Marek's Disease question

[alibabba]

I bought a few older Roos. Bred them with vaccinated hens. Their chicks have mostly survived. All broody raised, outside. I don't keep records but I'll bet it's 97 percent survival. To Crow and POL. Have never lost a chick to Marek's.
I have the first round of these crosses, heading into 3rd year, brooding(multiple times a season) and laying.

ETA. Lost 3 for certain Merek's with my initial flock, years ago. I had one hen die last year, splits.

 

[alibabba]

I haven't had an unvaccinated cockerel last longer then 24 months. They either die outright from breeding stress at point of crowing or around their second birthdays from secondary Marek's tumors or infections. I have lost several to seizures and neurological problems at 8 or 9 months. I never had a necropsy done on my birds but have talked to an avian vet at Missou's veterinary lab who confirmed that it sure did sound like I had Marek's in my flock without even a necropsy. Not long after I lost my first 9 week old chick to classic Marek's sissor paralysis and noticed a rooster and hen with grey eye. My husband is a retired eye doctor so I asked him to use his portable slit lamp and examine their eyes for me. He did and confirmed that three had severe herpes infections in their eyes.

No need for a necropsy at that point in time. I had my diagnosis.

I have two vaccinated pullets in my flock now. Bought at Orschelns to keep a single chick hatch company. The chick died....yep, Marek's but her two little coop mates are going strong.

I'm hoping to add a few more vaccinated bantam chicks to my flock this next spring. In the mean time, I waiting to see who is going to survive so I can start to breed for resistance.

The magic number for my flock is 24months. So far I have hens that are 34 months old. I just need a good resistant rooster now and I'm in business.

Good think I like roosters. I sure have a lot of them that I'm hoping to get one or two good boys to help carry on my flock for me.

I love roosters!!! wish they layed eggs.... Where are you? I'd gift you 1 or 2... They're going in someone's pot anyway...all good boys.

 

[alibabba]

 

[microchick]

Oh they are pretty boys, I especially like the white EEer?

Unfortunately I'm all the way over in Missouri near Kirksville. I have three roosters who are looking at their second birthdays in February. One is a big beautiful Buff O/Welsummer cross boy named Primo that I am hoping and praying survives. He has a smaller brother and then there is also a Welsummer rooster. I plan to put whoever survives till may in with my surviving Welsummer hens to see if I can breed a few resistant Welly chicks. So yeah, I'm hoping my Welsummer rooster survives also.

As for bantams. Current count is somewhere around 22 males that the oldest is 15 months so he has to make it till next September and past to be my oldest survivor in the bantam pen. All the others are hatched from this past Feb on through spring so I'm playing the waiting game with them.

I keep telling myself that odds are they won't all survive, but they came from hearty Amish stock and out of almost 40 bantam crosses (BBR with Cochin with Whatever was passing though the barnyard that day) I have only lost two no, wait, three birds to Marek's so far. The standards have been hit hard. Out of 34 birds I am down to 18 or 19.

God I HATE Marek's!

 

[Gallomancer]

Marek's is truly the worst!

We just lost our favorite hen to it, plus my favorite pullet, and a second pullet. One of our birds had a humongous tumor on its wing (still not sure if pullet or cockerel) that weighed more than the rest of its body. Had it biopsied after the vet confirmed there was no puss or signs of infection and got a call that it looked like a Marek's-caused tumor especially since we suddenly lost a healthy-looking bird and one of them had wry neck. The chicken seems otherwise fine- healthy eating, poops, and drinking. Does all of its normal things, and isn't being picked on by the flock. The vet who saw it said that since it seems otherwise healthy, we could wait to put it down until its quality of life dropped. Well, it still hasn't, but I am bitter that our first hen died while this bugger gets to cluck around like it doesn't have the nastiest wing on earth.

 

[microchick]

So sorry.You are right. It is the worst.

At first you think that you are the only person in the world with a flock that is having to deal with this disease when it is in fact everywhere. There are a lot of people dealing with it and there are those who are dealing with sick or dying birds that don't even know that what is really wrong with their birds is probably Marek's.

I know it's frustrating,but your bird with the tumor didn't ask for this to happen to it. I had a wonderful cockerel that I loved dearly be the first bird that I lost to Marek's. He was my baby and pet but it didn't matter. The two roosters that were little demons lived and Big Red died. Then I reminded myself that disease doesn't discriminate.

Hate Marek's disease. I do .

 

[alibabba]

I forgot. The last Marek's loss (splits)...
I forgot was not a homebred chick. She was a Welbar, bought with a Crested Creme Legbar keep a lone hatched chick company. That was last year I think. Just FYI.