Advice Needed: Mareks Vaccine

[sandesnow]

Well, I made a super stupid mistake today.

Feed store was offering chicks that they had 'left over' from their order. I asked how much, and was told 2 dollars a piece for White Layers (Leghorns) I thought.. Great! I can pick some up.. add them to my brooder that I have chicks in currently.

I am KICKING myself.

But first, I am really kinda angry that (well, I have never ordered chicks from a feed store before so had NO idea) these chicks are vaccinated against Mareks.

Got them home. Chicks looked great. Bright active. I didn't think. I added them to my brooder with 8 other chicks that were a week old.

My question: I noticed (about an hour after putting the chicks in) that some of the chicks had a green dot on the back of the neck.. Called the feed store, sure enough. These had been vaccinated against mareks.

Chicks were together at most, 1.5 hours, if that. Did I just flipping sentence these other chicks to possible marek's death? They are NOT vaccinated against marek's, NONE of my birds are.

These new chicks were seperated out, put in their own brooder OUTSIDE the house, on a closed in porch, and I am getting rid of them in the morning. I deconstructed my main brooder with my 1 week old chicks in it, disinfected the whole thing.

What are the chances??? And how long would you keep these guys quarantined now away from (and not going outside - at all) until I am sure they are in the clear?? (I have read 40 weeks, but I really need someone that has dealt with this to know..)

Please help if you can, I am going out of my mind with worry over one stupid mistake.

 

[Poultrybreeder]

Mareks can show up at any time, I had a 3 year old rooster die of it once. And why are you displeased about the Mareks vaccine? It is only contagious by blood, you might here it is airborne, but I had that rooster with a hen for 3 months or so, she still doesn't have it.

 

[sandesnow]

My worry is for my unvaccinated chicks. From what I have come across from doing research (university studies) it states that unvaccinated 'chickens' can catch it from the vaccinated chickens. (not finding anything on chicks though..) I think I am more upset with myself over this than anything else, as I KNOW better than what I did today.

 

[Poultrybreeder]

Whaa? I haven't heard anything like that before, I have had vaccinated chickens with unvaccinated ones before, in fact I have vaccinated chicks in a cage outside with my unvaccinated ones???

 

[Poultrybreeder]

And nothing appears to have happened in either story

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Mareks is spread by the dandruff that is shed from the exterior of the blood (pen) feathers when chickens grow new feathers to either replace lost feathers or during the annual molt..

Mostly because Mareks is a viral disease instead of a bacterial disease there is little like disinfection that will keep it from spreading.

 

[sandesnow]

So that grainy stuff in the pin feathers. Hopefully things are good then. They are all in the midst of getting in feathers. (the chicks were stated to be day olds, but I am pretty sure they were 2-3, so wing feathers are coming in.

The Ameraucanas I have, are slow growers.. so they are the size of these 'day' olds, but with everyone getting in wing and tail feathers, that is exactly what had me worried. *sigh*

 

[Poultrybreeder]

Like I said before, it can also be in their blood from their parents. If a chick comes down with Mareks, and one or the other of the parents had it, it is from the parents, passing down from generation to generation. Like I bred a mix twice, same parents, both times the cockerals were fine, and the pullets came down with Mareks. This has happened more than once, all of the other chickens were fine. So if one of your chicks gets it, it may not be from the others, it could be from the parents.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So that grainy stuff in the pin feathers. Hopefully things are good then. They are all in the midst of getting in feathers. (the chicks were stated to be day olds, but I am pretty sure they were 2-3, so wing feathers are coming in.

The Ameraucanas I have, are slow growers.. so they are the size of these 'day' olds, but with everyone getting in wing and tail feathers, that is exactly what had me worried. *sigh*

All Mareks chickens should be destroyed as soon as possible. Mareks chickens are never cured, they just go on to become carriers who will create more and more cases of Mareks as long as they live.

The dandruff I am speaking of is the exterior of the feather shaft that the new feather develops inside of. Once the blood feather hardens off the exterior sheath falls away as dandruff. I believe that there are 7 major strains of Marek's disease viruses and a different strain of vaccine is needed for each and every form of Marek's disease. Usually the chicks are vaccinated for the form most prevalent in the location they are to be shipped to.
.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Did the feed store say what hatchery these came from?
Some, but not all of the chicks have a green dot?


Marek's Disease
Synonyms: acute leukosis, neural leukosis, range paralysis, gray eye (when eye affected)
Species affected: Chickens between 12 to 25 weeks of age are most commonly clinically affected. Occasionally pheasants, quail, game fowl and turkeys can be infected.

Clinical signs: Marek's disease is a type of avian cancer. Tumors in nerves cause lameness and paralysis. Tumors can occur in the eyes and cause irregularly shaped pupils and blindness. Tumors of the liver, kidney, spleen, gonads, pancreas, proventriculus, lungs, muscles, and skin can cause incoordination, unthriftiness, paleness, weak labored breathing, and enlarged feather follicles. In terminal stages, the birds are emaciated with pale, scaly combs and greenish diarrhea (see Table 2).
Marek's disease is very similar to Lymphoid Leukosis, but Marek's usually occurs in chickens 12 to 25 weeks of age and Lymphoid Leukosis usually starts at 16 weeks of age.
Transmission: The Marek's virus is transmitted by air within the poultry house. It is in the feather dander, chicken house dust, feces and saliva. Infected birds carry the virus in their blood for life and are a source of infection for susceptible birds.

Treatment: none
Prevention: Chicks can be vaccinated at the hatchery. While the vaccination prevents tumor formation, it does not prevent infection by the virus.
Reference:http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044


I highly recommend that you read this article by @Nambroth - she has a lot of information that she has gathered while researching this disease that has affected her flock.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

More info on Marek's
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/90/mareks-disease/
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/neoplasms/mareks_disease_in_poultry.html
http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1321&context=extension_curall