Ocular Marek's?

[LikeTurkeys]

I have a 1-year-old Buff Orpington hen who looks like she has ocular Marek's. One eye is worse than the other and the irises are misshapen. Can anyone confirm this from the photos? Here is the eye that is the worst:

The other one is also affected:

I noticed it last night when checking the birds and immediately separated her. At this point I don't think it's going to make much of a difference.

I'm actually about to cry because of all the issues I've been dealing with, right when I was about to start my breeding program. I just submitted 2 birds for necropsy and testing to one of the UC Davis locations because of inexplicable head-shaking/twitching. So far I still don't know what's going on. And now this. I'm prepared to send her in also for testing.

What does this mean for the future? If it is ocular Marek's, does that mean I can no longer sell birds? They are carriers for life after all, and every bird in my flock had presumably been exposed. But then, the ocular form is not the worst there is.

I hope that is not the case, but if so I am ready to start over. Yes, I just purchased high-quality Cream Legbar hatching eggs that are day 7 in the incubator. Yes I have just begun to get serious about breeding and selling birds and have a flock of about 100 right now. But I can't tolerate having a disease like this permanently in my flock, restricting everything I do.

At least waterfowl are not affected by Marek's.

So there's my rant. I'm feeling pretty down right now as you can probably imagine...

 

[KaseySnow]

It could very well be Mareks, but there is no way to confirm without doing a necropsy. I am not sure about how ocular Mareks is confirmed, but my understanding is that Mareks of any type almost always involves internal tumors of some sort. You might call up an avian vet or even your state lab and ask about whether or not this bird should be culled and sent in.

If you have not done so already, I highly recommend reading this entire article thoroughly as it will help answer any questions you might have about Mareks. Read the part about biosecurity very carefully if you plan on continuing to have chickens as if it is Mareks you will need to be very, very thorough to prevent it from reinfecting future birds:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[LikeTurkeys]

It could very well be Mareks, but there is no way to confirm without doing a necropsy. I am not sure about how ocular Mareks is confirmed, but my understanding is that Mareks of any type almost always involves internal tumors of some sort. You might call up an avian vet or even your state lab and ask about whether or not this bird should be culled and sent in.

If you have not done so already, I highly recommend reading this entire article thoroughly as it will help answer any questions you might have about Mareks. Read the part about biosecurity very carefully if you plan on continuing to have chickens as if it is Mareks you will need to be very, very thorough to prevent it from reinfecting future birds:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Yes, I have read that article. The one thing I am still not sure about is if the ocular form can cause the other forms as well.

Right now I have her separated and am watching her very carefully. I am prepared to send her in for testing, but I also want to see if any other birds develop symptoms.

 

[KaseySnow]

I don't think the forms cause one another, I think they are basically just the three major signs of chicken having Mareks. My understanding is that when a chicken has Mareks it can present itself in many ways, but paralysis, ocular, and cutaneous lesions are the most common.

I could be wrong though, that is just my understanding from online research while dealing with this disease myself. I have only had chickens present with the paralysis sign of Mareks though.

I will be interested to know if you start noticing paralysis as well. I know that article mentions that these different "forms" of Mareks can have overlapping symptoms, so it is possible that a hen could develop more than one of the signs or, conversely, only one.

As far as your question about selling the chickens, I definitely wouldn't sell any of your current flock if you confirm Mareks in any of them. Mareks in one means they have all been exposed.

Alternatively, if it is Mareks, you could breed a Mareks resistant flock from the ones who survive, should you decide to keep any. There is some demand for birds that are resistant to the disease since it is one we do not have a cure or truly effective vaccine for.

I would wait until you get a necropsy back before making any decisions though. Sorry you are going through this.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

I don't think the forms cause one another, I think they are basically just the three major signs of chicken having Mareks. My understanding is that when a chicken has Mareks it can present itself in many ways, but paralysis, ocular, and cutaneous lesions are the most common.

I could be wrong though, that is just my understanding from online research while dealing with this disease myself. I have only had chickens present with the paralysis sign of Mareks though.

I will be interested to know if you start noticing paralysis as well. I know that article mentions that these different "forms" of Mareks can have overlapping symptoms, so it is possible that a hen could develop more than one of the signs or, conversely, only one.

As far as your question about selling the chickens, I definitely wouldn't sell any of your current flock if you confirm Mareks in any of them. Mareks in one means they have all been exposed.

Alternatively, if it is Mareks, you could breed a Mareks resistant flock from the ones who survive, should you decide to keep any. There is some demand for birds that are resistant to the disease since it is one we do not have a cure or truly effective vaccine for.

I would wait until you get a necropsy back before making any decisions though. Sorry you are going through this.

I will keep you posted, thanks for your input. And I'm sorry to hear that you have had to deal with this yourself.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

It looks like ocular Marek’s to me. I know someone with a hen who developed the shrunk pupil commonly associated with ocular Marek’s. That hen has been healthy and able to see for at least a year now.

Since you’ve already sent in two birds for necropsy, I don’t believe you need to send in any more. They should give you conclusive results on their own.

Definitely do not sell or give away any of your flock from now on. Though ocular Marek’s is usually less severe than the other strains, it’s still incredibly contagious and stays with a chicken for life. Though you can still sell hatching eggs, since this disease doesn’t spread vertically (from parent to chick). Just make sure that the eggs have been cleaned so they don’t have any feather dander carried on them. Also, if you do sell hatching eggs, make sure to alert any potential buyers. There’s still a risk (due to feather dander) and they also may want to clean the eggs themselves.

Most people with Marek’s in their flock either breed for resistance and/or buy vaccinated chicks. Culling your entire flock wouldn’t accomplish much, since it would still be in the soil. If you want to breed for resistance, you may want to look into Egyptian fayoumis, since they have some resistance to Marek’s already. If you’re interested, I’ll find and link the thread about breeding for resistance.

 

[PsychoChickenLady]

I have a 1-year-old Buff Orpington hen who looks like she has ocular Marek's. One eye is worse than the other and the irises are misshapen. Can anyone confirm this from the photos? Here is the eye that is the worst:
View attachment 2679838The other one is also affected:
View attachment 2679844
I noticed it last night when checking the birds and immediately separated her. At this point I don't think it's going to make much of a difference.

I'm actually about to cry because of all the issues I've been dealing with, right when I was about to start my breeding program. I just submitted 2 birds for necropsy and testing to one of the UC Davis locations because of inexplicable head-shaking/twitching. So far I still don't know what's going on. And now this. I'm prepared to send her in also for testing.

What does this mean for the future? If it is ocular Marek's, does that mean I can no longer sell birds? They are carriers for life after all, and every bird in my flock had presumably been exposed. But then, the ocular form is not the worst there is.

I hope that is not the case, but if so I am ready to start over. Yes, I just purchased high-quality Cream Legbar hatching eggs that are day 7 in the incubator. Yes I have just begun to get serious about breeding and selling birds and have a flock of about 100 right now. But I can't tolerate having a disease like this permanently in my flock, restricting everything I do.

At least waterfowl are not affected by Marek's.

So there's my rant. I'm feeling pretty down right now as you can probably imagine...

I think I might be dealing with this too. I only have 10 hens. I'm sorry you have to go through this.