Cockerels with marek

[VanUnamed]

Hello.
Among my meat chicken stock, 2 cockerels have developed symptoms matching marek, it already happened before last year with other chickens, last year they were cornish crosses to I just thought they just grew too fast, this time, as I did not raise any more frankenchickens, I did hatch my own. Before I processed some, one got paralyzed, (could not walk, pooped greenish). after a week give or take, 2 got the same symptoms.
As I need to process some more in a while, are these going to die any time soon, as in a few days? they are 4 months old, they do eat and drink but we need to babysit them while they do. It's just it would be a huge waste of time to just process 2 right now.

thanks

 

[slordaz]

If one has it they most likely all have it, I don't remember the time line as to how long to wait to get more, I would wait until you are processing the others unless one dies, then see if someone in your country does necroposy that include testing so you know what your dealing with. Tagging some of the people that are better versed with this disease , that might have some better ideas.
@casportpony
@azygous
@Eggcessive

 

[VanUnamed]

Thanks a lot. Well, I have no idea how virulent this is, I know there are various strains of it. These 2, got severely stressed. The one we processed was abused by other cockerels, one of the two that is sick right now was one that we spared as I felt it was a bit small, but of coure, having to integrate with the ones of the nearby caused him stress (I know they are silly, the two tractors are right next each other, but no, the other ones are mean even though both tractors are left open all day so they know perfectly the others).
My thinking is that when they become stressed As in being chased and pecked all day long, their immune system gets depressed. I am not sure it is marek, but symptoms seems to point that way, they have no extrernal injury, they aren't overweight or oddly shaped like the cornish.

 

[slordaz]

Thanks a lot. Well, I have no idea how virulent this is, I know there are various strains of it. These 2, got severely stressed. The one we processed was abused by other cockerels, one of the two that is sick right now was one that we spared as I felt it was a bit small, but of coure, having to integrate with the ones of the nearby caused him stress (I know they are silly, the two tractors are right next each other, but no, the other ones are mean even though both tractors are left open all day so they know perfectly the others).
My thinking is that when they become stressed As in being chased and pecked all day long, their immune system gets depressed. I am not sure it is marek, but symptoms seems to point that way, they have no extrernal injury, they aren't overweight or oddly shaped like the cornish.

stress can provoke it to flair up, all you can really do is comfort care I think, but the others will know

 

[VanUnamed]

they are in an "sick bay" away from peckers

 

[Eggcessive]

Since meat chickens can suffer from various leg bone deformities, and many are supposed to be butchered at earl ages, it would be hard to know if their leg problems are due to Mareks or other problems without getting tested for Mareks by a lab that performs the test. Usually that is done with a necropsy after death, but some labs advertise that they can do it on feather shafts or blood. Sorry about your chickens.

 

[VanUnamed]

the two that got sick are not cornish just offspring of my hens and rooster.

 

[VanUnamed]

Update. One of the two sick ones (the one that got sick 2nd) is not eating, just drinking. I think they will be slaughtered on monday so they stop suffering.

 

[VanUnamed]

ok, slaughtered today. this morning i took these two out of the isolation cage and left them out to enjoy some sunlight, both had difficulty breathing, the sicker one could not even open his beak. I went in for lunch, when I came back the sicker of the two was dead. i twill update after gutting as I did not gut yet all are in the chiller at 2C.

 

[VanUnamed]

And another one got sick. I was wondering something though. I moved the chicken tractors over 5 paddocks starting in spring. every paddock lasted about 22-24 days. the land has no real "grass" it is a mix of weeds, overgrown grapes on the ground nothing special. This is paddock #5. They never been there before. all that there was there in winter was young tree saplings and grapes. no grass. that is when sickness started to begin. All those who were sick, developed sickness while being on this area. it is adjacent to the previous one, but the previous one had grassy like vegetation. The only difference between #5 and all the others is that we did dug out some of the grapes stumps out of the ground. Is that possible that the disease is in this area of the land and not others?

Also, the vaccinated / not vaccinated in part make sense, as none of the hatchery group got sick (50% of the flock were hatchery and 50% are chicken hatched from my hen's eggs), infact as of now, there are only 4 birds left from the hatchery, 2 are girls, 2 are boys. Both boys and girls are not sick. The one that got sick, I am not sure 100% if it is mine or hatchery but I am pretty confident is one of mine due to feather colour.
I have a few light sussex birds that used to go on the paddock's land, their paddock was exactly 15 - 20 feet away from paddock #5, not vaccinated and hatched from eggs.
So either they didnt get exposed to the infected soil, they are infected and show no symptoms, or their genetics are strong.
Also 100% of the infected are boys. so far, 4 infected all cockerels.