Viable treatment for Marek's Disease.

[Petina75]

Like most backyard chickens keeps, it has been a bit of a disappointment to find out how much misinformation about chicken keeping there is out there.

I love my girls and I weep openly every time I lose one. My learning years have been harsh and heartbreaking, but my refusal to accept culling being an only option has been fruitful. I hope what I have recently discovered proves useful.

I was losing chickens. They'd be fine one day and dead the next. I have a rotating regimen of worming, pest control, protazoa abatement and bi-weekly, hands on exams. Still, fine one day, dead the next.

Like a good chook mom, all my girls are vaccinated. Turns out, that may not be so good. I recently read on BYC that the Marek's vaccine really does nothing useful. It does not prevent the transmission or contracting the virus, nor does it prevent the development of the disease. (Having the virus or the disease are 2 different things).

All the vaccine does is suppress symptoms. So if your chooks have the virus and develop the disease, they pretty much die without you knowing what killed them.

Every article I had read up to that point said there is no cure, no treatment, the most humane thing you can do is cull the bird to keep them from an agonizing death.

Well, I don't accept that. Marek's is a virus. Viruses have treatments. So I went hunting. Turns out that not only am I right, I'm not the only one giving the traditional data side-eye.

I found several clinical studies and a white paper out of China discussing several chicken viruses and the use of Chinese Skullcap. You can read two of the clinical studies on poultrydmv.org.

It basically rolled down to the herb Having the ability to shut the virus off, returning it to its dormant stage. They tested it with success on Marek's, Avian Flu and Mycoplasma Gallisepticum a/k/a Bubbleye (CRD).

A compilation of this single symptoms my chickens were exhibiting pointed to Marek's Disease. One had wing paralysis, two were limping, egg production was down, pale combs, ruffled feathers and weight loss was abundant and my boss hen, a Silver Wyandotte named Rogue, developed a cataract, she was going blind. I thought they were all soon to be dead.

I read on. 80% of fowl carry the Marek's virus. It mutates and can become quite deadly. But for the most part, it remains dormant. Birds carrying the virus, spread the virus.

So if 80% of fowl carry the virus and the standard recommendation is to cull the birds, wouldn't that wipe out the fowl population? It seems a tad counter productive. Ya think?

I found the clinical studies and poultrydmv.org confirmed my findings of 425mg, one time daily but no length of treatment is given. I went with 3 days.

Rouge was first in line. 425mg for 3 days. Then I decided to repeat in a week.

That was a month ago. Rogue is returning to normal. No longer a complacent lump, she's making rounds and kicking cloacas.

My other birds are recovering. I'm still treating the non-symptomatic birds.

I hope this is helpful.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8463782/

Antiviral effect of baicalin on Marek's disease virus in CEF cells:

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02595-x

Baicalin (Scutellaria baicalensis) extract

100-200 mg/kg of diet

F Yang et al., 2020; Y Zhou et al., 2019; B Yin et al., 2021; M Bao et al., 2022; Z Hu et al., 2022

Thank you so much for this information! I’ve lost two silkie hens in the last two weeks, one hen in January and one rooster in November. Currently I have one hen doing the limp with a slightly twisted neck, head tremors and is half her original weight. I have one more unaffected rooster left from this group, and they were all purchased at the same time when they were babies. I’ve never been through so much loss and these babies were my pets; I love them to pieces. I will give this a try cuz why not right? After all this heartbreak though, I won’t get another silkie that hasn’t been vaccinated. I started keeping a journal of the treatments I did on each chicken and am hoping my little Marsha Mellow will be a success story. Thank you again for putting this out there!

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Thank you so much for this information! I’ve lost two silkie hens in the last two weeks, one hen in January and one rooster in November. Currently I have one hen doing the limp with a slightly twisted neck, head tremors and is half her original weight. I have one more unaffected rooster left from this group, and they were all purchased at the same time when they were babies. I’ve never been through so much loss and these babies were my pets; I love them to pieces. I will give this a try cuz why not right? After all this heartbreak though, I won’t get another silkie that hasn’t been vaccinated. I started keeping a journal of the treatments I did on each chicken and am hoping my little Marsha Mellow will be a success story. Thank you again for putting this out there!

If they are visibly affected, add Nettle leaf and Milk Thistle for organ support.

I've had no more die since I dosed them. I hesitate to say it, but Rogue does look better. Her appetite is picking up and she's gaining weight. Her eye has completely cleared, but the iris is still gray. It seems like she does have some vision in the eye. I don't know if she is recovering vision or if it is what was left after the infection.

