Cruel Lesson Learned

[Sherri1990]

Thank you. She did get to enjoy lap time and air conditioning. I’m sure she loved that

 

[mscallisto]

Thank you everyone. she was so cute. My vet said the vaccine isn’t full proof. Heart breaking thing to find out.

You're right, it's not 100 percent, but it increases the odds of not getting it. Keep a close eye on the rest. From what I understand it's contagious and csn take out a flock. My friend had that happen to hers. One died, then the rest went like dominoes. It's a horrible disease for chickens.

 

[JDChickChat]

I am hoping my post helps someone else. My 12 week old buff Orpington appeared injured last Friday. She was protecting her wings and had some difficulty turning her neck to the left. Her tail was down but she was eating and drinking and seemed... sore. I kept her by my side in the house all week to give her time to rest and relax. All week she ate and drank but wasn’t social. She wanted to be held but didn’t want to hang out with her flock. I could see she was not able to dust bathe herself so I helped her pick through her feather. We noticed she was curling her toes on Tuesday but just thought she was being quirky. She still ate and drank but wad increasingly getting more tired. Still normal poops. Still spoke softly to me. I put her to bed in the crate last night and when I woke her up this morning her balance was off. This was 6am. By 10 she could not stand. By 12 her pupils were dialted. By 2 she was paralyzed from her neck down. By 3 I had her at the vet euthanizing my little friend. Mareks disease took the sweetest chicken I have ever known. The lesson in this was an injury might not be an injury. Know your chickens behavior. I thought because she was vaccinated she would never get this cruel disease. I let my guard down, the outcome for her would not have changed but had I known this was my last day with her I would have held her at my heart all day. Rest In Peace my sweet little sugar. Sometimes a chicken can really take your heart. I am devastated.

I'm so so sorry❤❤

 

[feather13]

I'm sooooo sorry for your loss Your sweet chicken was loved so much during her brief life.

Marek's is the WORST. We've lost so many chickens to it. It took out our entire flock a few years ago, from chicks to fully-grown hens. A guy who owns a local hatchery we'd been using for years knowingly sold Mareks-infected chickens to many people in our area and we'll have this terrible virus in our soil for years.

I hope the rest of your birds stay healthy and that one day there will be a cure for Mareks.

 

[Sherri1990]

That’s terrible!! I am watching the remaining hens. I swear i don’t think my heart could handle losing all of them.

 

[Sherri1990]

How long do I need to watch the flock for? Will this be an ongoing issue?

 

[Chickstarrs]

I just had a similar experience. I am also worried about the rest of my little flock. How do you come back from this when you know it is in the soil for years and any new chickens you get will be exposed?

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

I am hoping my post helps someone else. My 12 week old buff Orpington appeared injured last Friday. She was protecting her wings and had some difficulty turning her neck to the left. Her tail was down but she was eating and drinking and seemed... sore. I kept her by my side in the house all week to give her time to rest and relax. All week she ate and drank but wasn’t social. She wanted to be held but didn’t want to hang out with her flock. I could see she was not able to dust bathe herself so I helped her pick through her feather. We noticed she was curling her toes on Tuesday but just thought she was being quirky. She still ate and drank but wad increasingly getting more tired. Still normal poops. Still spoke softly to me. I put her to bed in the crate last night and when I woke her up this morning her balance was off. This was 6am. By 10 she could not stand. By 12 her pupils were dialted. By 2 she was paralyzed from her neck down. By 3 I had her at the vet euthanizing my little friend. Mareks disease took the sweetest chicken I have ever known. The lesson in this was an injury might not be an injury. Know your chickens behavior. I thought because she was vaccinated she would never get this cruel disease. I let my guard down, the outcome for her would not have changed but had I known this was my last day with her I would have held her at my heart all day. Rest In Peace my sweet little sugar. Sometimes a chicken can really take your heart. I am devastated.

I’m sooo very sorry!

 

[gointothebirdsfarm]

Oh my...I'm so sorry! What an awful thing to do everything you can for a chicken and then have to watch her slowly die...I'm so glad though her last few days were spent in all the comfort she could ever want. You did an amazing job! I hope the rest of your flock doesn't get it!

 

[feather13]

@Sherri1990 and @Chickstarrs

I'm so sorry that you've both had experiences with this disease. Everyone seems to have a different experience, depending on the how virulent your strain is, and I hope all of your chickens are healthy. My experience with Mareks has been heartbreaking. We had 15 chicks and 13 died when they were between 10 and 18 weeks old. They were supposed to have been vaccinated. I can't tell you how heartbreaking it was to watch all of those chicks die painfully, especially one little bantam OEG pullet that would sit on my shoulder and acted just like a parrot. She had an expressive little face and was the friendliest bird I've ever encountered.

They also spread Mareks to hens and roosters that were 2+ years old (verified by vet and necropsy). Every single chicken that had Mareks symptoms died or needed to be euthanized. It seems as though 40-80% of unvaccinated chicks who are exposed to Mareks die and the odds are a bit better for vaccinated chicks. Honestly, I wanted to give up having pet chickens after this, especially after we had been so careful about biosecurity.

Mareks stays in soil 4+ years and every chicken that has been on your property most likely will have been/will be exposed. The virus is shed in their dander, so it's literally everywhere.

After doing tons of research, we recently bought 12 Mareks-vaccinated chicks. They are now 8 weeks old, so heading into the time when they will be most susceptible to the disease. I feel sick to my stomach waiting to see what will happen and am conflicted about whether or not I've made an ethical decision by getting more chicks.

Sorry to be the bearer of such grim news. Others on BYC will have much more informed responses to your post and will have had much better luck. I'm sending you big virtual hugs and hoping that your experiences will be very different than mine. Please keep us informed about how it goes with your flock over the next few weeks.