This article relates the story of our encounter with Marek's disease and it shares an apparently successful approach to quarantine. The time between exposure to Marek's and breaking quarantine was several weeks.
The flock and I live in South Australia, so our seasons are the opposite of the Northern hemisphere. Summers encompass Christmas. I work full-time, so for me flock expansion time coincides with my long Summer holiday, usually mid-December to late January, but people who hatch will have early chicks in August.
As the hens live in a suburban backyard, they're not a big flock. The largest it's been was 8 hens and the smallest was only 2. I like to add new chickens every two years so every second Christmas is relaxing without any integration stress.
The 2024-25 Summer was an expansion Summer. The oldest hen went broody and had a failed hatch, then she rejected chicks. The chicks grew into two cockerels, who were re-homed, and two pullets. Then one of the pullets died and so did one of the older hens.
With only one new pullet left, and one fewer hens, I set out to purchase a trio of pullets. I identified a breeder who'd won awards at the big agricultural show (for any Aussies reading, it was the Adelaide Royal) and brought home 3 pullets who I put into the spare coop for quarantine: a Marans, an Australorp, and a Brahma.
Quarantine turned out to be one of my better moves.
After a few days, I noticed the Marans had an unusual gait and pupil. I took a video of her gait and took all three of them to the vet for checking. The vet took one look at the video and said, "Yes, that's Marek's."
A feeling of dread settled over me because I love the hens and was very worried about them. But, thanks in part to an apparently successful quarantine strategy, today they're in the clear.
The basic principle is that it was OK for me to carry the hens' dander to the pullets, but it was NOT OK for me to carry the pullets' dander to the hens.
Here's the strategy, which I hope will help other people. I've laid it out as set up and method.
The set up:
Once I had the quarantine routine established, I began to think about testing because I needed to know if it had spread.
Sadly, the Marans's symptoms worsened, so she was euthanised after a couple of weeks.
The pullet who had arrived as a chick and had been living with the hens for a few months was tested for Marek's and got a negative. If the older hens had Marek's disease at all, they would have passed it to her in the months she had been living with them. So her negative result meant the older hens most likely didn't have Marek's disease.
The Australorp developed symptoms that worsened, so she was euthanised a few weeks after the Marans.
The Brahma was tested for Marek's and, amazingly, was also negative. This indicated the Marans and Australorp had the least virulent Marek's pathotype, and that the Brahma had had an incredibly lucky escape!
Today, quarantine is no longer necessary and the Brahma (Sarah, pictured) is trying to merge with the older hens. It's going to take a good long while, but she'll get there in the end, as they all do.
If you've had a sudden Marek's contamination, feel free to reach out and I'll share some further details.
The flock and I live in South Australia, so our seasons are the opposite of the Northern hemisphere. Summers encompass Christmas. I work full-time, so for me flock expansion time coincides with my long Summer holiday, usually mid-December to late January, but people who hatch will have early chicks in August.
As the hens live in a suburban backyard, they're not a big flock. The largest it's been was 8 hens and the smallest was only 2. I like to add new chickens every two years so every second Christmas is relaxing without any integration stress.
The 2024-25 Summer was an expansion Summer. The oldest hen went broody and had a failed hatch, then she rejected chicks. The chicks grew into two cockerels, who were re-homed, and two pullets. Then one of the pullets died and so did one of the older hens.
With only one new pullet left, and one fewer hens, I set out to purchase a trio of pullets. I identified a breeder who'd won awards at the big agricultural show (for any Aussies reading, it was the Adelaide Royal) and brought home 3 pullets who I put into the spare coop for quarantine: a Marans, an Australorp, and a Brahma.
Quarantine turned out to be one of my better moves.
After a few days, I noticed the Marans had an unusual gait and pupil. I took a video of her gait and took all three of them to the vet for checking. The vet took one look at the video and said, "Yes, that's Marek's."
A feeling of dread settled over me because I love the hens and was very worried about them. But, thanks in part to an apparently successful quarantine strategy, today they're in the clear.
The basic principle is that it was OK for me to carry the hens' dander to the pullets, but it was NOT OK for me to carry the pullets' dander to the hens.
Here's the strategy, which I hope will help other people. I've laid it out as set up and method.
The set up:
- I had a separate coop ready to use. In previous years, before the separate coop was available, I used the sleepout or laundry for quarantining.
- It's about 7 metres from the other hens' coop and run. I would prefer if it were further away and I'm considering moving it, but as only vaccinated chicks and pullets will be joining the flock in future, perhaps it can stay put.
- I dedicated an old pair of gardening clogs to the pullets' coop and changed into them before stepping in. I kept the clogs beside their coop and threw them out once it was all over.
- I kept the wheelie bin beside their coop so I wouldn't have to walk across the backyard carrying waste and possibly spreading contaminated dander.
- For the duration of the quarantine, of course the hens were confined to their run and the pullets were confined to their coop and the small run around it. No chickens were able to approach the other chickens' living area.
- In the mornings before my shower, the pullets' coop was cleaned out and their water and feed replenished.
- I wore silicon gloves for all the pullets' chores, which were disposed of daily, in a small but airtight bin bag, with their poop and any feathers that had dropped overnight.
- Immediately after doing the pullets' chores, I put my clothes in a 90C hot wash with laundry detergent because detergent breaks down viruses, rendering them harmless, so they can be washed away in the wastewater without any fear of contaminating wild birds who might come into contact with the water.
- I showered immediately after putting the clothes in the wash.
- If I had to be at work early and didn't have time for the pullets' chores, well, the chores were not done until the next day because controlling the spread of dander was more important than fresh water. However, this meant each time I did the pullets' chores I topped up all their feeders and changed their water so they always had enough for more than a couple of days.
- In the evenings, I did the hens' chores, hopefully free from contaminated dander.
Once I had the quarantine routine established, I began to think about testing because I needed to know if it had spread.
Sadly, the Marans's symptoms worsened, so she was euthanised after a couple of weeks.
The pullet who had arrived as a chick and had been living with the hens for a few months was tested for Marek's and got a negative. If the older hens had Marek's disease at all, they would have passed it to her in the months she had been living with them. So her negative result meant the older hens most likely didn't have Marek's disease.
The Australorp developed symptoms that worsened, so she was euthanised a few weeks after the Marans.
The Brahma was tested for Marek's and, amazingly, was also negative. This indicated the Marans and Australorp had the least virulent Marek's pathotype, and that the Brahma had had an incredibly lucky escape!
Today, quarantine is no longer necessary and the Brahma (Sarah, pictured) is trying to merge with the older hens. It's going to take a good long while, but she'll get there in the end, as they all do.
If you've had a sudden Marek's contamination, feel free to reach out and I'll share some further details.
