Marek’s sucks!

[cinjoel]

We’ve had chickens for about 8 years and incubated our first batch of eggs for the first time from our hens this past summer. Up til then, we always bought chicks from our local Rural King (like a tractor supply chain)

well, we have lost every single baby…All the hens…and now only have two roosters left from that hatch. Every time one of the hens started displaying the signs (stumbling, uncoordinated walk, when sitting tend to fall over on one side, and loose weight dramatically) we tried giving them vitamin b but never helped at all. We ended up culling each one. Today one of the roosters is stumbling. I want to cry!

everything points to Marek’s …but I have older hens that seem to either have an immunity or are stronger…I don’t know why this batch have all succumbed to this illness. The other thing I was thinking maybe the ones I bought are vaccinated and my hatch were not.?

we also follow the deep litter method in our coop. The chickens are only in there overnight as we move them into an on-ground chicken tractor every morning.

I wanted to ask what, if any, should I do next…does cleaning everything help? Since our chickens are mostly on the ground, the only wood we use is for the bottom 2’ of walls and their roosts. Do you think I should replace the wood? Marek’s is airborne right so my husband doesn’t think that would help.
we will be buying our next batch of chicks, asking if they are vaccinated, and hopefully putting this experience behind us.

thanks for letting me unload on you all.
cindy

 

[coach723]

I'm very sorry, truly. Marek's does suck. But before jumping to any conclusions, I would highly recommend that you have one necropsied and tested to make sure that is what you are dealing with. Many state labs are fairly reasonable and it's better to know for sure so you can make correct decisions going forward. There are other things that can look like Marek's.
Here are resources by state, call your nearest and get particulars:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
There are also a few labs that can PCR test a sample from a live bird, usually a small blood stick you can mail back, info on that here, see post #7 in this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/marek’s-test.1278708/

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

I'm sooo sorry about all of your chickens! Marek's is definitely the worst thing that can happen to your flock in the chicken world!
Are your older hens vaccinated?? Where did you get them??