Anyone had Mareks in their flock?

[jegupton]

I have three Golden Laced Wyandotte hens I got as adults. I have had them for five months or so. No issues other than being bossy birds at times. I recently purchased three cochin pullets from a local NPIP grower/hatchery and they are about four and a half months old. They were Mareks vaccinated. I lost one cochin to predation and now one of the remaining two is drunk. I have never had a bird with Mareks but I do worry that is the cause. I am trying to determine how long I should wait to see if she improves or go ahead and euthanize her. Yesterday, when this all started, I got home I saw that she was "drunk" and using her wings to balance. She was very unsteady on her feet. Occasionally she would fall. Her appetite is fine. She does roam about the yard though unsteadily. My coop is like a large rabbit hutch off the ground. She can flutter up/use the board walkway to get into the coop at night. I have taken her off by herself and even chased her and she can run, although a bit crazily and occasionally falls.

We have had tons of rain for the last month here and I let the girls range in the back yard a lot as well since it is fenced and the symptoms also seem in line with botulisum or something of that nature though I may be just grasping at straws. Today she seems a little steadier but again this may be wishful thinking. I am just flustered as what to do. The older girls and the one remaining cochin pullet seem fine. Any suggestions? She has no lesions, is eating and social but obviously not 100% feeling great, she will try to run away if I chase her, she flaps her wings, no pupil discolorization or rough edges.

Any ideas? I hate to put her down but rather do it sooner than latter if it is Mareks.

Thanks,

Jeremy

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Jeremy,

welcome to the forum. So sorry that your first post is sad circumstances.

There are multiple neurological problems that can affect chickens. I have had Marek's and it does usually hit pullets as they come into the point of lay.

Here is a link to a page of Marek's facts that I have started. Tons of links and vet manual info...some people's approach etc. It may help you match the symptoms against what you see in your bird.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mareks-disease-fact-site

 

[jegupton]

Thanks for the link. It is just bizzare. She does not really match up well. LOL. The few birds I came across in school during necropsy and labs had lesions or the typical splayed legs. She does not seem to be suffering and is eating. Bright and alert. Just so so weird. I get a bit neurotic over my "kids"!

 

[ChicKat]

You aren't alone..... I think that is why BYC has a category called 'chicken obsessed'.

The pullet that I had with Marek's was eating normally. When they did necropsy on her they didn't find anything that looked like Marek's and there were no lesions, it wasn't until they did the secondary level of tests and cultured tissue samples that they confirmed Marek's. By the time I got mine to the poultry diagnostic lab in Gonzales TX, she was showing 1 leg forward 1 leg back symptom.

It is a heartbreaking disease.

It could be that your chicken will survive. People will tell you then your chicken will be a carrier for life, and every chicken you would subsequently bring into your flock will be exposed to Marek's and you cannot show or sell chickens. It is a consideration. IMO all chickens are 'carriers' the disease is so prevalent. (Just like all human's have cancer cells in our bodies, but our immune system kills them off)

Just the stress of moving from one place to another could have been the shock that triggered the outbreak should it actually be Marek's. It is so difficult/impossible in these situations to make the right choice.

For my own flock, I am now trying to breed chicken's that are resistant to the disease. There is some research on the genetic level that found that Leghorns are more resistant and RIR have less resistance.(It had to do with the B21 gene) of course I haven't found that research paper again...but maybe someday I will. Because sexlinks are part RIR-- I think many of us experience Marek's and it's awful consequences. My pullet was a black sexlink. I had noticed some other characteristics, feather loss (or was that the normal growing up molt) and a deeper voice, and she wasn't growing quite as fast as her pen-mate.......

Hopefully it isn't Marek's and you can boost her immune system. (maybe not chicken soup though?) and she will recover. You may want to try a vet consult. If you have a chicken vet or you could go to online vet (probably a vet in the UK) or you could call the chicken doctor -- Peter Brown.... It's $25.00 for a call back and the price is applied to meds should you need any..
http://www.firststatevetsupply.com

 

[Leslieb118]

There is really nothing typical about Mareks. Some show classic symptoms while some don't. I learned that lesson myself. I lost a roo to Mareks at 10 months of age. His only issue was wasting, other than a secondary eye infection. He got weak and used his wings for balance. No matter how much he ate, he lost weight. He literally wasted away in front of my eyes. No matter how hard I tried and everything I treated him for, he died. I sent him to University of Kentucky Diagnostic Lab where the preliminary results didn't show anything that jumped right out at them. The lab work and final report showed Mareks.

If your pullet doesn't make it, or you decide to euthanize her, I'd highly recommend you have a necropsy done on her. If your decision is to euthanize her, you can take her to your state lab and they can do it in order to do the necropsy on her. They tend to prefer getting the bird alive. You might search the forum here for any threads on Mareks that leadwolf1 has posted in. She's been dealing with Mareks in her own flock and was a tremendous help to me.