Rest days are important and it sounds like you had a good day . Arias lucky to get an enjoyable outdoor chore! Betting she had some fun out there even if she grumbled the whole time .Sounds like a lovely birthday!! And that sand shark adventure looked awesome
I did get the report back :-( He died from severe emaciation and tumors in his kidneys and esophagus. They couldn’t confirm specific cause, just a lymphoproliferative disease. So they assume Mareks because of its commonness, but without further testing they can’t be certain. Since I have lost almost all of my birds from one coop and mostly males—it seems like an odd presentation of Mareks? Especially since some live for months after not walking. Nohope has been inside since early December and aside from not walking he’s totally fine. Eats, drinks, his poop is slightly darker than normal but he’s normal and shows occasional signs of not feeling well. I always read that Mareks was in final stages when they no longer walk. Two months is a long time I’d think, but I can’t say I really would know I guess. But viruses are weird. How can I have so many healthy birds if it’s something so contagious with high mortality? I’ve also read that silkies are really susceptible to both Mareks and ALV and I have three that live in the Death Coop without any issues. Never more than a runny nose. So odd. Soo, I will now be vaccinating all day olds straight from the incubator just to cover all the bases.
I'm glad you've got the rats beat for now too.
That's rough with the Marek's. It's a hard one to deal with. NoHope is one lucky little man in a some ways. I hope he hangs on for as long as he wants too.
On the bright side, knowing more about what's going on will hopefully help bring it to an end too.