Why is your chicken wasting away? — The Featherbrain (2024)

I had a chicken named Goldie whom I adored to the moon and back.She was beautiful, smart, and full of life.And really that was true right up to the moment of her death.

This is despite the fact she had been wasting away for weeks and was completely emaciated at the time of her death, transformed from the gorgeous, healthy bird of old to a ragged collection of skin and bones.

How did this happen? How could I make sure this would never happen again?

What causes a chicken to waste away? Unfortunately, wasting conditions can be caused by a wide variety of illnesses that aren’t always easy to diagnose, including serious diseases like Marek’s and lymphoid leucosis, as well as simple management mistakes (e.g., not enough feeders), intestinal parasites, and crop impaction.

In this post, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned from all my research on wasting diseases. Read on for help on diagnosing what your chicken’s problem may be, what you can do about it, and how to prevent it from happening again in the future.

Common wasting conditions

The conditions described here by no means make up an exhaustive list.Almost any illness or stressor can cause weight loss in chickens, and diseases often manifest in a myriad of different ways.

I have limited my descriptions here to those conditions that are relatively common and where emaciation may be the chief or only sign.

Here is a list of the conditions discussed in this article:

• Beak deformities

• Beak and mouth problems

• Crop problems

• Stress-induced anorexia

• Ammonia-induced conjunctivitis

• Bullying or fearfulness

• Feed problems

• Visceral gout

• Kidney stones

• Mold

• Hardware disease

• Coccidiosis

• Worms

• Air sac disease

• Chronic respiratory disease

• Marek’s disease

• Lymphatic/lymphoid leukosis

• Avian tuberculosis

• Genetic problems

How to tell if your chicken is emaciated

Unfortunately, you may not realize your chicken is emaciated if you don’t handle her often. Her feathers will likely hide her condition. First begin by feeling the area around your chicken’s keel. This bone is the extension of the sternum and runs down the front mid-line of your chicken’s body.

If you feel little to no muscle mass padding the sides of her keel, she is likely critically emaciated. Be careful with this step, though. The front of the keel always protrudes a bit and it’s normal to feel the keel bone on the front of the chicken. Don’t mistake a protruding keel bone for emaciation.

What you want to do is feel the muscle around the keel.Try it out on a healthy bird first so that you don’t mistakenly think your chicken is in worse condition than she actually is.

Make sure you try to get under the healthy bird’s feathers—you don’t want to compare a thickly-feathered bird’s keel to a molting bird’s keel. The molting bird’s keel will always feel much bonier because she is missing the feather cushion and molting birds tend to be thinner anyway.

Also, keep in mind that laying breeds tend to feel a lot thinner than dual purpose breeds, which feel thinner than meat breeds.

The “Kaytee body condition score,” pictured above, can be helpful—you will see people post this in forums all the time. However, you absolutely need to be aware that this body condition score was made for pet birds and not chickens. Chickens’ keels and chests feel different than pet birds.

I think comparing the keel of your unwell chicken to your well chickens may be the better way to determine how skinny she is.

You also need to figure out if your chicken has stopped laying eggs. If your bird is becoming underweight, her egg laying should decrease and eventually stop completely as a matter of survival. If she is starving, her body will put all her energy into staying alive and egg laying will stop.However, please be aware that hens do stop laying eggs for a number of different reasons and this is usually not a sign of illness.

Is your chicken molting? If she’s wasting away, she will likely start to molt because of the stress of starvation. However, be aware that molting can also occur for many other reasons, and that the yearly molt is a very natural and healthy phenomenon.

Chickens also will molt at seemingly random times. If you’ve never seen a molting chicken before, you may feel distressed about how unhealthy they actually look.Many chickens lose weight when they are molting and some lose more than others—this is totally natural.

All of my Ameraucana chickens, for example, appear alarmingly skinny during and following a molt. Many of them will also act like they are feeling under the weather and they only eat a fraction of what they normally do.

Where to start?

Ask yourself a few simple questions:

• Do you have one affected chicken or several? If more than one is wasting away, you may have either a management issue or an infectious disease on your hands. If you have other chickens that aren’t emaciated but are exhibiting other symptoms of illness, you could be seeing different manifestations of the same condition.

• Are other flocks in your area sick? This may be an indication of the spread of a serious poultry disease or just a coincidence, but it’s worth looking into.

