Hi again.
Yes that first diagnosis and the frantic research that follows is pretty terrifying. Try to keep in mind that much of what you read is based on the worst cases, because those are the ones that are most likely to get diagnosed and documented. In my opinion, there are many, many people who have Marek's in their flock and don't even realise it and never get a necropsy, so it goes undiagnosed. I read and respond to many posts here on BYC where people almost certainly have an outbreak of the disease but will not believe it because their bird's symptoms don't match all the symptoms they have read about. The number of people who say..... it's not Marek's because ......the bird is still alive/has got better/is the only sick one in the flock/it isn't paralysed it can move it's legs but just can't walk etc etc.
I don't do anything particular these days with my flocks. They get cheap unbranded 16% layer pellets, but I ferment some so they get probiotics from that most days. They also get grass cuttings (I believe that grass is one of natures best medicines for herbivores and omnivores and is one of the very few things that I believe turned the table around for my sick birds that survived) and they get beet spinach or other greens daily. They used to free range but I had to curtail that in the end due to foxes coming through the day and picking them off. Sadly, the stress of being confined/penned triggered a couple to become symptomatic but that settled down and they have been penned for nearly 2 years now. I try to deep litter in the run as I think healthy soil is probably more important to all life than we realise. Bacteria get so much bad press and everyone seems to want to exterminate them these days, but there should be a balance in all things and we should aim more to encourage the good rather than obliterate everything by trying to kill the bad. Like with everything in life, I'm on a steep learning curve with all this "hippy" alternative stuff and I have quite a scientific mind, so I need to see things working for myself and figure out what logical inferences I can draw from what I see. I can really only say what works for me and my flock in my conditions and climate and encourage other people to figure out what works for them.
Indiscriminate killing is not the answer to anything in my opinion at any level.
Just my thoughts!
Yes that first diagnosis and the frantic research that follows is pretty terrifying. Try to keep in mind that much of what you read is based on the worst cases, because those are the ones that are most likely to get diagnosed and documented. In my opinion, there are many, many people who have Marek's in their flock and don't even realise it and never get a necropsy, so it goes undiagnosed. I read and respond to many posts here on BYC where people almost certainly have an outbreak of the disease but will not believe it because their bird's symptoms don't match all the symptoms they have read about. The number of people who say..... it's not Marek's because ......the bird is still alive/has got better/is the only sick one in the flock/it isn't paralysed it can move it's legs but just can't walk etc etc.
I don't do anything particular these days with my flocks. They get cheap unbranded 16% layer pellets, but I ferment some so they get probiotics from that most days. They also get grass cuttings (I believe that grass is one of natures best medicines for herbivores and omnivores and is one of the very few things that I believe turned the table around for my sick birds that survived) and they get beet spinach or other greens daily. They used to free range but I had to curtail that in the end due to foxes coming through the day and picking them off. Sadly, the stress of being confined/penned triggered a couple to become symptomatic but that settled down and they have been penned for nearly 2 years now. I try to deep litter in the run as I think healthy soil is probably more important to all life than we realise. Bacteria get so much bad press and everyone seems to want to exterminate them these days, but there should be a balance in all things and we should aim more to encourage the good rather than obliterate everything by trying to kill the bad. Like with everything in life, I'm on a steep learning curve with all this "hippy" alternative stuff and I have quite a scientific mind, so I need to see things working for myself and figure out what logical inferences I can draw from what I see. I can really only say what works for me and my flock in my conditions and climate and encourage other people to figure out what works for them.
Indiscriminate killing is not the answer to anything in my opinion at any level.
Just my thoughts!
