Moving Forward- Breeding for Resistance to Marek's Disease

[chooks4life]

Good luck with that @ochochicas

 

[chooks4life]

So, while checking out this PoultryDVM site, I came across this information. If correct, it poses some interesting questions.

Not sure what value this information is, but it's linked to Marek's and therefore might be relevant to someone, particularly someone with a vaccinated bird that's come down with Marek's anyway.

Best wishes.

 

[ochochicas]

Does anyone know what happened to the OP of this thread?
@sassybirds

Has their been any luck breeding for resistance? I hatched chicks last year from several different hens. Every one of them has suffered from Marek's except for the two Australorp pullets and one very luck cockerel. Now all my chicks are hatched inside under strict isolation and they will be vaccinated. I've completely given up on hatching chicks with a hen. My broody hen is sitting on pheasant eggs. She loves her babies so I'm hoping to have better luck with pheasants than I did with chicks.

 

[Jobot]

I wish I could do this sort of operation. I'm really interested to see how your breeding pans out!! Way to go!

 

[ochochicas]

Change of plans. I hatched seven of the eggs from my apparently resistant Australorp pullets. My broody incubated them for 18 days, but I hatched them in the incubator. When they hatched, they were vaccinated and then moved back under the broody. She is in a separate location with all new/clean bedding. I realize she could still have Marek's on her, and she could even be a carrier herself (although I think that is unlikely). If the chicks are exposed to Marek's before the vaccine has a chance to its job, they could still get the disease. I'm hoping they have enough resistance from their moms and that while they are isolated for the next 3 weeks their little bodies can produce enough antibodies to fight off the disease. I guess we'll know in about 6 months if it was a really bad idea or not. Good luck babies!

 

[lalaland]

ochochias, how are the chicks doing?

 

[ochochicas]

ochochias, how are the chicks doing?

I was just going to post an update. Thanks for asking about the chicks.

The broody chicks are doing well, but they are only 4 weeks old so it is a bit early to tell. They've already learned to roost in their chicken tractor. Their mom is very protective over these chicks. I think having her isolated and unable to free range has made her a bit grumpy.

A few weeks ago I noticed the broody chicks are much smaller and slower to develop than the ones that are in the house. I took some pics of one broody chicks with the smallest of my bathroom pullets. The chick on the left is the broody chick at 26 days old, the pullet on the right is 29 days and lives in the house. The indoor chicks are fully feathered and obviously either male or female. The broody chicks are not completely feathered and are still showing no signs of gender characteristics. The broody chicks were living with some pheasant babies that I saw mites on. I suspect the chicks might have mites too, so I just dusted them. I suppose that could be one reason why they are smaller.

Everyone got their second vaccine on Sunday, although I know the broody chicks have probably already been exposed to the virus




With my older pullets, I still have two unvaccinated Australorps that are 7 1/2 months and seem to be resistant. The last of my broody raised pullets that hatched in December died this morning. She was doing so well but clearly wasn't resistant like the two older birds.

 

[alibabba]

Nambroth asked me on another thread about my antibiotic/cocci treatment. I had just got tired of skinny chickens, and I had a positive result with one hen so far, and am waiting for 6 others to respond. The food has been disappearing much faster.

I had a few necropsies and each showed at least one thing in common: opportunistic bacteria or cocci , one with e. coli. These bacteria and cocci are present in all chickens and kept in check by the immune system. Well, then they could be immunosuppressed. Why?

Your young chick or pullet comes down with paralysis. Or, gasping, not eating, the nerves connected to breathing and digestive system, or eyes. Marek's virus tumors will invade anything they can. It also causes immunosuppression. I went looking on how long that immunosuppression can last. Well it can be life long , and possibly affect vaccinated chickens as well (I'm not sure if this is rare).

If this is the case, then my wasting or skinny chickens may not be that way from Marek's, but from a suppressed immune system that allows the nasty bacteria to take over and make the bird sick. So I'm trying to find out if they are treatable illnesses, and not real Marek's wasting per say. Cocci seem to be a common culprit.

Does anyone appear to have "Marek's" wasting ?

http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2005/spring/mareks.htm

http://blog.mcmurrayhatchery.com/2014/02/03/mareks-disease-by-dr-darrell-w-trampel-d-v-m-phd/

Hi, what antibiotics have you tried? And what immune boosters, homeopathic, herbal, herbs and spices?

Secondary bacteria....?
I saw on a post of Kathy's (Casportpony) a nice table of what batceria are killed by what antiboitic.

(I am ordering:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/sto...-(lincomycin-spectinomycin)-75-g?cm_vc=-10005

looking for the link... you probably have seen it and probably already have that med)
to deal with secondary infections with a bad cocci outbreak with hatchery chicks. The chart shows it combats many.

Wasting says not absorbing nutrients, fix the gut? What fixes the gut? Lots of things to try. Chicken can walk and eat...awesome. This is a fight I would prefer over alert paralysis and internal tumors (not that any illness is good)

 

[seminolewind]

My "Marek's wasting" . Between the necropsies and who got save by "accident", I thought I would try a different approach rather than just writing off chickens as wasting. (I'm talking about over a year old MOL) . My accidental saves were given Tylan and Sulfadimethoxine-that was all I had on hand. So, I always have Sulfadimethoxine on hand. I can treat cocci with it and it's an antibiotic as well. Tylan is good for enteritis, but so is Amoxicillin. Since Tylan is pricier, I've been using Amoxi and Sulfadimethoxine. Those 2 cover the most common microbes that chickens can get. Cocci, e. coli, staph, clostridium (enteritis), I just had another hen who passed an egg the size of a grape and clear, and then yolk ran out. She was very thin. On day 3 of antibiotics, she was back to being her piggy self. I've not used any probiotics, herbs, boosters or spices. I just attempt to keep everyone's weight up.

L-S 50 I have in my cabinet as well. But it won't work on cocci.
Secondary infections-secondary to Marek's immunosuppression, cocci or worm damage, Each one of my necropsies had more than one thing going on. It's like something would cause damage and another microbe would move in and cause more damage.

I switched to a higher protein feed. I had always fed oat sweet feed for a treat and now I mix that with corn (scratch).

All I'm really doing with the antibiotics is rather than write it off as wasting, I'm treating for the most common infections that they can get-that most chickens have resistance against. I'm not a scientist or a doctor, but we all try things and have nothing to lose.

Let's say you have a 3 year old chicken that's not looking great, but not really looking sick, but is very thin as well. Normally with a 3 year old you would probably not "think" cocci because that's a chick thing. Not a thing for a 3 year old. However, because they are Marek's exposed, there would be a good possibility.

 

[seminolewind]

Clostridium Perfringens has become a problem in the poultry industry due to not continuously feeding antibiotics . What it can cause is subclinical illness where the chicken has a low chronic infection for months and the chicken just is not very thrifty and doesn't lay well. The destruction is in the small intestine and the nutrients are not able to be taken up as well. Same can happen with cocci. Worm damage will cause the same. All prevent normal uptake of nutrients.