chickens are getting sick and dying randomly. please help me diagnose :(

[madsnbot]

Hi everyone today i’m absolutely devastated. Another one of my hens is acting sick and lethargic and I have no idea what’s wrong with my flock. For some backstory, two months ago I had two chickens die from an unknown illness. They were both acting lethargic and got worse as the days passed. They stopped eating, drinking, and eventually died. One of them had liquid poop caked onto his butt also. I have a whole post about this on my account that you can look at if you’d like. Anyways I thought it was just some illness that went through my flock and passed but I guess I am wrong. Yesterday I checked on my chickens and I noticed my cochin acting very weird. She was acting lethargic and couldn’t walk right when i took her out of the coop. She was stumbling around for a while but eventually was walking normal again. Well today when I went out to feed them she again was acting weird and lethargic but was walking fine. I checked her butt and there was liquid poop on her feathers. So obviously there is something wrong with her and i’m assuming it’s the same thing that killed my other two chickens a few months ago. I have her separated from the rest of my flock. I tried my best to figure out what was wrong with them but couldn’t. Maybe mareks? I really don’t know. Someone PLEASE help me diagnose them, I really want to help my flock if I can. thanks for reading

 

[nuthatched]

What is their diet? Have you checked their crops or for worms?

 

[BigECart]

I would send one to get a necropsy done. You should research how to do it, where to send it. I know you can’t freeze the bird.

Marek’s is pretty devastating to deal with. I lost 7 of my first 9. I lost a couple of my older hens and one of my younger ones last year, but for the most part my flocks have been doing well since that initial diagnosis.

Good luck!

 

[madsnbot]

What is their diet? Have you checked their crops or for worms?

I feed them dumor all flock. All their crops seem fine. Not too long ago I treated them for worms just in case even though I haven’t seen any. They free range in my yard.

 

[madsnbot]

I would send one to get a necropsy done. You should research how to do it, where to send it. I know you can’t freeze the bird.

Marek’s is pretty devastating to deal with. I lost 7 of my first 9. I lost a couple of my older hens and one of my younger ones last year, but for the most part my flocks have been doing well since that initial diagnosis.

Good luck!

I’ll have to do this if she does pass. Thank you!

 

[madsnbot]

update: Sadly my hen did pass away today. At least she didn’t suffer for a long time. I do believe it’s Mareks because I don’t know what else would kill off my chickens slowly like this. Unless anyone else has any ideas on what else it could be. Thank u guys for the support

 

[Farmgirl283420]

update: Sadly my hen did pass away today. At least she didn’t suffer for a long time. I do believe it’s Mareks because I don’t know what else would kill off my chickens slowly like this. Unless anyone else has any ideas on what else it could be. Thank u guys for the support

Oh no I'm so sorry

 

[BigECart]

I’m so sorry. Mareks is an awful disease. I have been ordering vaccinated chicks from McMurray ever since I lost 7 of 9 chickens to Mareks. I have had 2, maybe 3 younger hens contract Mareks and I’ve noticed that many of my older (8+ year old) hens also develop Mareks as their immune system weakens. I did have one hen who actually fully recovered from Mareks, which is very uncommon. All that to say, don’t give up. You can still keep chickens after Mareks. Here are my girls, four 3-year olds and two 9-year olds. I have 7 chicks in the brooder.

 

[madsnbot]

ty! i just had another chicken die randomly. i don’t know if it was mareks this time(if they do have mareks) i’m just so completely frustrated with it all. going to make another post now

 

[BigECart]

ty! i just had another chicken die randomly. i don’t know if it was mareks this time(if they do have mareks) i’m just so completely frustrated with it all. going to make another post now

Your best bet is to send it for a necropsy. That way you will know for sure. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I was doing wrong because the breeder insisted that it couldn’t be Mareks. While devastating, at least knowing it is Mareks gave me a path forward.