Day one of the first sign of Marek, 1 completely healthy, happy, and active 3week old chick, free ranged for about 7 hrs, upon heading to roost for the night, she squared in sleep mode on the rocks. After several tries of rousting her on her feet, I had to pick her up and take her in.
Food would not motivate her enough to rise so I began a full body examination. I discovered, under her wing, beneath the feathers, a gapping wound. Also, tail feathers are falling out. The partial paralysis of legs, combined with the lesion and the apparent inflammation of her chest bone..led me to a startling diagnosis. It is looking like Mareks.
The steps I have began to take to control this matter from the rest of my flock.
#1 sanitize every item the chickens have came in contact with. I mean EVERYTHING. And quarantine infected birds
#2 Sanitize the entire coop, every nook and cranny.
#3 Sanitize entire area near coop or where chickens spend any time.
#4 I put in air purifier to keep dust from floating around in coop.
#5 Close off any drafts where dust can blow in. No fan.
#6 Put new unused air filters over windows in or on coop, over door and especially on healthy birds' coops' or cages, kennels etc.
#7 Running cool mist humidifier to keep any dust in air at a minimum.
#8 Replace all the normal things provided in coop with new or sanitized ones.
#9 Put new food into coop, new water. New bedding. Etc.
#10 Clean uninfected chicks or chicks showing no signs of possible Mareks. I soaked them in a small ratio of water and Epson.
#11 Dry chicks under lamp. 100% dry.
#12 chopped fresh garlic clove portion for non symptomatic birds, put into fresh food. Yogurt too as an additive with the food and garlic mix.
#13 Finally time to put the chicks in the sanitized coop with the food and garlic mix. Fresh water and food always.
#14 Monitor sick chick. Do the same for it. Only quarantine it. Feeding mine the garlic food mix, along with St. John's Wort. Fresh water intake. Lesion is dressed and disinfected.
I Will document the following days progression. Maybe this will help someone with the same issues.
Food would not motivate her enough to rise so I began a full body examination. I discovered, under her wing, beneath the feathers, a gapping wound. Also, tail feathers are falling out. The partial paralysis of legs, combined with the lesion and the apparent inflammation of her chest bone..led me to a startling diagnosis. It is looking like Mareks.
The steps I have began to take to control this matter from the rest of my flock.
#1 sanitize every item the chickens have came in contact with. I mean EVERYTHING. And quarantine infected birds
#2 Sanitize the entire coop, every nook and cranny.
#3 Sanitize entire area near coop or where chickens spend any time.
#4 I put in air purifier to keep dust from floating around in coop.
#5 Close off any drafts where dust can blow in. No fan.
#6 Put new unused air filters over windows in or on coop, over door and especially on healthy birds' coops' or cages, kennels etc.
#7 Running cool mist humidifier to keep any dust in air at a minimum.
#8 Replace all the normal things provided in coop with new or sanitized ones.
#9 Put new food into coop, new water. New bedding. Etc.
#10 Clean uninfected chicks or chicks showing no signs of possible Mareks. I soaked them in a small ratio of water and Epson.
#11 Dry chicks under lamp. 100% dry.
#12 chopped fresh garlic clove portion for non symptomatic birds, put into fresh food. Yogurt too as an additive with the food and garlic mix.
#13 Finally time to put the chicks in the sanitized coop with the food and garlic mix. Fresh water and food always.
#14 Monitor sick chick. Do the same for it. Only quarantine it. Feeding mine the garlic food mix, along with St. John's Wort. Fresh water intake. Lesion is dressed and disinfected.
I Will document the following days progression. Maybe this will help someone with the same issues.