• Have you introduced any new chickens into your flock? If so, they could be carriers of disease.

• Have you had this problem in this past? Look for clues on what could be triggering the problem.

• Have you had any sudden deaths in your flock recently? Sudden deaths may indicate:

• Visceral gout

• Kidney stones

• Marek’s disease

• Lymphatic/lymphoid leukosis in growing birds

• If the wasting condition is a flock problem, what percentage of chickens have been affected and what is the mortality rate? See the chart below for this information for a number of wasting conditions.

• Is weight loss gradual or rapid? This can be really hard to tell if you don’t handle your birds a lot as feathers tend to hide a wasting chicken, but rapid weight loss and decreased appetite may indicate air sac disease or Marek’s Disease, whereas a gradual weight loss, despite a good appetite, may indicate Avian Tuburculosis or Marek’s.Yes, Marek’s Disease presents in all different ways.

Should you take your chicken to a vet?

Perhaps the best way to diagnose your chicken’s condition is to take her to a vet for examination and testing.Unfortunately, avian vets can be difficult to find and tend to be very expensive.

After evaluating Goldie myself and doing all that I could to help her to gain weight with no success, I took her to an avian vet.The vet also was not able to figure out what was wrong with her and I ended up going home with a hefty bill and a dead chicken.

To find your nearest avian vet, check out this map.

You could also try to ask an online avian vet at this website.

Poop examination for diagnosis of wasting conditions

Anyone who has owned chickens for long knows that abnormal poop can be a sign of illness. Here are some wasting conditions that may show signs in chicken poop:

Beak deformities that may cause wasting

Simple question: does your bird have a crossed beak or a parrot beak? A crossed beak is when either the top or bottom beak have grown to the side and so the upper and lower beak don’t meet. Pictured below is my sweet crossed beak chicken, Edy Bea.

A chicken with a parrot beak has a lower beak that is abnormally short and an upper beak that curves down like a parrot because it doesn’t have the support of the lower beak to keep it growing straight. Many crossed beak chickens, such as my Edy Bea (pictured), also have a curved upper beak for the same reason.

Chickens with beak deformities such as these may not be able to pick up food by pecking the way a normal chicken does. They may require special care so that they don’t starve to death.

If your bird has a beak deformity and is emaciated and you are unable or unwilling to give her the special care she requires, try to rehome her or else consider euthanizing her.Starvation is a bad way to go.

Beak and mouth problems that may cause wasting

Do a quick examination of your chicken’s beak and mouth.Look for injuries or sores that may cause eating to be painful.

• Broken beaks are a common injury in chickens. Usually the break is small and only affects the keratin tip and therefore doesn’t hurt, but occasionally chickens will break their beak far up in the quick where it is incredibly painful.One of my birds (my crossed beak chicken, Edy Bea, pictured above) broke her beak very high up and she wouldn’t eat anything for a couple of days and would only eat very little for the next week or so after that until it healed enough she could eat through the pain.If your chicken has a badly broken beak and is wasting away, you may need to syringe feed her until she heals.

• If your chicken has an injury inside her mouth, you may need to syringe feed her or even tube feed her until she heals.

• If your chicken has sores inside her mouth, you need to identify what is causing them and treat the underlying condition. You may need to syringe feed her or tube feed her until she heals.

The YouTube videos below shows instructions for syringe feeding and tube feeding respectively:

The crop is located at the base of the chicken’s neck and serves as a sort of pouch to hold food that eventually travels into the digestive system.If a chicken has a full crop, you can feel it (and sometimes see it) protruding. Beginner chicken keepers sometimes mistake a full crop for a tumor.

A couple of different crop issues may cause your chicken to waste away as food is unable to leave her crop and enter into her digestive system.

Crop impaction

This occurs when the crop gets packed full with feed or other material that becomes too hard to empty into the digestive system.This can happen when a chicken is given food after a period of starvation (she eats too fast and doesn’t drink enough water) or if she eats too many tough grasses or too much bedding.

Chickens typically only do this when feed is not available.This is one reason I leave feed out all day for my chickens. Constant access to fresh feed and water over the day is probably the best means of prevention.

To know if your chicken has crop impaction, check her crop first thing in the morning (before she’s had any feed) and if it is full and hard, this is likely your problem.A chicken with a functioning crop who hasn’t eaten all night will have an empty or almost empty crop in the morning.

