Sick Lavender Orpington?

[inky123]

We have a Lavender Orpington hen (DeeBee) that has become ill. Her comb is pale and she has lost weight and is very thin. She seems lethargic much of the time. This has been going on for about 3 weeks. A couple of times we have seen her "wobble" when walking, but it has only happened a couple of times and both times it appeared more like a mis-step than any actual loss of balance. We initially dosed her with Corid, followed by worming her with Valbazen. We have provided her with probiotics and added a high protein food to her diet. Today we took her to the vet, who suggested the possibility of Marek’s, but could not say for sure. The vet gave her an antibiotic and vitamins and we brought her home hoping for the best.

Here is some background. We have had a backyard chicken flock for 8 years and added DeeBee and three other Lavender Orpingtons to that flock at the end of June. Until the addition of the 4 Lavenders our flock consisted of 12 Bantams, all of which are now 6 to 8 years old. Our chickens are allowed to free range during the day and come back to the coop at night. The coop itself is always kept clean (as clean as you can keep a chicken coop anyway) and consists of a 6’ X 8’ coop with an additional attached 6’ x 8’ “four seasons room” which provides a screened room in the spring, summer and fall and an enclosed “solarium” in the winter, so there is plenty of ventilation. We have never had any health problems among the bantams.

In late June we added 4 Lavender Orpington hens to the flock. To the best of our knowledge they are about a year and a half old. We kept them segregated before allowing them to begin free ranging with our flock. When the segregation period was over they began free ranging and seemed to integrate well with the flock. On August 5th, we purchased 7 day-old chicks (3 Lavender Orpingtons, 3 Silver Laced Black Wyandottes and 1 Ameracauna) and placed them with an 8 year old bantam, who was broody. We kept them completely separate from the others until a week ago, when we allowed them to begin free ranging.

About 3 weeks ago one of the four Lavender Orpingtons hens suddenly passed away. It happened very quickly; one day she was happily mooching treats from us and the next day we noticed she didn’t come mooching and found her huddled by a hay bale. She literally died minutes later. There were no wounds on her, and the only clues we saw were her sudden lethargy, her comb being pale, and after she passed a small amount of yellowish liquid escaped from her beak.

The next day we noticed DeeBee’s comb also looked pale. We dosed the entire flock with Corid for 5 days just to be safe. DeeBee showed no change. We also wormed her; still no change. DeeBee keeps hanging on, and her feathers that had been molting are growing back in. However, she seems to go in spurts; she will be go from lethargic to happily pecking and running around the yard, then back to being lethargic. Sometimes she eats happily for a bit and other times she is completely disinterested. Her comb remains pale. We have seen no signs of paralysis in the legs or wings, her neck is not turned or twisted and her eyes are clear. The other lavender that passed away was DeeBee's buddy; they always hung together.

We are concerned not only for DeeBee, but also for the other remaining 2 Lavenders (who appear fine) and the remainder of our flock, especially the baby chicks. No one else has shown any signs of illness so far, which makes us hopeful. Unfortunately, our vet said if it is Marek’s the little chicks would not show any signs until they are older, which has us worried. Any knowledge anyone could share would be greatly appreciated.

PS Sorry this post was so long, wanted to include any information that could possibly be pertinent.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old were the birds that died?

Sometimes birds just die. As you've seen by your vet visit it can be really hard to pinpoint a reason for it. Generally I think there's something wrong internally like organ failure, or even that the bird ate something it shouldn't have like string or nails.

When you get birds from multiple sources they can be carriers to things other birds have no immunity to, so they could have picked something up from the new ones and succumbed to it. Quarantine doesn't help that sort of stuff.

I limit my new birds to one source these days and only get day olds or hatching eggs to minimize problems.

I see more illness and loses in fall than any other time of year. The shifting weather combined with migrating birds bringing in diseases I think are the main causes.

I recently lost a hen that was a year old. Fine one day, and dying the next. It does happen.

Mareks is considered everywhere. Many birds carry it or have been exposed to it. It can lie dormant in a bird until the bird is stressed enough that it causes problems.