I have another hen, Bea who is showing signs of infection. She received 3 doses with the others. I will be dosing her according to the schedule I used for Rogue. Keep in mind, Bea already has impaired vision from a dog attack as a chick. So, I wouldn't be able to be conclusive with her.

 

[Petina75]

If they are visibly affected, add Nettle leaf and Milk Thistle for organ support.

I've had no more die since I dosed them. I hesitate to say it, but Rogue does look better. Her appetite is picking up and she's gaining weight. Her eye has completely cleared, but the iris is still gray. It seems like she does have some vision in the eye. I don't know if she is recovering vision or if it is what was left after the infection.

I have another hen, Bea who is showing signs of infection. She received 3 doses with the others. I will be dosing her according to the schedule I used for Rogue. Keep in mind, Bea already has impaired vision from a dog attack as a chick. So, I wouldn't be able to be conclusive with her.

I will definitely add the nettle leaf and milk thistle as well, thank you! I know it may or may not help but I plan to give a maintenance dose to the others. Wow and that is wonderful that you have not had anymore losses! I hope I can say the same too soon, and will post here if its working.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Well, I'm sad to report that Rogue passed this afternoon.

We've had 100°+ Temps the last couple of days and Rouge decided to not participate in the heat wave. Opting instead to enjoy the a/c in the front room. I let her.

I noticed last night her comb was extremely pale, almost white. This morning, she ate well and was drinking but she seemed to be having difficulty walking. Her head was a bit bobbley. My thought was wryneck might be setting in. Her last dose was last night. I did dose her again. But I knew she was declining rapidly. She leaped of the chook nook to avoid a randy rooster. She didn't land well. I held her until she passed 2 hours later. Other than that final death spasm, it was very peaceful.

I have another hen with Marek's, I am amplifying the treatment to extend twice daily for 30 days. Clearly lowering dosage once symptoms cleared wasn't a good idea. Rogue was fully vaccinated. This hen; Bea is not. She is a Red Starlink we got from TSC. She's already partially blind from a dog attack in her adolescents, so she's already heavily monitored and hand fed.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Thank you so much for this information! I’ve lost two silkie hens in the last two weeks, one hen in January and one rooster in November. Currently I have one hen doing the limp with a slightly twisted neck, head tremors and is half her original weight. I have one more unaffected rooster left from this group, and they were all purchased at the same time when they were babies. I’ve never been through so much loss and these babies were my pets; I love them to pieces. I will give this a try cuz why not right? After all this heartbreak though, I won’t get another silkie that hasn’t been vaccinated. I started keeping a journal of the treatments I did on each chicken and am hoping my little Marsha Mellow will be a success story. Thank you again for putting this out there!

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/4/1039

This link is a fairly comprehensive compilation of studies done on livestock (including chickens) with Baicalin (the medicinal compound in Chinese Skullcap) and Chinese Skullcap as a herb. What I took away was that one study added it to the feed @ 200mg per kg of feed with favorable results as a prophylactic.

I'm still researching.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Like most backyard chickens keeps, it has been a bit of a disappointment to find out how much misinformation about chicken keeping there is out there.

I love my girls and I weep openly every time I lose one. My learning years have been harsh and heartbreaking, but my refusal to accept culling being an only option has been fruitful. I hope what I have recently discovered proves useful.

I was losing chickens. They'd be fine one day and dead the next. I have a rotating regimen of worming, pest control, protazoa abatement and bi-weekly, hands on exams. Still, fine one day, dead the next.

Like a good chook mom, all my girls are vaccinated. Turns out, that may not be so good. I recently read on BYC that the Marek's vaccine really does nothing useful. It does not prevent the transmission or contracting the virus, nor does it prevent the development of the disease. (Having the virus or the disease are 2 different things).

All the vaccine does is suppress symptoms. So if your chooks have the virus and develop the disease, they pretty much die without you knowing what killed them.

Every article I had read up to that point said there is no cure, no treatment, the most humane thing you can do is cull the bird to keep them from an agonizing death.

Well, I don't accept that. Marek's is a virus. Viruses have treatments. So I went hunting. Turns out that not only am I right, I'm not the only one giving the traditional data side-eye.

I found several clinical studies and a white paper out of China discussing several chicken viruses and the use of Chinese Skullcap. You can read two of the clinical studies on poultrydmv.org.

It basically rolled down to the herb Having the ability to shut the virus off, returning it to its dormant stage. They tested it with success on Marek's, Avian Flu and Mycoplasma Gallisepticum a/k/a Bubbleye (CRD).

A compilation of this single symptoms my chickens were exhibiting pointed to Marek's Disease. One had wing paralysis, two were limping, egg production was down, pale combs, ruffled feathers and weight loss was abundant and my boss hen, a Silver Wyandotte named Rogue, developed a cataract, she was going blind. I thought they were all soon to be dead.

