.html

There is a Marek's vaccine but read up about it before thinking about vaccinating your other birds. Apparently they can become carriers. We have had chicks die from Marek's but haven't had any for a while so gradually it seems our flock has become Marek's resistance through the selection by culling process. I'm not sure we ever had any adult cases but if we did the dire predictions of all birds dying didn't happen

 

[cmaranhao]

until now the other chickens seem to be doing fine, Lisete is also laying eggs since sunday, one per day everyday.

lets hope they keep going without problems.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Mareks is best confirmed with a necropsy by a poultry vet. They diagnose it by testing feather shafts and tumor cells. I would get some permethrin 10 spray to treat your chickens and your coop every 10 days 2-3 times for the lice. The permethrin will kill the lice, and then their eggs will hatch every 10 days, so the next treatment will get the newly hatched lice before they hatch.
Diatomatacious earth (DE) will not treat a lice or mite infestation. Here is a food article about lice in chickens:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a long but very helpful article about Mareks disease:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[Nats Chickens]

so sorry about your girl. it is always hard to lose a pet. [I may seem heartless pointing this out right now] those are not australorps you have. at least by AU and USA standards. look like australorp crosses such as black stars to me, hope your other gals are all right.

 

[SimplyLivinthatFarmLife]

So sorry for your loss. I lost two girls to what I believe was Marek's disease as well.

 

[cmaranhao]

Sorry for your loss. Mareks is best confirmed with a necropsy by a poultry vet. They diagnose it by testing feather shafts and tumor cells. I would get some permethrin 10 spray to treat your chickens and your coop every 10 days 2-3 times for the lice. The permethrin will kill the lice, and then their eggs will hatch every 10 days, so the next treatment will get the newly hatched lice before they hatch.
Diatomatacious earth (DE) will not treat a lice or mite infestation. Here is a food article about lice in chickens:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

Just came from a local store dedicated to rural and animal type of stuff, my hope is that they have the permethrin or equivalent since the last product I bought did not solve the problem at all. In the meantime my chickens still have lice, for how long can this go on until I have a major problem in my hands?

I notice they shake their heads from time to time, they also scratch themselves, mainly neck and head.. and caught them several times doing dust baths. I have also seen Lurdete with 3 or 4 of those crawlers on her feathers jumping to the ground.

since I am in Europe, I just made a search on amazon.uk, amazon.de and amazon.es to see if I can get the permethrin but the search result does not seem to be what I am looking for. USA and Europe are very apart in these type of things so if you can help me a bit more I will be very appreciated.

One thing that I am now doing different is adding apple cider vinagre in their water once per week, read this will help with the lice. is this OK or shall I increase to twice per week?

Here is a long but very helpful article about Mareks disease:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

this morning when I went to feed the chickens and add water, Lisete had one of her wings falling to the ground for a split second. I am terrified once more, can she be showing signs of Marek decay also? She is fine for now but I saw her wing down, similar to what Susete had to a certain extent (not so bad). I have to keep my eyes open, this is so frustrating, my poor chickens!

so sorry about your girl. it is always hard to lose a pet. [I may seem heartless pointing this out right now] those are not australorps you have. at least by AU and USA standards. look like australorp crosses such as black stars to me, hope your other gals are all right.

actually I also suspected of that since day 1 because of certain details do not match what I saw online but no problem, I like them either way, australorp or not they are very nice! thanks for letting me know though!

So sorry for your loss. I lost two girls to what I believe was Marek's disease as well.

I know the feeling unfortunately, I do not really want to go through this disease again.