Some chicken keepers recommend using a syringe to put a few drops of vegetable oil down the chicken’s throat and into the crop. Massage it around to break it up a bit.Be careful with this step! You don’t want your chicken to aspirate the oil—that could kill her.

If this doesn’t work, the chicken may need surgery.This is of course best performed by a vet who can provide the chicken with anesthesia.

Sour crop

This occurs when your chicken’s upper digestive tract is overrun by a common yeast, Candida albicans.This infection is typically opportunistic, occurring when a chicken’s immune system is already weakened from stress or illness. It also can occur after the chicken has been treated with antibiotics or coccidiostats as these medications may alter the natural bacterial balance in the crop.

Sour crop causes an enlarged crop that, in contrast to the hard crop of crop impactions, is soft and squishy to the touch. It feels as if it is full of fluid and the yeast causes the chicken’s breath to smell strong and awful.A chicken suffering from this condition will waste away without treatment because she will eventually stop eating.

The best course of treatment for this condition is surgery performed by a vet in conjunction with treatment of the underlying imbalance that caused the sour crop infection in the first place.

Management problems that may cause wasting

Stress-induced anorexia

Chickens can be traumatized from stress.A few relatively common occurrences that may cause an extreme amount of stress in your chickens are the introduction of new birds into the coop and run, predator attacks on the flock, crowded conditions, and unsanitary conditions. Luckily, most of these conditions can be remedied easily.

For example, if you introduce new birds to your flock, do it gradually. If your chickens have experienced a predator attack on the flock, obviously first do what you need to in order to improve the flock’s safety.Then make sure that feed and water are readily available in an area where your chickens feel protected.This may mean temporarily bringing the feed and water inside the coop (if you don’t keep any there to begin with).

If your chickens are living in crowded or unsanitary conditions, put the time and money in immediately to fix these problems.

Also, be sure your chickens always have clean drinking water and fresh food, and make sure the water stays cool in the summer and unfrozen in the winter.Other than the obvious health risks of giving chickens food and water that is not fresh and clean, your chickens may choose starvation if these things don’t taste okay to them.

Ammonia-induced conjunctivitis

While I’m on the topic of poor management in coops, another problem that may occur in this arena is ammonia-induced conjunctivitis.This condition is unfortunately very common in flocks who live in a coop where the deep litter method is used.

This is a method where litter isn’t changed in the coop for several months or a year.The litter is piled up thickly (typically gradually) and is turned daily either by the chicken keeper or by the chickens.The litter gradually composts and can then be used on gardens or crops.

Some people swear by this method (I personally tried it one year and hated it), but if it’s not managed correctly, your chickens can get sick. One problem that may occur is that ammonia may build up from the moisture in the bedding (usually coming from the chickens’ droppings which are not removed in the deep litter method).

If ammonia is left to accumulate, it will cause severe inflammation of the mucous membranes around the chickens’ eyes.The chickens will lose interest in food (and have trouble finding the food), waste away, and die. If you smell even a hint of ammonia, you need to freshen or replace any damp litter and you need to consider increasing the ventilation in the coop.

“Pecking order” and fearfulness problems

A starving chicken, particularly one with no other obvious signs (although she may have pecking wounds), may simply be a bullied or a fearful chicken. If your emaciated chicken is one who tends to get picked on, she may be being bullied away from food and water.

I’ve also found that some of my chickens are naturally fearful of their flock mates (and pretty much everything else), and that they behaved this way from a very young age, long before they’d ever been in any sort of pecking encounter.A fearful chicken may be afraid to approach feeders and waterers if the area around them is crowded by other chickens.

If your chicken is suffering from either of these problems, make sure your coop and run have plenty of space and multiple feeders and waterers spread around. I use this feeder and this waterer from Amazon.

If you are unable to do this, you may need to separate the emaciated chicken for meals.One good way to do this is to feed her in a large cage in the coop or run so that she is still at her home base and can see out.This is often less stressful for your chicken then moving her to a strange, new place for feedings.

Changing feeds and wasting conditions

I mentioned above that if food tastes bad, chickens may stop eating it, but unfortunately a number of other feed problems may result in wasting away and emaciation. Sometimes if you change your chickens’ feed to a different kind or brand, you may have chickens who stop eating.

