mereks? tumors? bites? what hte heck is going on here!

This is sort of a long post, but please bear with me as I need your wisdom!

so I went away overnight and everyone was fine. when I came home the next day, two of my chickens were acting drunken, couldn't support themselves. etc. I thought maybe they had mereks. Now, I have to admit I forgot to change the water and it had algae as well. And, it is possible that they ingested paint chips, although unlikely. the rest of the flock is so far fine. ( which sort of rules out the algae issue, right?)

my cockerel ( speckled sussex) was the better of the two. He couldnt really support his weight, but he was sitting in a normal chicken way. The easter egger pullet was all stretched out. They both are alert, eating and do not have abnormal stools.

last night I noticed that there was a weird scabby ENORMOUS growth? something! on the pullet. Is this possible with mereks? I thought maybe she had broken her leg, but it appears that is not the case. I have attached a video at the end of this post so you can see what I am talking about. Since I took that video, I also found a strange growth at her tail base on her back. They do not appear to be particularly tender, although her leg is a little stiff.

Now the other weird thing is that both of thse chickens were vaccinated as chicks against mereks, while some of the rest of the flock has not been. I also have no direct evidence that is is a bite site from a predator was in the yard, as no one is missing and there is no other evidence ( broken doors, tunnels, etc.)

Also, this evening, the cockerel is pretty much recovered. He looks great, is eating and looks ready to return to the flock.

So, here are the main questions:
What is going on?
At this point, the mereks issue is sort of a moot point with me, unless mereks can cause these weird tumor things. If not, what can I do about them and what are they?

Thanks!


http://www.youtube.com/v/Doh2t7LP1F0 here is the video

I have dial up which sux at video etc... but the pic alone looks pretty nasty. Do you think it's possible they got bit by something that caused an allergic reaction which was why there was such extreme swelling, discoloration.. ??

I know ppl who get bit by something they are allergic to it can get pretty ugly. Or maybe a nasty spider...venom can cause bad reactions even if it doesn't kill. I knew a girl who got bit by a brown recluse and it was horrible.

Sorry I don't have any solid input !!!

Hope you get a solution and they recover !!!!

Julie

This message was edited Sep 10, 2007 9:17 PM

is the skin deadening around it?? like brown or rotten color? that would be signs of insect/spider bites. my one son at 18mths old was bitten on the leg by a brown wolf spider that's how it was and if i remember right had 2-3 little holes towards the center of the bite. a recluse(sp) would have killed them if it was that. they are poisonous enough to kill a young child. another thing is a spider bite causes flue like symptoms also.

my first thought to see it was an injury from another chicken. my friends turkens fight sometimes they are a pair. the male has a small black scab like that on his neck from her pecking him. is it possible the others are picking on them enough in the same place it is causeing swelling?

dh said is it possible a coon was grabbing at them through the wire to get them and that was all it could get? he's a trapper so that was his first thought,lol. we have had them do that with quails and rip heads and feet through the wire and they can be nasty about it.

no mereks does not cause anything like that as far as i know. it shows in the combs and waddles for the first signs of it i think purple colored if i remember right.

if it is believed to be a bite benadril at a very low dose might work i do it for my minpins don't know if it would work on a chicken or what dose to use. for swelling a steroid med like prednislone(sp) at a low dose would work again not sure of the dosage.
hope this helps,
silkie

My first thought is that its an abcess from a bite or an injury
Never seen anything like it

I almost never take my bird to vets,
but for that........Just to ease my mind I'd take it in

Hi there - I agree with the possibility of a spider bite. The "drunkenness" could have been an initial reaction to the spiders venom. Many of them are neurotoxic. That degree of tissue necrosis is seen with spider bites (as mentioned above particularly the brown recluse but others as well). Most likely any spider would have been eaten by the hens by now but you may want to check the coop carefully. (wear gloves).

How are they today ???

Julie

Sorry I haven't had time to update you guys. It's been very busy here.

Well, it turns out that the cockerel must have just been a red herring because he is totally fine.

The pullet, however, had to be put down. I took her to the avian vet. The thing had gotten twice the size it was in the picture. I had to know what was going on, it was just too weird.

The vet examined her and said she had two fast growing tumors. Has anyone ever seen that Discovery Health Channel special on the Romanian lady with the 500 pound tumor on her back? Well, it's basically that in chicken form. He said he did not think it was Lymphoid Leukosis, but that was possible as well. Ugh. It was a rough one. But at least it doesn't appear to be catching. It appears to be just something that was wrong with her. This is my third easter egger/auracauna chicken, out of 4 total to die an untimely death from internal issues, not communicable diseases or predation. Hmm....

Did they all come from the same source? Could be that breeder has parent birds with bad genes, like some purebred dogs now have a tendency to hip dysplasia.

Sorry you had to go through this but at least the vet was able to tell you the other chickens are in no danger from it.

I have the same thoughts as Hart! Is it possible that they came from the same place?

I am so sorry you had to go through this. It is always so heart breaking to lose one of your babies .Sometimes you wonder if you can ever go through it again! ....... and we do!

It is strange though that the Easter Eggers are the ones having the problems. Usually they are just to ornery to get sick. Not mean Just hard headed!

Well I'm glad you were able to find out something even if the hen couldn't be saved !!! That wondering and worrying will drive you nuts.......

Julie

They could be inbreed to close
It tend to make them weak and more susceptible to illnesses

well, I don't think they are all from the same source hatchery, but it is possible. Has anyone else had a tough time with this breed or is it just my bad luck?