I read on. 80% of fowl carry the Marek's virus. It mutates and can become quite deadly. But for the most part, it remains dormant. Birds carrying the virus, spread the virus.

So if 80% of fowl carry the virus and the standard recommendation is to cull the birds, wouldn't that wipe out the fowl population? It seems a tad counter productive. Ya think?

I found the clinical studies and poultrydmv.org confirmed my findings of 425mg, one time daily but no length of treatment is given. I went with 3 days.

Rouge was first in line. 425mg for 3 days. Then I decided to repeat in a week.

That was a month ago. Rogue is returning to normal. No longer a complacent lump, she's making rounds and kicking cloacas.

My other birds are recovering. I'm still treating the non-symptomatic birds.

I hope this is helpful.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8463782/

Antiviral effect of baicalin on Marek's disease virus in CEF cells:

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02595-x

Baicalin (Scutellaria baicalensis) extract

100-200 mg/kg of diet

F Yang et al., 2020; Y Zhou et al., 2019; B Yin et al., 2021; M Bao et al., 2022; Z Hu et al., 2022

I have had 6 suspected cases resolve so far. All were vaccinated. I have 1 case not resolved, but the hen is not vaccinated. She's been getting 400 mg 3X daily for over a week now.

I'm trying to stay optimistic.

 

[FunClucks]

Crossing my fingers for you that the rest stay healthy. Thanks for posting this information!

 

[RoyalChick]

I have had 6 suspected cases resolve so far. All were vaccinated. I have 1 case not resolved, but the hen is not vaccinated. She's been getting 400 mg 3X daily for over a week now.

I'm trying to stay optimistic.

If you don't mind me asking, how are you giving that to the hen? Is it in a pill? And how did you come to that dose?
I have some on order but hadn't got as far as figuring out those two questions!
Thanks

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

If you don't mind me asking, how are you giving that to the hen? Is it in a pill? And how did you come to that dose?
I have some on order but hadn't got as far as figuring out those two questions!
Thanks

I actually have a vendor on Etsy that made me a custom blend. His name is Christopher Boelson, he's with Earthashram. The blend is Chinese Skullcap, with Milk Thistle for liver function support, Nettle leaf for lung function support and White Willow for pain at a 3/2/1/1 ratio. Dosage currently being 1 ml 3 times a day for 7-10 days and then once daily until I feel better.

I've ordered a Chinese Skullcap extract that is 98% Baicalin in powder form from a vendor on Ebay. I will begin adding 5 grams to 50lbs of feed as a prophylactic. Recently I gave asymptomatic birds 0.75 ml of straight Skullcap tincture by mouth once daily for 3 days as a prophylactic. I gave the same to birds I suspect that have a symptom or two, the same. The limping, wing paralysis and pale combs disappeared, two birds that quit laying have resumed and most have either returned to proper weight or are putting on weight.

I came to the realization this morning that Bea seems to have developed Coryza in her infected eye, and that is possibly why she is not getting better. She received 0.25 ml of Oxytetracycline. I observed improvement after a few hours, so my optimism has returned. Just let that serve as a reminder to keep an eye out for secondary infections.

 

[RoyalChick]

I actually have a vendor on Etsy that made me a custom blend. His name is Christopher Boelson, he's with Earthashram. The blend is Chinese Skullcap, with Milk Thistle for liver function support, Nettle leaf for lung function support and White Willow for pain at a 3/2/1/1 ratio. Dosage currently being 1 ml 3 times a day for 7-10 days and then once daily until I feel better.

I've ordered a Chinese Skullcap extract that is 98% Baicalin in powder form from a vendor on Ebay. I will begin adding 5 grams to 50lbs of feed as a prophylactic. Recently I gave asymptomatic birds 0.75 ml of straight Skullcap tincture by mouth once daily for 3 days as a prophylactic. I gave the same to birds I suspect that have a symptom or two, the same. The limping, wing paralysis and pale combs disappeared, two birds that quit laying have resumed and most have either returned to proper weight or are putting on weight.

I came to the realization this morning that Bea seems to have developed Coryza in her infected eye, and that is possibly why she is not getting better. She received 0.25 ml of Oxytetracycline. I observed improvement after a few hours, so my optimism has returned. Just let that serve as a reminder to keep an eye out for secondary infections.

Thank you for sharing. What I have on its way is 90% Baicalin in capsules - each capsule contains 250mg of baicalin.
I figure I can take the capsule apart to give a smaller dose to each hen but I had no idea how small or how large a dose was appropriate.