Meat chicken help - an illness question

[Javamama]

Need some help - one of our 4-H members has a sick meat chicken. It's a male, probably 6 weeks old. They said it went down on Tuesday and it's not moving anything but it's head. Doesn't walk or move it's wings. It is eating and drinking, but only if they put the dish right in front of him. The comb is still red. Eyes are clear. They didn't mention any sniffles, but I will double check.

They said the thought maybe Marek's but it's eyes look fine (I don't know anything about Marek's yet)
I was thinking congestive heart failure, but wouldn't the comb lose color ? Or maybe it's just not taking the heat well?

They have quarantined it and if it doesn't perk up we will help them put it down if need be. But I want to figure out if it could have something contagious first. FYI - they don't have any other chickens except for these 4-H meat birds and all of the rest of them are fine so far.

Just got more info - no blood in poo and no sniffles or sneezing

I'm heading over to BYC to do some reading in the meantime...

 

[lorihadams]

I don't know what to tell you but at 6 weeks you could go ahead and process it. Examine all the organs for any discoloration or anything off and if you are really unsure then just dispose of the bird and not eat it. We had a bird last year that had some green in the muscle mass so we discarded the entire bird. We think maybe it got injured and we missed it and it may have gotten infected or something. It happens.

If the comb is still red then I don't think it would be heart related....were there any other obvious injuries? These aren't designed to be exceptionally hardy birds, ya know.

I would say go ahead and process it but be cautious about eating the meat.

 

[Javamama]

Thanks Lori. No injuries, but they said it's always been smaller than the others. If it was my bird, I'd cull it and be done. I'm trying to gently tell them that it's a ticking time bomb anyway and probably best to cull immediately. We have now ruled out almost everything and I'm leaning toward heat stroke or genetic weakness. Wish there was a way to rule out Marek's without a necropsy.

 

[lorihadams]

Yeah, I'd cull it too.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

If it's a Cornish Cross sounds like it's just weak and its body gave out.

 

[Javamama]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking now.

 

[big brown horse]

(OFG had a meat bird with green stuff in the muscle mass. It happens and even has a name from what I can remember.)

I was going to say the same thing as aggie.

 

[MetalSmitten]

sometimes the meaties just outgrow their legs. i'd also cull.