This is why you need to change feed very gradually.Begin by mixing in a small amount with their old feed and then very gradually, over a week or two, increase the proportion of the new food.

The problems with “natural” feed

If you are feeding your chickens a more natural diet of grains grown by you or a supplier, you may face another problem.Chickens may only eat one type or a couple of types of the grains and ignore the rest.These chickens won’t be getting all of the nutrition that they need.

This ended up being at least part of Goldie’s problem.I thought I was helping my chickens out by feeding them non-GMO, organically grown grains from a local farm, but Goldie was eating only one of the several kinds of grains, which unfortunately I had no way of knowing before doing a necropsy.

I will personally never stray from commercial feed again.If you do have an emaciated chicken or chickens and you are feeding them grains rather than commercial feed, this may be the problem. Gradually change back over to a commercial feed for a couple of months and see if that helps.

Don’t simply just add an extra feeder with commercial feed into your run and keep the old food. When I did this, Goldie still chose to eat just the one type of grain rather than the commercial feed. I was able to get her to eat some of the commercial grain wettened, but it wasn’t enough.

If you have your heart set on feeding your chickens natural grains rather than commercial feed, I recommend you read Harvey Ussery’s excellent book, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers. He is highly experienced in growing and mixing his own grains for his chickens and has an excellent chapter on how to do this as safely as possible.

See the sections on gout, kidney stones, and mold below for more problems dealing with feed.

Visceral gout and kidney stones lead to wasting away

Visceral gout and kidney stones are both caused by kidney problems.When a chicken’s kidneys are functioning poorly, urates that should be expelled with poop instead build up in the body.

Visceral gout occurs when solidified urates are stored in soft tissues and organs.Kidney stones form from solidified urates that obstruct the ureters.

Because visceral gout and kidney stones are effects of malfunctioning kidneys, they may be caused by several different problems.

Causes of visceral gout

• Water deprivation

• Too much dietary protein

• Electrolyte imbalance (too much or not enough)

• Mold (typically from feed)

• Kidney disease

• Toxic chemicals

• Antibiotic use

Causes of kidney stones

• Water deprivation

• Not enough dietary phosphorous

• Too much calcium

• Too much sodium bicarbonate (from adding baking soda to drinking water)

• Infectious bronchitis

• Improper infectious bronchitis vaccination

Other than wasting away, visceral gout and kidney stones may result in other signs useful for diagnosis.

Signs of visceral gout

• Thirst

• Low appetite

• Lethargy

• Dull plumage

• White pasty droppings

• Decreased laying

• Foot and toe swelling

Signs of kidney stones

• Dehydration

• Pale combs

• Decreased laying

Unfortunately, visceral grout progresses at such a slow pace, you may not realize your chickens are sick until they are emaciated or dead.There is no known treatment, but prevention is easy.

Chickens simply need access to clean drinking water at all times and to fresh, balanced feed. Water needs to be kept cool in the summer and not too cold in the winter to ensure your chickens are actually drinking. I use this water heater in the winter to keep my chickens’ water from freezing. Many other chicken keepers prefer to use a heated pet bowl.

Kidney stones are also very difficult to treat.The one thing that may help treat them and prevent the condition is getting your chickens to drink more water.Water may help them expel more urates and prevent them from impeding the ureters.

Mold as a cause of wasting away

Mycotoxicoses, or mold infections, are especially tricky to diagnose. The signs are often vague and also occur in many other illnesses.Many times, mold growth, such as in feed, is not visible to the naked eye, and signs may take awhile to develop.There are a few different sources for mold that should be of particular concern to chicken keepers.

These are:

1. Mold in feed

2. Mold in woodchips

3. Mold in compost

Each of these three sources are discussed below.

Mold in feed

Most commercial feeds contain mold inhibitors and therefore have a longer shelf life than “natural” feed made from mixed grains from your land or a local farm.Feeding your chickens natural grains is very risky if you’re not knowledgeable.Again, I recommend following Harvey Ussery’s book if you want to go the natural route.

My emaciated chicken may have been infected by mold as I don’t know how old her food was.This was a huge oversight on my part to trust the food from a local farm and just assume that it was fresh. However, I did not see any signs of mold infection in Goldie’s necropsy.Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily unusual for mold infections.

