bad news.
preliminary findings appear that this chicken died from coccidiosis due to a compromised immune system due to mareks.
that is mareks knocked out the immune system and she died with what she would normally have carried and been immune to.
good news
after a lot of internet searching, and with thanks to sparshalt agricultural college, hampshire, they have carried out a study that was published in the smallholder magazine june 2006.
it states that there is an alternative to vet medication, which can kill the parasites but leave the birds then free to succumb to the bugs again, it is simply, life guard tonic, which they say, and i quote.
Life-Guard works by using ingredients (all 100 per cent natural, claim the makers) such as vitamins, oregano, antioxidants and prebiotics, which encourage the beneficial bacteria in the bird's gut. These make the bird better able to fight infection and help it to maintain condition: not only of skin and feathers but also the number and quality of its eggs.
The tests, conducted at Sparsholt College, showed that mortality was reduced by two-thirds in chicks aged between four and twelve weeks and that all the treated birds were less susceptible to coccidiosis. It is available without prescription and because all its constituent ingredients are natural there are no residues in either eggs or meat.
thanks, sharsholt and smallholder, mine were already on life guard,but i have upped the dose to the stressed bird dosage to try to help them all get over their problems.
i would also like to thank and reccomend, reading university, who have a web site dedicated to animal welfare, including diseases, problems, treatments.
their site is.
www.organic-vet.reading.ac.uk/poultryweb/miscel/p2.htm