Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[schnebbles]

Sorry everyone

I was at the d'uccle thread and someone had lost 45 of 50 birds! that's an awful high percent, makes me sad and mad. I wish all breeders vaccinated. They say no b/c they have never experienced Mareks, but IMO, that in itself doesn't have a thing to do with vaccinating.

 

[cpgoose]

AS I SEE PEOPLE RESPONDING I KNOW THEY HAVE A COMPUTER,SPEND SOME TIME AND GOOGLE THE MAREKS.I DID A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO AND GOT AN EDUCATION.THE MAREKS IS ALMOST EVERY WHERE AND CAN COME IN WITH THE WIND AS WELL AS ON PEOPLE AND BIRDS.SOME BREEDS ARE MUCH MORE RESISTANT THAN OTHERS.AFTER WATCHING ALMOST 3/4 OF MY HATCH DIE ONE YEAR OF ANY AND ALL SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED I LEARNED THAT IF I WANTED TO ENJOY AND EXHIBIT CHICKENS I HAD ONE CHOICE.VACCINATE EVERY CHICK HATCHED AND EVERY CHICK BOUGHT.IF I BUY ADULTS ASK IF THEY ARE VACCINATED,IF NOT THEY MUST BE KEEP SEPERATE AND EVEN THEN MAY DIE.VACCINATE IS THE ONLY SURE WAY.IT'S NOT THAT BAD AFTER YOU HAVE DONE IT.THERE ARE EVEN VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE ON HOW TO DO IT.DON'T LET MAREKS RUIN YOUR HOBBY

 

[casportpony]

AS I SEE PEOPLE RESPONDING I KNOW THEY HAVE A COMPUTER,SPEND SOME TIME AND GOOGLE THE MAREKS.I DID A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO AND GOT AN EDUCATION.THE MAREKS IS ALMOST EVERY WHERE AND CAN COME IN WITH THE WIND AS WELL AS ON PEOPLE AND BIRDS.SOME BREEDS ARE MUCH MORE RESISTANT THAN OTHERS.AFTER WATCHING ALMOST 3/4 OF MY HATCH DIE ONE YEAR OF ANY AND ALL SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED I LEARNED THAT IF I WANTED TO ENJOY AND EXHIBIT CHICKENS I HAD ONE CHOICE.VACCINATE EVERY CHICK HATCHED AND EVERY CHICK BOUGHT.IF I BUY ADULTS ASK IF THEY ARE VACCINATED,IF NOT THEY MUST BE KEEP SEPERATE AND EVEN THEN MAY DIE.VACCINATE IS THE ONLY SURE WAY.IT'S NOT THAT BAD AFTER YOU HAVE DONE IT.THERE ARE EVEN VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE ON HOW TO DO IT.DON'T LET MAREKS RUIN YOUR HOBBY

Welcome to BYC! ​

Many of us here live day to day with Marek's and I think most of us believe in vaccinating. When you have time, start at the beginning of this thread, you'll see what I mean.

-Kathy

 

[Nambroth]

Welcome, and indeed... some of us have spent more time researching Marek's than any sane person should. It got to the point where I had to compile everything I'd learned into one source, both for my own reference and also in case it can help anyone else.

 

[KAT Bird]

Hi!

Just wanted to share my experience with Marek's. This is the first time my husband and I owned chickens. We purchased 6 from one feed store and 3 from another. I had heard of vaccinating but everyone I knew with chickens locally never bought vaccinated birds. So April 2012 I brought these adorable Easter Egger chicks home and fell in love with owning chickens. July 2012 my first bird shows ocular symptoms. We took her to the vet and begin treatment for multiple causes. She never became paralyzed but wastes away and dies from internal tumors and aspergilloses. We had a necropsy done and at first lymphoid leukosis was the main suspicion. Further histogy revealed probable Marek's. Of the 6 from the first feed store, one is still alive. Of the 3 from the other feed store 2 of 3 are alive. So we lost 6 out of 9. They all progressed with the disease differently. Some progresses quickly and died shortly after symptoms started. Most progressed slowly and developed secondary infections which did not respond to treatments.

 

[casportpony]

Hi!

Just wanted to share my experience with Marek's. This is the first time my husband and I owned chickens. We purchased 6 from one feed store and 3 from another. I had heard of vaccinating but everyone I knew with chickens locally never bought vaccinated birds. So April 2012 I brought these adorable Easter Egger chicks home and fell in love with owning chickens. July 2012 my first bird shows ocular symptoms. We took her to the vet and begin treatment for multiple causes. She never became paralyzed but wastes away and dies from internal tumors and aspergilloses. We had a necropsy done and at first lymphoid leukosis was the main suspicion. Further histogy revealed probable Marek's. Of the 6 from the first feed store, one is still alive. Of the 3 from the other feed store 2 of 3 are alive. So we lost 6 out of 9. They all progressed with the disease differently. Some progresses quickly and died shortly after symptoms started. Most progressed slowly and developed secondary infections which did not respond to treatments.

Welcome to BYC and thanks for sharing your story.

-Kathy

 

[KAT Bird]

I purchased 3 18-20 week old vaccinated (Murray McMurray) pullets that we added to the remaining flock about 8 weeks ago. I also purchased 7 8-10 week old vaccinated (Murray McMurray) that I have been raising in my home and will not be adding to the flock until they are 24 weeks or older. I purchased two vaccinated by breeder (turkey Marek's vaccine) silkies. One was three months and one was ten months. They will be in my home indefinitely and I am trying to decide if I will ever take them outside. I am practicing as strict biosecurity as I can considering it is a virus. I will keep you all posted on how things are going. From my understanding getting older hatchery vaccinated birds, presuming they were not previously exposed, and waiting as long as possible to introduce them to the flock should offer the best odds? I also do a massive coop cleaning prior to introduction to try to lower the initial viral load they are exposed to.

 

[Nambroth]

KAT Bird, it sounds like you are doing the best that one can do, outside of industry practices or clean-room-level operations! I hope that your birds develop good resistance and that you have no more losses. I'm really sorry to hear that you lost most of your first EEs... it's always so sad.

It is a good reminder that Marek's takes many forms and can be a fast or a slow killer, and in general is a virus that really suppresses the immune system, and can cause our birds to die from secondary infections/problems. IT seems that if they do not develop the aggressive lymphoma tumors that they are just as likely to die from a secondary problem as they are from direct Marek's infection. It's one thing that makes this disease so frustrating and hard to "diagnose" online when people turn to the forum for help.

 

[KAT Bird]

So true....our vet is wonderful but hadn't seen Marek's yet so he was trying his best to treat them. We didn't know what we were dealing with until we lost our first and got the necropsy results back. Which took several weeks. We had it done at Cornell University and I did meet a poultry specialist there who worked in the poultry production industry for many years and has seen the many ugly faces of Marek's. She has been very helpful and strongly recommends vaccination. She did admit that the virus has become more virulent and it is very unpredictable. My heart broke every time we lost a bird. A few died in my arms. But I determined not to give up because when my birds aren't sick they bring me so mucb joy!

 

[BigECarter]

KAT Bird, we also have MM chicks, but I have not been as good at bio separation as you have been. They went into the coop with a symptomatic cockerel at 4 weeks, so a massive viral load instead of gradual exposure. They will be 12 weeks this weekend. So far so good.

We lost the cockerel, so if one if the chicks is not mis-sexed, I will be looking for a replacement. Either a cockerel from MM, or maybe a local roo who has had the turkey vaccine. My original flock was supposedly vaccinated but I lost 7 of 9, the first one showing symptoms within a week.