Even serious and widespread mold infections may not show up on necropsy—most require pathology testing for diagnosis.

Mold in wood chips

I have heard from more than one chicken keeper that several of their chickens died from infection by mold spores they inhaled from scratching in wood chips. In one case, a chicken keeper obtained wood chips from her neighbor, which she used to cover her run.

He had just cut down some trees in his yard and put them through his wood chipper. Although there was no visible mold, her chickens still inhaled the toxins and died.Their cause of death was determined by necropsy and pathology testing, positive for mold.

Another chicken keeper used wood chips as mulch for her bushes and let her chickens free range. A few of them that got into the wood chips died from mold poisoning, again confirmed by laboratory testing, even though no mold was visible.

I worry that my Goldie could have picked up mold spores from scratching in wood chips. I had a bag of them laying outside, half full. I had purchased these at the store and was using them for mulch on my freshly planted trees.The bag provided a moist environment for mold to grow and I know Goldie scratched around in it some.

Later on, I did find mold growth on the wood chips. You can see this pictured above. I’m not sure if this contributed to Goldie’s condition of severe emaciation or not, but it was another huge oversight on my part as a first year chicken owner.

Mold in compost

Many chicken keepers like to let their chickens scratch in their compost.Make sure your compost isn’t moldy or isn’t kept in conditions conducive to mold growth.I do not let my chickens scratch in my compost for these reasons. For me, it’s not worth the risk.

Signs of mold

The signs of mold will depend on what type of mold your chicken is infected with, but may include any of the following:

• Emaciation

• Depression

• Huddling

• Low body temperature

• Diarrhea

• Undigested seed or grain particles in droppings

• Pale comb and wattles

• Decomposition of comb, wattles, or beak

• Decomposition of shanks or toes

• Reduced egg production

• Respiratory problems

• Swollen eye with yellowish material

• Incoordination

• Paralysis

• Trembling

• Neck twisting

• Convulsions

• High death rate

If you suspect your chicken has been exposed to mold, remove the source immediately.Your chicken may recover once the source is removed.There is no known treatment to reverse the damage the mold has already caused to your chicken.

The best prevention is to buy only 2 weeks of commercial feed at a time.Buying feed more frequently is much better than buying a lot at once and storing it.If you’re storing feed for later, you are increasing the chances that molds may grow in your feed.

I also would never use wood chips in my coop or run, although some people have done this and have never had any problems.Be especially wary of using wood chips near your chickens if you live in a hot and humid climate conducive to mold growth.

Hardware disease: The ultimate wasting condition

Before Goldie’s death, I felt fairly confident that she was suffering from hardware disease. This is because she was suffering no other symptoms than wasting away and emaciation (the most common presentation of hardware disease), and because I live on land that was used as a ranch for at least decades if not more than a century—I find old ranch garbage everywhere.

Little bits of metal, plastic, and who knows what appear all over my acreage—big pieces, small pieces, and everything in between.Although I have taken measures to clean up much of this trash, there is no way I can find it all.The more my chickens free range, the higher their chances are of scratching up and eating something that may cause hardware disease.

So what exactly is hardware disease?Hardware disease is more accurately called traumatic ventriculus. It is a trauma not a disease. When chickens eat small pieces of metal, glass, plastic, and even wood, their gizzards may be punctured by these objects, or the objects may scrape and severely damage the lining of the gizzard.This is hardware disease.

For post-mortem images of hardware disease, check out the pdf of this academic paper. Be forewarned the images are graphic.

If your chicken has eaten something metal, you can detect this by getting an x-ray at your vet’s office. I did get Goldie x-rayed, and no metal was found in her gizzard. Of course, if your chicken’s gizzard is damaged by a non-metal object, an x-ray won’t be helpful.

Only post-mortem necropsy can diagnose those cases.Goldie’s necropsy revealed a healthy gizzard. She did not have hardware disease after all.

Hardware disease is a fatal condition as a chicken can’t live with a severely damaged gizzard. It is incredibly painful, and she will waste away and die.There is no cure. Some have tried to surgically repair the gizzard but as far as I’ve researched, I can’t find even one case where a chicken survived the recovery period. Euthanasia is the only kind action for an affected bird.

