Can an Ocular Marek's hen ever return to the flock?

[khind]

I've read the long info page on Marek's, and I've also read comments made here and there that ocular Marek's doesn't have to be a death sentence.
However, if I want to keep a hen with ocular Marek's (one out of 5 adults and 6 twelve-week-olds, who is now isolated at my house for the time being since I discovered her condition), even after I strip and disinfect the coops/runs... she would always have to live away from them in an entirely different building and yard, right? And that yard really couldn't be within distance of the wind blowing the others' way, or of other means of passing it along to them, right? I'm just trying to understand. Because it does seem to me that in order to keep the others as "safe" as possible ( & I know there are no guarantees since they've been already exposed to the hen), I don't see how I would be able to keep this hen alive unless I could take care of her every day, maybe as a house chicken...? (And sadly, that's something I can't do; I work too many hours out of the house.)

Somehow, after I stopped crying about my sweet hen's disease and went researching and then shopping for disinfectants... I had this great idea that once I cleaned, she could return and I would just keep a "closed" flock. But today I realized, oops - no! She'll be shedding virus every day to the others.
I'm just checking to learn if my understanding is accurate here. Gosh, I really hope I'm missing something.
Thank you in advance.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It is sad. I know you are hurting. You have done your research. Yes, it isn't curable and they will be carriers for life and be a threat to all your other birds.
So please tell me why you must keep this hen?
I have rare chickens but I wouldn't hold onto one that was a threat to others, not to mention the hassle of dealing with such an ongoing problem.
After all, there are 26 billion chickens in the world. People cull their chickens for one reason or another every day - to the tune of 100 million.

 

[khind]

It is sad. I know you are hurting. You have done your research. Yes, it isn't curable and they will be carriers for life and be a threat to all your other birds.
So please tell me why you must keep this hen?
I have rare chickens but I wouldn't hold onto one that was a threat to others, not to mention the hassle of dealing with such an ongoing problem.
After all, there are 26 billion chickens in the world. People cull their chickens for one reason or another every day - to the tune of 100 million.

Well, I was initially going to put her down. But when I read in different places that people didn't feel the ocular form "doesn't mean a death sentence," I wondered and got some hope.
She has such a sweet, agreeable disposition & is trusting and handleable (i.e. for me to do health checks, etc. I don't handle my chickens just to handle them). I have a small flock, and the reason I got chicks several weeks ago is to grow my small number of hens enough since I have a really nice rooster (a couple hens got lost to predators over the past couple of years). She's the omega of the flock, and I was hoping she *might* also be able to make a friend from the new bunch. I just really like her. And she so far seems like a good candidate for being able to cope blind - or almost blind, since she can still see to a degree. Lastly, unfortunately my veteran and matriarch of the flock almost certainly has reproductive cancer, so I'll be saying goodbye to her very soon. She's been more patient and accepting of Scarlet than the others, with the exception of the rooster. That makes it a sadder time. Scarlet with Marek's is not even 1.5 yrs old, & she came from eggs I finally let my broody hen hatch for the first time, last spring. I also can't help but feel like a failure, or like I didn't protect this chicken (These chickens). So, most of my reasons are emotional ones.
Also, I just raised these chicks in the house for several weeks, built a coop addition to house them this summer, and have been working on big modifications for increasing ventilation to keep everyone healthy... And then a reality creeps in that I could conceivably end up with a flock of zero as a result of this disease.
I also hate giving up on anything.
However, if the reality is that I shouldn't integrate Scarlet back in, then I will have to just send her off from this life, & I will do so. (And then, prepare to send however many chicks and other adults off as well... Sigh...) Over the years I've had to put down two chickens. One of them was also a favorite with lots of personality. But it was obviously for the best for her (& thus too for the others, since she was sick), so I knew I had to get it done.

 

[khind]

Having said all that, I guess the biggest issue is that I feel like I will probably lose most or all of these chickens, and introducing new ones in the future, even as chicks - would still be very risky.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I understand your point of view.
I have been fortunate to never have had Marek's or any other virulent disease during well over 30 years of chicken keeping even though I have had problems that needed to be dealt with.

