Any owners have their Silkies Survive Mareks?

[heidiAnnP]

Does anyone have experience with Mareks disease in vaccinated Silkies? I just had a vaccinated Silkie die this morning of Mareks, I quarantined her after she began stumbling around the pen about 2 weeks ago. She then became blind, could no longer walk/stand and then 2 days before her death started head tremors. Her sister has been hobbling on 1 leg for 3 weeks now and is also quarantined, she is not getting any better but not getting any worse (she got a spa bath and mites dust bath today and I am treating her for scaley leg mites). My questions is I have 4 other Silkies who were fine until I noticed bright green poo in the yard and found it was my 7 mo old Silkie Thelma. I assume it is a short amount of time before I start seeing symptoms in my entire flock (Polish, Sebrights and Easter Eggers ). If anyone has experience with this issue, did all your Silkies become infected and If so, what was the outcome? I have read there is a 1-50% mortality rate in vaccinated Silkies when it comes to Mareks, so I am assuming my Silkies have anywhere from a 1% to 50% chance survival?

Any recommendations on what I can give to boost immune system (they get Poultry Cell, Oregano Oil, ACV and Probiotics (not all at once). Anyone try putting garlic glove in the water?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Did you have a confirmation diagnosis through your state lab that she died from Marek's disease?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-i-learned-to-deal-with-mareks-disease.76944/

 

[heidiAnnP]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Did you have a confirmation diagnosis through your state lab that she died from Marek's disease?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-i-learned-to-deal-with-mareks-disease.76944/

No, I did treat her for other possible diseases that may mimick Mareks but no success. She never improved, with the blindness, inability to walk and head tremors (green tinted feces) all pointed to Mareks. We have a pretty large wild bird population here that could have spread it to my flock. So far my other birds seem healthy and OK, it is only the last Silkie (who was her sister) who is limping (she has been quarantined for about 3 weeks now) and her leg is not getting better. Been adding a clove of garlic to their water and alternating probiotics and oregano oil through the week. Cleaned out coops with a good viricide. Not sure what else I can do but watch and wait, not possible for me to isolate so many bids if they were all exposed anyways.

Thank you for the link to the other posting, it is so true! I now know I am not alone in the struggle to keep our sweet birds alive!

 

[Basia St Clair]

Hey @heidiAnnP - just curious of the result. I have a 6 month old silkie pullet who hatched from a Momma silkie who has been limping now for 2 months. She doesnt get any better, nor does she get worse. Its been a long process that I posted about on this forum. When i took her to the Vet about a month back he did not think it was indicative of Mareks. Just curious what's happened with your babies

 

[heidiAnnP]

All of

Hey @heidiAnnP - just curious of the result. I have a 6 month old silkie pullet who hatched from a Momma silkie who has been limping now for 2 months. She doesnt get any better, nor does she get worse. Its been a long process that I posted about on this forum. When i took her to the Vet about a month back he did not think it was indicative of Mareks. Just curious what's happened with your babies

They all passed away from this, the one that was limping eventually passed away. I treated for coccidiosis as I know it can mimic mareks. The one limping wasted away and passed shortly after posting, I also quarantined her and isolated her from the flock. I thought she was getting better but woke up one morning and she was gone. It is hard as I lost over 6 bids in 6 months to disease. I treat their water with probiotics and use a lot of natural treatments, all are vaccinated. SAdly they are just fragile animals and succumb to illness very easily.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Does anyone have experience with Mareks disease in vaccinated Silkies? I just had a vaccinated Silkie die this morning of Mareks, I quarantined her after she began stumbling around the pen about 2 weeks ago. She then became blind, could no longer walk/stand and then 2 days before her death started head tremors. Her sister has been hobbling on 1 leg for 3 weeks now and is also quarantined, she is not getting any better but not getting any worse (she got a spa bath and mites dust bath today and I am treating her for scaley leg mites). My questions is I have 4 other Silkies who were fine until I noticed bright green poo in the yard and found it was my 7 mo old Silkie Thelma. I assume it is a short amount of time before I start seeing symptoms in my entire flock (Polish, Sebrights and Easter Eggers ). If anyone has experience with this issue, did all your Silkies become infected and If so, what was the outcome? I have read there is a 1-50% mortality rate in vaccinated Silkies when it comes to Mareks, so I am assuming my Silkies have anywhere from a 1% to 50% chance survival?

Any recommendations on what I can give to boost immune system (they get Poultry Cell, Oregano Oil, ACV and Probiotics (not all at once). Anyone try putting garlic glove in the water?

A few years ago, I had confirmed Marek's in my flock (had necropsies). I had four Silkies; one survived, and she is still doing well today. They came from Rural King- via a large hatchery and were vaccinated for Marek's. You probably know that the vaccine doesn't prevent Marek's, but it lessens the symptoms for some chickens. I had two Polish, and two Brahmas die. I had gotten them all at Rural King at the same time. When I had the necropsies done at Purdue Univ., the pathologist said that since they came from the same resource at the same time, it was likely that the hatchery used an outdated vaccine or didn't give it correctly or missed some since those large hatcheries have tons of chicks on conveyor belts. He reported it to the state as required, and I noticed the next spring that RK was using a different hatchery. Anyway, I thoroughly cleaned the coop and area and sprayed everything with Vircon S (you have to move chickens away from the area until it dries). Then, you can get more chickens, but they must be vaccinated, be 5 months or older (immunity), and don't sell or rehome any of your birds. There is a lot of misinformation online about home remedies. I have two Chicken Health books and read veterinarian articles and studies. My avian vet said to put vitamins and probiotics in chicken's water every day. Here's info about garlic. Best wishes!