jaspersaitta
In the Brooder
- Dec 26, 2022
- 11
- 7
- 36
Hi there just needing some advice about wether I have marek disease or something else in my flock.
So about 3 and half years ago I brought three bantam chicks from a local person in my town, and put them under a broody hen. These were the first poultry I had brought from someone for about 8 years, we had a recent fox attacked and it was to replenish our flock. Not long after I put 14 chicks that I had incubated and was raising myself I put them in their own enclosure in my main chicken coop, they were fully feathered by then and no long needed heat. Not long after 2 chicks weren’t able to walk still very interested in eating but their legs were just splayed out, that’s the chick in the photos, they mostly just stayed in the same spot or flopped around. I constantly hand fed them and gave them lots of minerals. One ended up dying, but the other one survive to adulthood and is still alive today. The next year I had no problems although we didn’t have many chicks so I just thought it was deficiency in something not something more serious like marek. As no other flock members had died and none of the other 12 chicks got it. i brought new unvaccinated chicks and hens and no one died.
This year though I incubated some more chicks and I had another chick get the same symptoms legs splayed out and not being able to move much, but again very interested In food. I ended having to put her down as she didn’t get better for quite a while.
I also for the first time had a chick from mother hen go down with the same disease.
Which is when I really started realise it could be marek disease as it seemed to fit all the symptoms. The chicks have all been the same age as well and were mostly pullets.
I was pretty certain it was marek disease but now I’m not so sure because it only affected such a small percentage of chicks and mostly chicks that I had raised, which is odd.
Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas if it marek disease or what else it could be, a deficiency maybe. I live in Australia on a farm and the chickens have about acre to foraged about in the day.
It always around 5 to 6 week of age they get it and hasn’t affected anyone older or younger. Not sure what it could be?
Thanks heaps for your help.
So about 3 and half years ago I brought three bantam chicks from a local person in my town, and put them under a broody hen. These were the first poultry I had brought from someone for about 8 years, we had a recent fox attacked and it was to replenish our flock. Not long after I put 14 chicks that I had incubated and was raising myself I put them in their own enclosure in my main chicken coop, they were fully feathered by then and no long needed heat. Not long after 2 chicks weren’t able to walk still very interested in eating but their legs were just splayed out, that’s the chick in the photos, they mostly just stayed in the same spot or flopped around. I constantly hand fed them and gave them lots of minerals. One ended up dying, but the other one survive to adulthood and is still alive today. The next year I had no problems although we didn’t have many chicks so I just thought it was deficiency in something not something more serious like marek. As no other flock members had died and none of the other 12 chicks got it. i brought new unvaccinated chicks and hens and no one died.
This year though I incubated some more chicks and I had another chick get the same symptoms legs splayed out and not being able to move much, but again very interested In food. I ended having to put her down as she didn’t get better for quite a while.
I also for the first time had a chick from mother hen go down with the same disease.
Which is when I really started realise it could be marek disease as it seemed to fit all the symptoms. The chicks have all been the same age as well and were mostly pullets.
I was pretty certain it was marek disease but now I’m not so sure because it only affected such a small percentage of chicks and mostly chicks that I had raised, which is odd.
Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas if it marek disease or what else it could be, a deficiency maybe. I live in Australia on a farm and the chickens have about acre to foraged about in the day.
It always around 5 to 6 week of age they get it and hasn’t affected anyone older or younger. Not sure what it could be?
Thanks heaps for your help.
