Treating Mareks In Flock

[modenasilkie]

I wanted to share this, in case it might be helpful for anyone else going through this problem right now also. To start, I have had chickens for over 5 years now and have had Silkies for 4 years. The first few years were great, with lots of chicks and everyone was really healthy. Then I started having serious problems with my Silkies. After my last Silkie roo died back in October from Mareks, I noticed problems in the rest of my flock, both Silkies and other breeds alike.

Several of my other chickens showed signs of wasting, losing massive amounts of weight. My oldest Silkie hen was depressed all the time and always fluffed up. I was super worried, but I put them on a strict diet and supplement routine that I had tried to do with my roo before he died. Since late October when I first started them on this, they have improved incredibly. Most of them have put on more weight then they had prior to the problems, with the exception of my old Silkie hen. She has put on weight, but not as much as the others have. She's acting better now, though, and I keep a close on eye on her.

Anyway, this is the routine I have put them:
- I put a poultry vitamin and electrolyte mix in their water everyday.
- Once a month, like I do with my pigeons, I give them Probios in their water.
- Every few days I give them some plain yogurt with their morning feed.
- I mix Kickin Chicken with their feed daily.
- I give them fresh greens with their morning feed also.
- I give them an herb mixture I make up myself because my local feed stores want a fortune for premixed poultry herbs. My current mix includes parsley, basil, garlic, and oregano.
- I currently feed them a 16% protein pigeon feed mix from Star Milling.
- I feed my flock twice a day, once in the morning and again before sunset.

 

[azygous]

Excellent! I also have an avian virus in my flock, and diet it really key in boosting immune system response to viruses. Chickens do remarkably well in fighting viruses as long as you give their bodies the necessary tools.

 

[Iriskandi]

I am bumping this back. I think you have some really good information here that could help a lot of people.

I have a baby girl that I suspect has Mareks. And I am going to employ everything you have here to see if I can save the rest of my flock. I am already doing some of this, but I like your extra little bits of immune support.

Thank you for this post. It gives me a little hope.

 

[Gallomancer]

We just lost four birds in one week to Marek's, including two of my favorite birds. One of our surviving ones has a huge tumor on his wing, but is living it up like nothing's wrong. Will be putting him down as soon as he starts acting sick besides his wing.

I'll definitely try this routine to see if I can help the rest of my flock survive.

Thanks for posting!