[kyz1981]

I had some of the PM results for Marli back, he had  peritonitis,  Septicemia and some tracings of Cocci, (the Cocci was not that bad and the vet said that this would not have lead to his death.). He is going to try and culture some samples to see if he can find the cause of the peritonitis but so far nothing has grown - most probably because he was given Baytril.

[helens-hens]

Really sorry to hear about Marli - I only just saw your post of 08 December about him dying  .

I had a hen put to sleep on Tuesday and it is very upsetting, the only consolation is that you know you are doing what is right for their sake. Doesn't make it much easier though.

I have never heard of peritonitis in cockerels - you tend to associate it with hens with egg yolk peritonitis. Are your hens all OK?

[ANHBUC]

   Sorry about Marli, I have also just noticed your post of the 8th.  You did everything you could and your vet will benefit from the experience.  Hopefully he will find out what caused the infection. 

[kyz1981]

I know I asked the same question of my vet as  i had only heard of it in hens, but my vet said Peritonitis can be caused by several things inc sarmonella and e-coli and the Staph bacteria, he explained that it arises when a bacteria gets in to a sterile area and causes infection the most common cause is a broken egg but could be anything, This then led to the septicemia.

We are trying to find out the cause to see if it could spread or if it was isolated to just Marli but the Baytril may have stopped us finding out.


Apparently a lot of the bacteria is in the soil and in the chickens anyway and they can get it from drinking dodgy water- well mine and forever drinking out of puddles caused by the rain so I have no clue how to stop them doing this.

I have a Arancuna that is looking a bit odd (a slight waddle) - But I am super paranoid at the moment i could be seeing things - my poor vet is getting a call daily from my at the moment - I am like a new mother all over again, so I am keeping a close eye on all of them, starting them all on Tylan and possibly treating for cocci as a precaution- waiting to see if there is a treatment with no egg withdrawal.

Who ever said chickens reduce stress and lower blood pressure lied! .

[kyz1981]

Helen so sorry to hear about your girl, I hope your others are all ok too .

[helens-hens]

Helen so sorry to hear about your girl, I hope your others are all ok too .

Thanks - she had a tumour so nothing infectious, thank goodness. It is a worry and as you say you can start to get a bit paranoid but I think generally after some experience of keeping them & when you know your flock you get to know when things are OK and then need to trust yourself when your instinct  tells you something is amiss.

[New shoot]

Apparently a lot of the bacteria is in the soil and in the chickens anyway and they can get it from drinking dodgy water- well mine and forever drinking out of puddles caused by the rain so I have no clue how to stop them doing this.

I have a Arancuna that is looking a bit odd (a slight waddle) - But I am super paranoid at the moment i could be seeing things - my poor vet is getting a call daily from my at the moment - I am like a new mother all over again, so I am keeping a close eye on all of them, starting them all on Tylan and possibly treating for cocci as a precaution- waiting to see if there is a treatment with no egg withdrawal.

Who ever said chickens reduce stress and lower blood pressure lied! .

Chickens will drink from puddles and there really is no way to stop them, unless you keep them shut in without any access to them.

You are right to be vigilent, but try not to get paranoid.  We all lose birds from time to time and it is hard to accept, but the benefits of having chickens really do outweigh the downsides   

[kyz1981]

Thanks for all the replies, My Arancuna went downhill rapidly yesterday and I found her on the floor of the coop this morning, I am taking her to the vets at noon most probably to be PTS with an immediate PM carried out - I will be there when this happens and results sent off ASAP to see if its the same as Marli- Looks a bit Nerological to me, but they have all apparently been vaxed against Mareks so we will just see. but my previous Aracuna Tilly Passed away much earlier in the yr of an Illness presenting very similar symptoms, puffy, waddling, isolated herself from the flock, poor weight baring on her legs  and a bit loopy so I will be very glad to know what I am dealing with .

[ANHBUC]

That is sad news.  Good luck at the vets, I hope that he finds out the cause quickly for you.

[kyz1981]

Back from the Vets, the Aracuna had septicemia and a couple of parasites and 1 cocci egg that we could see on the slide, no trace of worms and all her other organ are clear.

As all the birds I have lost are young, he feels they are picking it up from puddles, maybe from wild bird or rats as they don't have full immunity and felt that maybe the change in weather or stress could of let it get hold.

I got to see the PM being done and look at the slides- maybe a bit too much for some but it was interesting to see.

The good news is that the Tylan should combat it if the others have any traces of bacteria and stop it developing in to a full blown infection. If the Tylan does not work, he has a mix of two antibiotics with no egg withdrawal that are used for large flocks that we can try.


Fingers crossed

[ANHBUC]

Sorry for your loss of another of your flock.  I hope that you can get it under control now.  I have never experienced it so had a look online and found this.

www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Coccidiosis_in_Chickens.html

Very interesting and it recommends cleaning their house, run (and the ground they live on), and all utensils with Bi-OO-Cyst Disinfectant which will kill all coccidial parasites.  I will be getting some in to use as my garden is like a bog in places.  Until I have treated the ground I will be keeping it fenced off just in case.  Thanks for sharing your experience with us.   

[New shoot]

Sorry you lost another one, but well done for tackling this so pro-actively.  Your vet sounds very good and your hands on approach to all this is commendable.

Hope all goes well and let us know how you get on 

[kyz1981]

He Is a brilliant Vet and is very very cheap compared to most normal Vets, he is a farm vet and deals mainly in game birds and dairy cattle. The cost of a PM with him if its done without lab tests is under £20 and visits rather than practice based so he has been great as he always looks at all my chickens. He is Based In Thame, Oxfordshire but does travel round Bucks/Oxfordshire- If anyone wants his details I will happily pass them on ( not sure if I'm allowed to name them on the forum.).

I have been round throwing Stalosan (sp) all over the ground /puddles so hoping it would kill anything off including cocci , the parasites had a long name, he did not think they were harmful in most circumstances they would just cause an upset stomach but would not help the immune system.

I have also brought some Bi-OO-Cyst online so hopefully that will help to do the houses - Thanks so much for the link very useful reading - I must add that all the birds I have lost have been pure breeds none of my Hybrids have ever had any concerning symptoms.

I also have a very boggy garden and next door have pigs next to our hedge so with all the swill there is bound to be loads of things potentially to come and lay in water that sits for a day or two. I have also re-baited all my rat boxes in the hope that it will control the population of rats around.

I am hopeful now that this should help minimize any risk and allow them to mature and build up their immunity.

[ANHBUC]

I don't think the stalosan will kill the cocci, it is a disinfectant.  You can use the Bi-OO-Cyst on the soil to kill the cocci off.   Please correct me if I am wrong though. 

[kyz1981]

Hi I thought it destroyed most things including cocci cysts, I have tons of it as I used to use it when we kept horses a few yrs ago, but I have never looked at poultry side of disinfectant (its a lot cheaper than the Bio-cyst so I hope it does- Will check the tub tomorrow and see what it says about poultry .