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Author Topic: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly  (Read 6353 times)

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« on: August 24, 2015, 01:20:16 pm »
Can anyone help me. I bought 5 copper black maran pullets about a month ago at about 15 weeks old. They settled in really well and found a place within the pecking order with my other hens. All eating fine, roosting at night and looking healthy. On Friday I found one of them dead, thought nothing of it other than bad luck. On Saturday morning another looked ill, her wings had gone limp and she found it hard balancing, very hunched up. We culled her and interestingly when my partner did the deed she didn't flap after at all. The other 3 were looking fine both on Saturday and yesterday. This morning 1 is looking like she's going down the same route, limp wings so I expect I will need to cull her before tonight. Another is walking round with her wings not tucked up as high as they would normally. The last one at the moment is looking ok.


The rest of my hens and cockerels are absolutely fine and (apart from the mud thanks to the rain these past few days) are happy and healthy. They are all over year hens and the roosters are 2/3 yrs old.


Could this be mareks? I have done nothing different with these pullets than any of my other hens. They were healthy and happy for 4 weeks and now I doubt I"ll have any left by the weekend if they carry on at this rate  :-[  If I was to cull any more is it worth us opening one up and seeing what's going on inside?

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2015, 01:27:14 pm »
Common symptom of Mareks is the pupil of the eye going grey.  Avian Leukosis has some shared symptoms.  In both cases the chickens can often take quite a few days to expire.  Are they able to hold their necks up OK (?Limber Neck).  Are their droppings different from usual?  Are they eating and drinking OK up to the point where they're obviously unwell?  Have they had access to long grass or lots of veg and is smelly liquid issuing from their beak when they die (? Sour Crop). 

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2015, 01:46:09 pm »
Def not sour crop, all eating ok until they get ill. No long grass, they have veg scraps but not had any for a week or so. Their droppings are quite watery thinking about it? The thing that makes me think it's mareks is only my young pullets are affected… 

Stereo

  • Joined Aug 2012
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2015, 03:48:49 pm »
Cocci? I've had this break out at that age. Got some stuff to treat pigeons off the net and it sorted them. Had about 20 Welsummers who just started hunching up and dying one by one. Mucky or closed up eyes is another sign. The meds stopped the dying within a day and after the full treatment they were all OK. Took a while to get full vitality back but now you wouldn't know. Sadly, the cockerels had to be binned as you can't eat them after treatment.

If they've just gone onto grass this might be a possibility. Good luck, I know how it feels.

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2015, 03:54:14 pm »
Cocci? I've had this break out at that age. Got some stuff to treat pigeons off the net and it sorted them. Had about 20 Welsummers who just started hunching up and dying one by one. Mucky or closed up eyes is another sign. The meds stopped the dying within a day and after the full treatment they were all OK. Took a while to get full vitality back but now you wouldn't know. Sadly, the cockerels had to be binned as you can't eat them after treatment.

If they've just gone onto grass this might be a possibility. Good luck, I know how it feels.

Do you mean the Harker's coccidiostat Stereo? I use that too. Can birds who have had it never be eaten or is there just the usual withdrawal period?
Is it time to retire yet?

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2015, 04:11:13 pm »
I don't think it's cocci... Might be wrong but the main most debilitating symptom is the paralysis, the birds in early stages still seem to be bright in themselves and eating but wobbly. Later stages they almost fall over but eyes are still open and they are still aware of surroundings. I have contacted our vet and just waiting to hear back about doing a pm on one of the birds that I think we will have to cull.

Stereo

  • Joined Aug 2012
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2015, 04:19:19 pm »
Cocci? I've had this break out at that age. Got some stuff to treat pigeons off the net and it sorted them. Had about 20 Welsummers who just started hunching up and dying one by one. Mucky or closed up eyes is another sign. The meds stopped the dying within a day and after the full treatment they were all OK. Took a while to get full vitality back but now you wouldn't know. Sadly, the cockerels had to be binned as you can't eat them after treatment.

If they've just gone onto grass this might be a possibility. Good luck, I know how it feels.

Do you mean the Harker's coccidiostat Stereo? I use that too. Can birds who have had it never be eaten or is there just the usual withdrawal period?

Yes, that's it. As far as I know, they should never be eaten. But then again, you probably get much worse in a Big Mac!

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2015, 04:20:49 pm »
Has one of your groups of birds been vaccinated against Marek's and the other not?

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2015, 04:42:42 pm »
Not sure about the ex commercials but there are other just over year old hens in the flock that I hatched and weren't vaccinated

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2015, 05:32:41 pm »
I bought some Copper Marans at POL  a couple of years back and after integration into my homebred flock they just started dying off one at a time. Symptoms were very similar to yours, but they also killed off all of my hens that were in that house... No idea what it was at the time, my thoughts had been Mareks, but of course didn't get it confirmed.

Have since then stopped buying in female birds, only eggs or bringing in adult (from non-commercial non-vaccinated holdings) cockerels and home-breed replacements...

Sorry not much help, but I commiserate...

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #10 on: August 24, 2015, 05:49:00 pm »
Thanks. I spoke to vet who advised for this small number of pullets not to post mortem due to cost but to treat it as Mareks and cull the remaining 3. He said the rest of my flock should be old enough not to contract it but agreed that in the future only buy stock vaccinated against it. I don't really want to hatch any chickens out as I seem to have bad luck and hatch mainly males (both duck and chickens... the drakes are quicker to finish and tastier than eating cockerels so just stick to hatching ducks now) plus space is limited. Last year I ended up with 3 pullets and 15 roosters... >:(

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #11 on: August 24, 2015, 06:03:42 pm »
??? really?
But you don't know that it is Mareks?
You might be culling 3 healthy hens when , as you vet says, your older hens aren't at risk.
Id be inclined to wait, albeit ready to cull immediately that another goes off. In the meantime Id treat for cocci
Is it time to retire yet?

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #12 on: August 24, 2015, 06:27:22 pm »
I'd tend to assume ex-commercials had been vaccinated.  Some birds will shed the virus, although being unaffected by it, at times of stress, like coming into lay, moulting, joining a new flock ....

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #13 on: August 24, 2015, 06:50:26 pm »
??? really?
But you don't know that it is Mareks?
You might be culling 3 healthy hens when , as you vet says, your older hens aren't at risk.
Id be inclined to wait, albeit ready to cull immediately that another goes off. In the meantime Id treat for cocci

2 are showing symptoms; 1 is going to be culled tonight, the other is not so bad but I suspect will go down hill  :(

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Problems with pullets going off their legs suddenly
« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2015, 06:53:05 pm »
Oh no. Poor things. Im sorry you are going through this
Is it time to retire yet?

 

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