Has anyone ever had a chicken survive ocular marek's?

I have a 9 month old Silver Laced Wyandotte and about 2 weeks ago she started showing signs of ocular marek's. I have a necropsy that I'm waiting on the results for a New Hampshire Red that was 9 weeks old that died October 15. The vet and I did everything we could for her but she didn't make it. I'm absolutely heartbroken. My SLW is the best most friendliest chicken I have. My chickens are pets and I need a shred of hope for her. I haven't been able to find a survivor story. I just want to know if it's a possibility. Thanks.

I should also add that she is acting completely normal even with the eye looking that way. And sorry the pictures were posted so large...

What signs is she showing? I guess I can't discern the subject of the photo .. Obviously the eyes, but is it the coloring you're concerned with? How soon do you expect necropsy results? I'm sorry you're dealing with this. :/ I have a sick bird/pet too, and it is heartbreaking. Any other symptoms she is showing would be helpful.

If that is the only sign she comes up with, there is a chance. My whole flock carries mareks, and some of them have "off" eyes, but never got any other symptoms, and have survived. Be prepared though, if your flock has mareks, they will be more likely to come down with other illnesses, because their immune system is compromised. I'm sorry you're going through this, it's really a pain. If you have any other questions about mareks, feel free to PM me, and I will try to help.

I will try to post a better picture of the eye tomorrow. These pictures are screen shots of the info I have so far from my other chickens necropsy. I won't have full results for up to 8 weeks! Thankfully my SLW is not showing any other symptoms whatsoever. Except I feel she has limited vision in her bad eye but I know she can still see some with it.

saltandpepper2 said:

If that is the only sign she comes up with, there is a chance. My whole flock carries mareks, and some of them have "off" eyes, but never got any other symptoms, and have survived. Be prepared though, if your flock has mareks, they will be more likely to come down with other illnesses, because their immune system is compromised. I'm sorry you're going through this, it's really a pain. If you have any other questions about mareks, feel free to PM me, and I will try to help.

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Thank you that seems encouraging. I feel like I'm just waiting and watching for my whole flock to die one by one. It's horrible. I purchased 4 chicks from a market. 2 of the girls died from unknown causes and I had a vet come out to check out my set up and srounding areas to make sure everything was good that I was doing. One ended up being a rooster and had to be re-homed back to the woman I purchased him from. My remaining girl, the SLW, was all alone so I ordered chicks from Murray mcmurray hatchery but didn't elect for the mareks vaccine. (As myself and my vet felt it wouldn't be of concern). And here I am, knee deep in what in all my research has pointed to mareks. I feel like that's what the necropsy will eventually show and that's what my SLW is showing now. I have 4 other seemingly healthy hens and a rooster. And now I watch and wait. Sucks.

She hasn't shown any signs except this eye. She is doing everything else as normal. Even has some vision with the bad eye. I am concerned with the coloring/shape/size all of it. As it all is off. The final results from the previous chickens necropsy could take as long as dec. 12.

I am so very sorry to hear about your problem with Marek. I went thru a similar situation early this year, lost a hen (unvaccinated) and a pullet that was vaccinated. I had a necropsy done on the pullet and it came back positive. Now I know that all my flock are carriers, and just like you, I am always in fear of seeing my flock decimated. Thank goodness I have not lost another one to it. I have lost some hens but it has been due to different illnesses (basically hatchery hens that were unfortunately "used up" after 2 and a half years of constant laying and ended up with EYP and ovarian cancer). Right now most of my girls are vaccinated (I still have three left of my original flock that I bought at the feed store and that were not vaccinated). The pullet that died of Marek (confirmed by the necropsy) had been vaccinated and it puzzled me, but of course there is still a 5% chance that a vaccinated bird can die with it but at least they don't get the nasty one with internal tumors. I am getting chicks this spring and I am vaccinating them, I want to give them a better chance of survival.
Once you have Marek confirmed in your flock, I believe the best we can do is to keep them as happy as we can with good nutrition (probiotics and prebiotics) and keep them stress free as possible. I know how you feel because I am also "walking on the same shoes"
Please keep us posted, your SLW is gorgeous, let's hope she stays with you for a long time.

I wanted to thank you for sharing your story with me. I just can't believe this has all happened and oh how I wish I knew then what I know now. I had purchaced my very first chickens last march from a market (unvaccinated) and ended up losing 2 girls several months apart from each other. Both were pullets and I was devistated. What was I doing wrong? I was certainly a first timer but as far as I knew I was doing everything right, and going to great lengths to make sure of that. Well, a third chick ended up being a rooster and I gave him back to the woman I purchaced him from (reluctantly). I had some trouble finding a vet that handled chickens but was able to get one to come out. I had him inspect my coop and the area where I let them free range to see if there was anything I was possibly doing or missing. He said my set up was great and I was doing everything right and sometimes these things just happen. So my SLW was all alone. I was loosing sleep over this and would spend what most would consider a crazy amount of time with my chicken. The vet and I worked out a plan to bring in new chicks and how I would integrate. I had a chicken magazine on my counter and mareks was on the cover. The vet made some joke about not getting too paranoid and vaccinating for mareks was completely unnecessary and he had only come across it once. So I ordered chicks from Murray mcmurray and only vaccinated for cocci. Not for financial reasons but because I thought I shouldn't make them get something they didn't need. I got the chicks and integrated them perfectly. So much smoother than I expected. At about 10 wks old I lost a pullet. And this one I nursed for a week, had the vet out, did everything imaginable. I was so frustrated! The vet even thought West Nile. I wanted answers so I made several phone calls and found a place to do the necropsy a few hours from me. A few weeks later I notice my SLW's eye. Immediately research and my heart breaks when I keep coming up with ocular mareks. It can take 6-8 weeks for the full necropsy results, but I already know in my heart. The 12th of December will be the 8 wk mark on the necropsy so I just have to keep waiting. So many things are on my mind. Why didn't I vaccinate??? I exposed all these chicks! Where did the mareks come from? How did my original 4 get it? Is it that airborne and they got it from wild birds? Did I track it home on my shoes from the feed store? Am I not being a good neighbor by having 6 chickens with mareks even if they survived it so far? It's just the worst.

Hey aldarita I meant to reply to your post, but I accidentally did a general reply. Thank you for sharing your story with me.