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Chickythom
Chirping
- May 29, 2017
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Sadly I am one of those individuals, but I understand that more opinions from others are helpful! My experience with Marek's has not been nearly as bad as a lot of the stories you read, and whilst I was pretty devastated at first, you do learn to manage it. My broody hens raised 56 chicks last year mostly within the Marek's flock and only 3 showed symptoms. Two I had to euthanize after a couple of weeks of TLC but the third appears to be completely normal and you would not know he had ever been so sick that he was also close to being put to sleep too.
As regards your questions:-
1. If this is Marek's, like I believe, how can we disinfect/minimize viral exposure in the seemingly healthy flock outside? I purchased VikronStablets but have no idea what to do to the pasture short of just running our lawn vacuum over the area and disposing of poop/feathers. Thoughts/advice?
Personally I have not tried to eradicate it. My birds free range and my hens have access to many old stone buildings which have lots of nooks and crannies where dander dust can get blown and collect or be carried by rats etc. It is just not feasible to remove the exposure. I work on the basis that chicks are broody hatched and raised from survivors within the Marek's exposed flock. Broody reared chicks tend to have stronger immune systems and perhaps they develop some sort of immunity from that early exposure. Of course it is heart breaking to lose even one chick to it, but chicks and hens can die from a plethora of ailments and injuries.
2. If we do not have any other deceased birds between today and Wednesday, should I let he vet euthanize one of my symptomatic birds to perform a necropsy?
I have had birds with it recover to a reasonable quality of life (free range with a limp) after 3 months of TLC so I only euthanize once they stop eating and drinking. I would therefore not want to encourage you to euthanize one that might pick up just to get a diagnosis, although I can understand your need to know for sure.
3. Should I pay for a nonchicken expert, but avian vet, to perform said necropsy (sees exotics typically)?
You would be better getting it done by a state lab or university facility that have knowledge of poultry. Some may even offer a free service. I'm in the UK so I can't advise you on options in the USA or elsewhere in the world.
4. How do I protect others from what we may have when it is all over our yard, car, etc? Should we just spray our shoes with VikronS solution before getting in the car? What about our tires or delivery men that come Into our yard? We would like to be responsible and respectful of others; however I also want to minimize potential chemicalexposure to my flock and family.
You can only take reasonable precautions. Not visiting other people's poultry unless you have changed clothes after tending your flock. Not taking your chickens to shows/swaps etc. Not selling or passing on your chickens to others.
5. The land we live on is a rental and we will be relocating to our personal homestead in a few months. Should we cull all birds, disinfect or destroy all our birdkeeping items, and dinfect our belongings in efforts to start again without Marek's in our new home/land? If so, should we vaccinate future birds?
This is a difficult one and I'm really not sure what I would do. Although I do process my excess cockerels, I would find it incredibly difficult to cull my hens, particularly the special ones and to be honest, with the low level of Marek's sufferers that I get, I couldn't justify it, but if you have a particularly virulent strain and get several more losses, then you might be best, culling and starting again at the new premises. The Marek's vaccine is derived from the turkey strain and is apparently considered an imperfect vaccine. There was research a couple of years ago that suggested that the vaccine may be responsible for the more virulent strains of Marek's that are emerging. Certainly, here in the UK where most backyard flocks are not vaccinated, most people's experience is similar to mine from what I have heard... a few young birds are lost to it but the majority survive.
6. Should I quarantine my two birds in the house indefinitely or is it safe to construct an outside individual enclosure for each, away from the other birds? I hate having them stuck in the house but I was trying to minimize their fear/stress and improve comfort/vigilance.
I don't isolate my sick birds as such but provide them with supportive care within the flock....I take the view that the flock has already been exposed and the sick birds are happier in their normal environment and therefore more likely to recover. Stressed/depressed birds often go downhill quickly. Sunshine and grass and the company of other chickens are what I have found beneficial over the past 3 years with it. A cage within the run is necessary if they are sufficiently incapacitated to be vulnerable to bullying.
7. If this is Marek's how long will it take to decimate my poor flock? Should my symptomatic birds be worse off? Our breeder and vet both seemed to think they would progress quickly and present severe neurological decline and deficits if Marek's was the causative agent. I have read otherwise.
It depends on the strain and your local conditions and any number of other factors including breeding and the bird's immune system and spirit. I've just lost a 2 year old bird that had a dropped wing due to Marek's as a youngster, recovered after a few weeks and has been absolutely fine until I had to confine my flock during the winter due to bird flu restrictions. She stared to show signs of lameness which I initially thought/hoped might be bumble foot or a sprain because she was still laying and otherwise looked quite healthy. She held her own with support for 4 months. but during the past few weeks it became obvious it was Marek's and I had to euthanize her once she stopped eating. My little bantam cockerel from last year that was unable to walk for a fortnight is running around 9 months later with no sign of any lameness/paralysis or illness whatsoever, making a right nuisance of himself with my large fowl ladies. I've had others that went downhill in a matter of a week/fortnight. I've had the odd one that died very suddenly with no symptoms which I suspect had visceral tumours. It is such a difficult disease to predict because there are so many variables. I try to do my own necropsies now whenever I have time to improve my knowledge of it.
I hope the above gives you some guidance and a little encouragement that things may not be as bad as some of the stuff you read about Marek's. I was pretty panic stricken at first and of course each one you lose to it is heart breaking but on the whole it has not been a big issue and there are worse problems to have.
Best wishes
Barbara
Barbara,
Thank you sooo much for your response. It was truly uplifting. I am still very sad but was so happy to
Read about your experience. I was going borderline crazy trying to figure out how to make this work. I will keep you all posted. At this point we may be sacrificing one bird to perform necropsy and pathology. I would like to try and reincorporate the male back into the flock but am concerned he will be bullied and that his green poop may infect others. I have not decided how to proceed yet.
So sorry you're going through this. 
