PippinChicken
Songster
- Oct 28, 2017
- 168
- 110
- 131
I lost one of my favorite cockerels today. The first symptom I noticed was on Friday afternoon, he was sitting in a favored sunny spot and did not want to stand back up. I picked him up and felt that he was very thin. He seemed weak and very reluctant to stand (although he had put himself into the coop the previous night and left normally that morning). He wouldn't do more than a little shuffle on the ground. I separated him and examined him a bit. My fear with anything leg related is obviously Marek's (never had it so I'm always worried my luck has finally run out), but his legs seemed more weak than paralyzed. He reacted to toes being pinched and would move his legs slightly if held upright (so they were sticking outwards). Normal eyes, normal skin, and he was able to use his wings to not only keep himself upright but also right himself if I laid him on his side. He had an appetite still the first day, but not after that. There was some social shakeup in the flock a few days prior so I was hoping that as the youngest/smallest, he had just been getting chased away from food and water and was malnourished. Today's Wednesday and every day I'd been feeding him two eggs, some nutridrench, and syringing water into his mouth since he had stopped drinking. His crop was not emptying fully at night and his droppings looked normal but smelled extra nasty.
He passed a couple hours ago so I did the best at home necropsy I could to see if he was full of Marek's looking tumors. He was not, but he wasn't normal either. First, he STANK. I often butcher our extra boys and he did not smell like a healthy dead chicken. Next thing--which remained the most off looking thing--was his livers. They were discolored and had patches on them. The patches were hard. Next thing was there was some clear fluid around the heart. The duodenum looked discolored to me too, and there was one little white bump on the intestine.
Any ideas what this guy may have been suffering from? There have been no recent flock introductions and everyone else seems good so hopefully it's nothing infectious?
He passed a couple hours ago so I did the best at home necropsy I could to see if he was full of Marek's looking tumors. He was not, but he wasn't normal either. First, he STANK. I often butcher our extra boys and he did not smell like a healthy dead chicken. Next thing--which remained the most off looking thing--was his livers. They were discolored and had patches on them. The patches were hard. Next thing was there was some clear fluid around the heart. The duodenum looked discolored to me too, and there was one little white bump on the intestine.
Any ideas what this guy may have been suffering from? There have been no recent flock introductions and everyone else seems good so hopefully it's nothing infectious?
But those looked normal to my eye as well. We are actually NPIP certified so unless they've managed to get exposed something at home since our last testing, typhoid should be off the table. Histomoniasis sounds like a pretty good fit... young bird with rapid onset and death, although he didn't have as many liver lessons as the pictures I'm seeing.