You can prevent hardware disease by making sure your chicken yard is completely clean of any sharp metal, plastic, or glass debris.Even a small nail or screw can cause hardware disease.

However, chickens do pass a lot of debris and some debris can just stay in a chicken’s gizzard forever and not cause problems.Whether a piece of debris fatally damages a chicken’s gizzard or not can really be a matter of chance. So if your chicken does eat a nail or screw, she still has a chance of being okay—just keep an eye on her weight and condition.

In order to reduce the likelihood of hardware disease in my chickens, I am slowly trying to rid my 80 acre chicken yard of debris by meticulously examining every inch with a metal detector and by using a magnetic sweeper on areas where I know debris is likely. I was lucky to find a high quality metal detector for half price on Amazon. You can check its current price here.

I also use the magnetic sweeper after any construction project that involves nails or other metal. Unfortunately, non-metal items can’t be detected using these tools, so I have to just keep my eye out for them and pick them up where they are visible on the surface.

Chickens will still scratch in the dirt and find debris beneath the surface. Because of these reasons, my chickens, unfortunately, will never be completely protected from hardware disease.

Intestinal parasites that may cause wasting

Coccidiosis and worms

Coccidiosis is an illness caused by the protozoa, Coccidia.The illness spreads by chickens eating infected poop.This can occur if chickens are eating dirty feed, dirty water, or simply pecking the ground.

Coccidia infect the chickens’ intestinal walls and can prevent the intestine from absorbing nutrients efficiently. In an extreme case, the illness could cause your chickens to waste away.

Similarly, a very high load of worms, such as nodular tape worms which infect the small intestine, can lead to emaciation. Chickens typically get worms by eating infected insects.

Here is a list of other signs that may be present with these parasites:

Signs of coccidiosis

• Hunched up

• Lethargic

• Ruffled feathers

• Tan-colored poop

• Bloody diarrhea

• Decreased appetite

• Dehydration

Signs of worms

• Arrested growth in chicks

• Reduced laying

• Weakness

• Paleness

• Yellow slimy diarrhea

• Death

Coccidiosis may run its course on its own, but in some cases, chickens may need to be prescribed coccidiostats.

Chickens with worms will need to be prescribed dewormers.

You need to be sure to get the correct coccidiostat or dewormer for the particular species of parasite that’s ailing your chickens. After Goldie became emaciated, I tested my flock for worms and coccidiosis using this kit I ordered on Amazon.In my chicken’s case, the test was negative. I do test my flock every three months so that if a problem is starting, I can fix it before it’s severe.

Respiratory diseases and wasting away

Air sac disease

Air sac disease is typically a bacterial infection caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum and/or Escherichia coli.It is most common in growing chickens. It is transmitted by contact with infected birds or carriers and is airborne.

However, it can also result from injury to air sacs or from the stress of cold temperatures and poor ventilation in the coop.It also can develop during or after vaccination for chronic respiratory disease, infectious bronchitis, laryngotracheitis, or Newcastle disease.

Here are other signs (besides wasting away) your chicken may have:

• Low appetite

• Arrested growth

• Coughing

• Nasal discharge

• Difficulty breathing

• Watery eyes

Many chickens will survive air sac disease, but if the disease is caused by Mycoplasma, then they will unfortunately be carriers for life.

To treat an infected chicken, keep her warm. Give her high protein feed and a vitamin E supplement.

Chronic respiratory disease

Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD) is also caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum. It’s an airborne illness that spreads by contact with infected birds or carriers and can occur after vaccination for infectious bronchitis or Newcastle disease.

Cold weather and poor ventilation make chickens more susceptible.

CRD may have no signs or only result in chickens wasting away, but chickens may present with any of the following:

• Droopiness

• Ruffled feathers

• Coughing

• Sneezing

• Rattling

• Gurgling

• Swollen face

• Nasal discharge (no odor)

• Watery or foamy eyes surrounded by donut-shaped swelling

• Squeaky crow

• Reduced laying

• Darkened head

Again, once a chicken is infected with Mycoplasma gallisepticum, she will always be a carrier.Certain antibiotics (erythromycin, tertracycline, or tylosin) may prevent death.

Diseases infecting internal organs that lead to wasting away

Marek’s disease

Marek’s disease is a viral infection that is incredibly common in chickens.It can come in several different forms, affecting the eyes, nerves, skin, and/or organs.