I just know that dealing with a disease free flock is super easy and starting afresh with disease free birds is the way to go unless someone has irreplaceable poultry genetics and those are quite rare.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Your whole flock is already exposed. They are already carrying and spreading ocular Marek’s. If your hen was showing symptoms while with the flock, it was far too late to avoid its spread. Also, if you got that hen at the same time as any of your other birds, they would’ve already been carrying it before she even started showing symptoms.

 

[khind]

Your whole flock is already exposed. They are already carrying and spreading ocular Marek’s. If your hen was showing symptoms while with the flock, it was far too late to avoid its spread. Also, if you got that hen at the same time as any of your other birds, they would’ve already been carrying it before she even started showing symptoms.

Thank you for reminding me of that, because that was another factor in my wondering about keeping the hen away from them (or culling her) or letting her stay among them. Although I don't want to be cavalier about this or any disease, to what degree is it a moot point?

Until the sanitizer that I had to special-order gets here in 2 days, these other chickens are STILL living in an infected environment... It seems like this got hold of her overnight, but of course that's far from the truth. And yes, they're all now carriers (of course, she also could've gotten it from one of them, who knows?).

So, they're already at risk of having it manifest into symptoms at some later date.
The big question, then, is: Do they become even more at risk if the one with the manifestation of the disease is among them, or no?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thank you for reminding me of that, because that was another factor in my wondering about keeping the hen away from them (or culling her) or letting her stay among them. Although I don't want to be cavalier about this or any disease, to what degree is it a moot point?

Until the sanitizer that I had to special-order gets here in 2 days, these other chickens are STILL living in an infected environment... It seems like this got hold of her overnight, but of course that's far from the truth. And yes, they're all now carriers (of course, she also could've gotten it from one of them, who knows?).

So, they're already at risk of having it manifest into symptoms at some later date.
The big question, then, is: Do they become even more at risk if the one with the manifestation of the disease is among them, or no?

No. They all carry the disease in equal amounts. If a chicken has Marek’s, they have it. A chicken showing symptoms can’t give more of the disease to other chickens if those other chickens already carry it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Your chickens all have already been exposed to Mareks. It is in the dust and dander, and lasts for months to years. If you have ever raised baby chicks in your house, you will know that dander is everywhere. I would place the chicken back with her flock in a familiar environment where she can find her food and water. I would not bother to buy expensive disinfectants to clean because these chickens, unless you cull all of them, since they will continue to shed the virus.

If you depopulate, and that is not something most do, then disinfecting with something like Virkon-s tablets added to water are a good one for coops and barns. Not all of your chickens may have symptoms of Mareks. Since you only have seen possible ocular Mareks I would just wait and see if any other symptoms, or other chickens get symptoms. If you want to confirm Mareks, you could cull this chicken on a weekday, and send her body in to your state vet for a necropsy. The body must be kept cold but not frozen. Many have Mareks, and not all of their chickens are affected, but they should all be considered carriers.

 

[khind]

Your chickens all have already been exposed to Mareks. It is in the dust and dander, and lasts for months to years. If you have ever raised baby chicks in your house, you will know that dander is everywhere. I would place the chicken back with her flock in a familiar environment where she can find her food and water. I would not bother to buy expensive disinfectants to clean because these chickens, unless you cull all of them, since they will continue to shed the virus.

If you depopulate, and that is not something most do, then disinfecting with something like Virkon-s tablets added to water are a good one for coops and barns. Not all of your chickens may have symptoms of Mareks. Since you only have seen possible ocular Mareks I would just wait and see if any other symptoms, or other chickens get symptoms. If you want to confirm Mareks, you could cull this chicken on a weekday, and send her body in to your state vet for a necropsy. The body must be kept cold but not frozen. Many have Mareks, and not all of their chickens are affected, but they should all be considered carriers.

Thank you. Well, I already got the Virkon S, and I literally just picked up a couple huge bags of lime for the dirt floor (& possibly for the chicken yard?). So I'll do a cleaning now or maybe just not be in a hurry & store it somewhere if possible and if it won't expire. If it all can be stored for a good long time, maybe I'll be lucky and not have to end up with a bad outbreak requiring culling & starting over, but if I do, I'll be ready with the chemicals...