I don't think Mareks because that generally causes some leg paralysis and it can take a few weeks to die, but you never can tell until you do a necropsy.

For some reason I will lose birds in groups, 2 or 3 in a month or two time frame, than nothing for a year again. I would only worry if birds were dying one after another or multiple birds in one day.

 

[inky123]

How old were the birds that died?

Sometimes birds just die. As you've seen by your vet visit it can be really hard to pinpoint a reason for it. Generally I think there's something wrong internally like organ failure, or even that the bird ate something it shouldn't have like string or nails.

When you get birds from multiple sources they can be carriers to things other birds have no immunity to, so they could have picked something up from the new ones and succumbed to it. Quarantine doesn't help that sort of stuff.

I limit my new birds to one source these days and only get day olds or hatching eggs to minimize problems.

I see more illness and loses in fall than any other time of year. The shifting weather combined with migrating birds bringing in diseases I think are the main causes.

I recently lost a hen that was a year old. Fine one day, and dying the next. It does happen.

Mareks is considered everywhere. Many birds carry it or have been exposed to it. It can lie dormant in a bird until the bird is stressed enough that it causes problems.

I don't think Mareks because that generally causes some leg paralysis and it can take a few weeks to die, but you never can tell until you do a necropsy.

For some reason I will lose birds in groups, 2 or 3 in a month or two time frame, than nothing for a year again. I would only worry if birds were dying one after another or multiple birds in one day.

Thank you very much for your reply. The Chicken that passed away was about 1 1/2 years old. DeeBee, our current sick hen, is the same age and was her flock buddy. DeeBee, however has been sick for 3 weeks whereas her buddy died suddenly. The other two Lavender Orpingtons that we purchased with them (all purchased as adults in June) are exhibiting no symptoms of illness whatsoever and neither are members of our "old" flock of bantams (all who have been here from 6 to 8 years) exhibiting any symptoms of illness.

Should we ever add to the flock in the future, I will follow your lead and limit additions to day-old chicks from a specific breeder/hatchery that we know to be reputable.

We look at our chickens as pets and I feel absolutely terrible that we added these 4 beautiful Lavender Orpington hens to our flock and now 3 months later one has passed away and another has become ill.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Unfortunately with chickens they do sometimes just go. They aren't always long lived. Sounds like both deaths were unrelated and from different things so I don't think I would worry too much. I say enjoy them while they are here. Some of mine have shorter lives than others and a few hang around a lot longer, my oldest is currently 9. I do understand the worry though, I get attached to some of mine too.

 

[Kcacciaguida]

My lavender Orphington died and I had a necropsy done. Viral cancer. I was told this was common with recessive genetic breeding. No symptoms at all they just die. All her organs were swollen similar to Merecks.
It Comes from the mother from the egg and usually all chicks in that same brooder and flock get it. This is what I was told. Very sad.

 

[leeiachicks]

So are lavenders prone to problems. I have hatched 5 two died at two weeks and I have another one that has watery puffy eyes. I have been given deneguard but hasn’t helped. Nothing has, one moment it looks fine then the next it’s sick looking again!

 

[TheTitanHens]

So are lavenders prone to problems. I have hatched 5 two died at two weeks and I have another one that has watery puffy eyes. I have been given deneguard but hasn’t helped. Nothing has, one moment it looks fine then the next it’s sick looking again!

I wish I knew but I’m suspecting. Only because I’ve had two lavenders die one last month and the other one this month. It was sudden in the first one and the other one passes from what we thought was grief. I’ve already gotten some more lavender chicks to fill out my flock(of mostly buff Orpingtons and barred rocks) but I’m worried with the lavender breed already.

 

[LouiseBailey]

We unfortunately bought 4 lavenders last year and our neighbor friend bought 2. We just suddenly lost 2 and our neighbor suddenly lost 1, all come from the same flock purchased at Tractor Supply. This seems to be a genetic issue that ties into being a breeder problem, so now we sadly know not to buy from TS. It's so upsetting to know that breeders can get away with this, though sadly we contributed by buying the trendy designer chicken. These breeds don't even look nor act like proper Orpingtons neither. Live and learn.