It manifests in so many different ways, the symptoms are too many to list here, although one of the most common tell-tale signs is leg paralysis that results in one leg being stretched forward and the other stretched back as in the photo here.

Marek’s disease can also be present with wasting away as the only sign, particularly in growing birds.

Although there is no treatment, many chickens do survive (and remain carriers). If you are concerned you may be dealing with Marek’s disease in your chicken, check out this article, which is incredibly thorough in explaining all aspects of the illness.

Lymphatic/lymphoid leukosis

Lymphoid leukosis is caused by retroviruses that are related to those causing Marek’s disease.In fact, lymphoid leukosis can be difficult to tell apart from Marek’s.

Chickens catch the disease through blood sucking insects and also through eating infected poop. Like Marek’s, lymphoid leukosis may result in birds with no signs or extremely ill chickens, or anything in between.

Aside from wasting away, other signs of the illness may include any or all of the following:

• Weakness

• Pale and shriveled comb

• Purple comb

• Vent feathers covered with urates (white) or bile (green)

• Blood blisters on skin

• Swollen organs or tumors felt through the skin

• Eye socket tumor (bleeding and blindness)

• Loose poop

• Green diarrhea before death

• Decreased egg laying

Lympohid leukosis has no cure and survivors may remain carriers.

Avian Tuberculosis

Avian tuberculosis is a common chicken disease that is caused by the bacteria, Mycobacterium Avium. It is especially common in the Midwestern United States. The disease spreads slowly, starting in the intestines and moving to other organs. If the bacteria is present in your soil, your chickens will likely become infected. It is also carried on people’s shoes and equipment.

Other signs of avian tuberculosis include:

• Lethargy

• Dull, ruffled feathers

• Pale, shriveled comb and wattles

• Reduced laying

• Shrunken breast muscles

• Knife-edge keel (typically deformed)

• Lameness

• Severe diarrhea before death

There is no treatment for avian tuberculosis, although infected chickens may live for months or even years.

Genetic problems

The last common cause of a wasting condition is genetic problems.Domestic chickens have been heavily inbred for very specific qualities (such as egg-laying ability, meat yield, or even looks), and these qualities tend to be achieved at the expense of the bird’s health.

Certain breeds and strains are more heavily inbred and may therefore have more genetic problems. I have found that my Ameraucana chickens, a breed that has been heavily inbred for blue eggs, seem to have more health problems than my other breeds.

When I did a necropsy on my Goldie, an Ameraucana chicken, I found that some of the tissue on one of her lungs was black and hardened.I researched for hours trying to figure out what caused it, but couldn’t find an explanation.

I showed photos of her lungs to my brother (a medical physicist) and his wife (a physician’s assistant) and they thought it looked sclerotic.It reminded them of cystic fibrosis.

Goldie had no respiratory signs of illness and I’m not sure if or how much this problem contributed to her wasting condition.I can’t even be sure her lung problem was genetic, but that’s my best guess.

And, unfortunately, when it comes to wasting diseases, sometimes all you leave with are guesses.

Goldie’s ultimate cause of emaciation remains a mystery.I had her euthanized to end her suffering. This was a very painful and difficult decision, and to this day, I am not sure I made the right choice. I miss her dearly and think of her often.

Rest in peace, sweet Goldie.You are loved.

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Sources:

• Damerow, Gail. The Chicken Health Handbook. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2015. The information found in the charts and lists of disease signs, causes, and mortality rates comes straight from Damerow’s book. I highly recommend this book to all chicken owners. It’s worth its weight in gold.

• Miller, Jennifer. “The Great Big Giant Marek's Disease FAQ.” Backyard Chickens.

• Musa, Ibrahim Waziri et al. “Common Causes of Traumatic Ventriculitis in Free range and Intensively Managed Poultry in Zaria, Nigeria.” Veterinary World, v. 4, no. 11, 2011, p. 511-514.

• Ussery, Harvey. The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2011.

• Khamas, Wael, Rutllant-Labeaga, Josep, and Greenacre, Cheryl. “Physical examination, anatomy, and physiology,” in Greenacre, Cheryl and Morish*ta, Teresa, Eds., Backyard Poultry Medicine and Surgery: A Guide for Veterinary Practitioners. Ames: Wiley Blackwell, 2015.