Did you cull your chickens with Mareks?

[adladladl]

I have had Mycoplasma...culled them all...Now Maraks.
100% of my birds came from the hatchery and I did not have any birds before I got them for months so Maraks came from the environment.
A few died. The rest appear to be asymptomatic. Are they gonna lay normal?
I need some more babies that will be vaccinated but what do I do with these first? Cull them? I know the vaccination needs time to work on the babies. I am scared to cull all these, get vaccinated babies, and then get the disease all over again but I'm also scared to keep these and then my babies are automatically exposed to the disease.

 

[SilverBirds]

Yes, they will still lay, and you can eat the eggs unless you are medicating them.

Have you read this article? Most of your questions are already answered specifically, in the parts headed with "Help, I have Marek's" and "Control".

 

[adladladl]

Yes, they will still lay, and you can eat the eggs unless you are medicating them.

Have you read this article? Most of your questions are already answered specifically, in the parts headed with "Help, I have Marek's" and "Control".

I have read a hundred articles but I want someone who has had it to give an opinion...sometimes it's hard to believe everything that authors write.

 

[adladladl]

First: DO NOT PANIC

Second: Acknowledge that you will lose some birds to the disease, perhaps most or all of your birds if your flock is not vaccinated. In most cases, once symptoms show, the disease will only get worse and worse until the chicken starves to death or asphyxiates. In my opinion it is much better to put the chicken out of its misery while it still has a reasonable quality of life. Further, since chickens who are showing symptoms are likely shedding more of the virus, it's probably a good idea to cull sooner rather than later.

Third: Decide how you will manage the disease going forward. A Marek's infection doesn't mean the end of your chicken keeping days. For backyard keepers, I recommend continuing business as usual, while keeping an eye out for sick birds and culling when appropriate. I do not recommend culling your whole flock and attempting to disinfect your yard and start over. This requires special virucides, and in most cases a backyard keeper will not be able to adequately disinfect their entire yard. Furthermore, any new flock will likely be contaminated anyway by neighboring chickens, wild birds, or even just the wind. So a mass culling and sterilization would likely not help anything.

In summary: I believe the best approach to managing a Marek's infection in a backyard flock is to (1) cull sick birds as necessary, (2) vaccinate and properly quarantine all birds you acquire in the future, and (3) never to give or sell your birds without informing the buyer that they are a carrier for Marek's.

As a final note, please be aware that you may spread the disease to other flocks on your clothing/shoes/hair. Please take adequate precautions to prevent spreading the disease.

 

[adladladl]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...hings-every-chicken-keeper-should-know.72812/

 

[adladladl]

Here is one article saying to keep them...another one said to cull them all.

 

[adladladl]

re all exposed birds and survivors carriers?​

Yes. But, the reality is that most flocks (if not all) of purebred birds in backyards have probably been exposed to some form of Marek’s, as wild birds can carry the dust and dander. But for the majority, it’s never a problem.

Please don’t cull all birds you think are carriers! Instead, you may be culling some of your hardiest, most disease-resistant birds, and these are the birds you should breed from.

 

[adladladl]

https://chickencoach.com/blogs/learn/mareks-disease-for-chicken-owners-what-you-need-to-know

 

[adladladl]

This article from CHICKEN COACH implies I should breed them and I guess they mean to vaccinate the babies? I just don't know what to do....keep them and eat the eggs or cull them.

 

[Esrun]

I’m not a pro by any means and still new to chickens. We had a bird test positive for Marek’s after she died (soon into our chicken owning btw) and I freaked out. Then I calmed down and any new chicks have been vaccinated. And they have been fine. I think a loss here and there with the chicks but not more than seems to be average. Anyway, sorry you’re dealing with this. Initially I thought it was the end of the world (and my chicken keeping) but many MANY local chicken folks calmed my fears and assured me that Marek’s is not the end of the world if dealt with properly and was more commonly than I realized. We eat their eggs