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

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

 

[khind]

Yes I would like to get her back with them ASAP, as in tonight we'll before dark. It's not just so that she can reorient herself to her surroundings, but especially with her being the lowest in status, I would hate to have her away for very long.

Does ocular Marek's get worse over time? I.e. If a chicken can still see something more now, will there inevitably come a day that she might not see at all? Or once it has manifested, has the virus kind of done its worst worst work in that particular form already? Also, could she end up developing a different form affecting a different region of the body at some later date?

 

[khind]

 

[khind]

Thank you...

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

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 quire rare.

Please dont take offense, but some people see chickens as livestock, while others see them as adored pets with benefits. I totally get it. I have goats and chickens. To me the goats are livestock. They keep the brush down and provide meat. I feel no personal connection/affection towards goats.

But i Love my chickens. They give me continuous daily joy, & are welcome to live out their natural lives even as egg production decreases. None of them are rare breeds, but their lives are very valuable to me. I save them when i can, & send them mercifully on their way if their illness cannot be treated. Same as i do my dogs and horses, which i also love.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not an expert on Mareks, although I have read a lot of articles, but I have never had a case in my flock. Some chickens do get more than one type of Mareks. There is the neural or nerve type, the skin or cutaneous type, the visceral type which causes tumors in major organs, as well as the ocular type. Ocular Mareks causes blindness, and it happens gradually. If she is picked on or has difficulty, a wire dog crate with food and water might be helpful. You could have supervised visits with them. That way she can be part of the flock and safe.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

@khind , i gratefully dont have mareks in my flock, & only know the basics. I did have a chick that was born with congenital cataracts. She did fine with her broody mom and fellow siblings. (I never even noticed her problem until they were several weeks old, when mama hen quit tending to the clutch.) She grew to be a beautiful little hen & laid pretty blue eggs. Her vision was poor, but she could see a little bit during the day. Unfortunately she was very meek in temperment. (I named her Little Lady.) Other flock members noticed her meekness, & she was often shunned and bullied.

I would be concerned about a similiar thing happening with your hen, especially since you say she is lowest on the pecking order. I found Little Lady dead in the yard one very hot late summer afternoon when she was 3 years old. Ive always thought it possible the others didnt let her come near the water to drink.

Though it is true your flock has already been exposed to Mareks disease, your hen's blindness May be a difficult issue to overcome. But i have read other threads where blind chickens thrived, so you will just have to try and see. If you observe bullying, do provide extra stations of available food and water, same as when integrating younger pullets in with an older flock. If i had thought to do so, i might still have my Little Lady.

 

[khind]

@khind , i gratefully dont have mareks in my flock, & only know the basics. I did have a chick that was born with congenital cataracts. She did fine with her broody mom and fellow siblings. (I never even noticed her problem until they were several weeks old, when mama hen quit tending to the clutch.) She grew to be a beautiful little hen & laid pretty blue eggs. Her vision was poor, but she could see a little bit during the day. Unfortunately she was very meek in temperment. (I named her Little Lady.) Other flock members noticed her meekness, & she was often shunned and bullied.

I would be concerned about a similiar thing happening with your hen, especially since you say she is lowest on the pecking order. I found Little Lady dead in the yard one very hot late summer afternoon when she was 3 years old. Ive always thought it possible the others didnt let her come near the water to drink.

Though it is true your flock has already been exposed to Mareks disease, your hen's blindness May be a difficult issue to overcome. But i have read other threads where blind chickens thrived, so you will just have to try and see. If you observe bullying, do provide extra stations of available food and water, same as when integrating younger pullets in with an older flock. If i had thought to do so, i might still have my Little Lady.

Oh, I'm so sorry about your Little Lady...

This occurred to me today, thinking about Buffy, my hen- who- can't- wait-to- become-boss (once Masha, the matriarch, passes - and Masha has slowed down & mellowed considerably). Just a few days before I discovered Scarlet was going blind, I noticed Buffy being more persistent than usual on those times when she felt she needed to prove a point to Scarlet; acting almost aggressive. And Golda being next in line just above Scarlet... Yes, today the possibility of it not working occurred to me.
I've got some extra places with food and water in the coop, but I'll be watching Buffy & Golda closely to be sure they're allowing Scarlet access. But with Masha fading and the littles not yet big enough to join the adults in the same space, the timing might not work out for Scarlet to be successful.

 

[coach723]

I had my first case of Marek's about 2 years ago. I have a closed flock, never brought new birds in except day old chicks, so no idea how it got here, but it did. I've not yet had one that displayed progressive paralysis. Mine have been mostly occular, total of about 5 so far. A couple of hens had many tumors on necropsy with no occular symptoms, so the visceral form also there. I seem to have a relatively mild strain, all things considered. The eyes get worse very slowly usually. To cull or keep is entirely a personal decision. If vision becomes so impaired they cannot be normal, I cull. Otherwise I leave them. They've all been exposed, and most of mine have shown no symptoms at all. If things get worse, I may change my mind and cull earlier, but for now, since they've all already been exposed, I'm not going to just cull them all.

 

[khind]

I had my first case of Marek's about 2 years ago. I have a closed flock, never brought new birds in except day old chicks, so no idea how it got here, but it did. I've not yet had one that displayed progressive paralysis. Mine have been mostly occular, total of about 5 so far. A couple of hens had many tumors on necropsy with no occular symptoms, so the visceral form also there. I seem to have a relatively mild strain, all things considered. The eyes get worse very slowly usually. To cull or keep is entirely a personal decision. If vision becomes so impaired they cannot be normal, I cull. Otherwise I leave them. They've all been exposed, and most of mine have shown no symptoms at all. If things get worse, I may change my mind and cull earlier, but for now, since they've all already been exposed, I'm not going to just cull them all.

Did you notice your blind birds closing their eyes and dozing off more than the others and more than before they lost substantial vision?
In a way, it reminds me of a time here or there when I, with my awful vision, didn't have my glasses. Maybe they were being fixed. It was so blurry, I think my brain thought, What's the point?, and I became sleepy and then just lay around napping for the day. I mean, there's more going on with Scarlet due to Marek's, but I'm still curious if that's something that might be typical of ocular cases.