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

Sorry for your loss, Maggie P. I have nine 8 week old Buff Orps chicks that are outside in a separate chicken run - the older hens and the roosters can see them, I have not had problems with Mareks before, but the other day I noticed that 3/4ths of them have blue eyes - on both sides. They are still in the house with their mothers who are about 1-1/2 years old and are acting normal. I had never looked into their little chick eyes before: they are eating and drinking and lively so far, their pupils are not misshapen. I am worried sick. I will watch and wait for those crucial weeks which have begun to see what happens. The rest of the flock (7 hens and 2 roosters and 2 ducks seem OK for now. All are at least 6 months old. Is there something else I should do?
 
Oh no! I'm sorry you're having issues! I know it's kind of tricky but if there is any way I could see a picture it would be a lot of help. Have you introduced any new birds to the flock besides hatching yourself? Also do you know if of the older girls and rooster you have, did they have any vaccinations at all when they were born? Are the eyes blue on both sides or just one? Do they look milky or cloudy? The good news is that you haven't noticed any change in their behavior. Eating, drinking, pooping as usual is a great sign.
 
Thanks for this post. I got their dad from a friend who has quite a few chickens and no problem with Mareks - he was already about 4 years old.. The 4 new hens I introduced were from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon MO, unvaccinated and are 6 mos. old and seem healthy. I did buy my Cochin rooster when he was about 2 months old at a bird swap - all her birds looked so good I took a chance. He is 1-1/2 y.o. and seems very healthy. These chicks of mine - their eyes are clear and bright. Just bi-laterally blue. A couple of their egg-mates have the usual chicken chestnut eyes. I can't get close enough to them in their run to get a good photo. No one around here has reported any Mareks outbreak that I can find. It's a small community.
 
You certainly have a good mix going! Is it possible that the girls just have blue eyes? My little buff Orpington had blue eyes when she was younger and oh wow, my cuckoo maran had crystal blue eyes... You may just have some blue eyed babies! I will see if I can find a good picture to show you what I'm talking about. Be careful on trusting that chickens are healthy just by looking at the ones for sale, Marek's is very sneaky. That's how I got unfortunately got it. You could be just looking at the birds that survived the disease, but they are still big time carriers. That being said I really feel like you aren't dealing with mareks. I really believe you would be having other symptoms. I'll look for some blue eyed chick pictures and get back to you.
 
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Thank you for posting the pictures. Mine look like that. And you are right about buying from vendors at swaps - I never did that before. I was taken by the ambiance of her booth! :) The breeder was a nice hippie lady and her husband and they thought he was a hen> So did we, until he was about 6 months old. He still has a song he sings that is not a doodle-do.
 

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