- Jun 20, 2008
- 40
- 30
- 97
Wow I am embarrassed and pissed too. A few years ago now I got a dozen+ Black Breda chicks from Waltz's Ark Ranch. They were so gorgeous. But soon they started dying. Why I never considered Marek's, I don't know, but I didn't. I've got Cuckoo Marans and Ameraucanas and these BB's were all separated from them, and all dying similarly. Right, first weak in the legs, and you would have thought I would read enough about Marek's to understand that that was one of the first symptoms, but somehow I had focused on two possibilities: something in the breed itself and something in the area their coop is in. A few months ago I contacted Dr. Waltz and explained the symptoms and she told me she had never seen anything like that and maybe I wasn't giving them enough protein. So, I upped their protein and the dying continued.Well, last week I finally bucked my own laziness and sent my most recently departed hen to UC Davis and guess what: Marek's.
Dagnabbit.
I'm down to one roo and three hens and who knows how long they will last.
I'm thinking there isn't anything really for me to do. As I said, none of the chickens in three other coops/pens/yards have had any similar issues. I guess keeping on as before and NEVER EVER AGAIN starting new chicks from outside my own flock (as I had been doing previously) is all I can do.
Dagnabbit.
I'm down to one roo and three hens and who knows how long they will last.
I'm thinking there isn't anything really for me to do. As I said, none of the chickens in three other coops/pens/yards have had any similar issues. I guess keeping on as before and NEVER EVER AGAIN starting new chicks from outside my own flock (as I had been doing previously) is all I can do.