Has anyone had good luck using Hypericum for Marek's?

[shannon84]

I'm just desperate I think, he is still eating great, but I did feel his chest bone yesterday evening and that was upsetting. How is it he can move his legs from a laying down position and somehow move spot to spot . I thought if something is paralyzed it's not able to move anything? @rebrascora that's definitely true in my roosters case, any stress I notice makes a huge impact on these attacks with him. I wasn't going to administrate it myself because he hates being handled. I wonder who even thought to try st Johns wort in the first place, I know it's a anti inflammatory and antiviral . But I am scared to use it because I don't want to od him or cause a reaction. I'm still doing the b complex (human kind) half tablet, and aspirin. I also heard of a lot of people praising cranberries. So I've been using that too. So basically he needs a diet high in vitamin B and protein? Thanks guys for the reply.

 

[shannon84]

I also just give my Marek's birds sloppy food.... wet mash (made with unmedicated chick crumbs is best) or fermented feed, scrambled egg, raw liver or even bread soaked in blood or gravy... the salt in gravy is not good so don't give that every day but vary to keep their interest. Someone's sick rooster which appears to have Marewk's was very enthusiastically tucking into a tomato the other day..... not much nutrition in that but the sugars will give them energy and it makes them happy and you happy to see them eating with gusto, so my advice is to give them whatever they will gladly eat, rather than trying to force feed them nutritious stuff or medication. A bit of sunshine and grass has proved beneficial with my Marek's sick birds but is in short supply at this time of year unfortunately.

I'm thinking of using a heat lamp today for him, of course I'll monitor it very very closely. It's so cold here. OK, thanks @rebrascora yeah I've just been giving him whatever his heart desires. Is 4 old for a BO?

 

[Melky]

Well 4 years is getting up there considering chickens live on an average of 8 years. Some longer some shorter. Prayers for the health of everyone’s flock!

 

[shannon84]

 

[shannon84]

I hope I'm not cooking him

 

[Melky]

If he is Ill probably should isolate him with own food and water with electrolytes separate from the flock!

 

[sylviethecochin]

If he is Ill probably should isolate him with own food and water with electrolytes separate from the flock!

Eh, it's carried by dandruff. If he does have Marek's, then the rest of the flock has already been exposed, and he'll be a carrier for the rest of his life anyway. Isolation tends to kill sick birds faster in any case (in my experience, anyway. Unless they're completely miserable, they're flock animals and they get very stressed away from a flock.)

 

[Melky]

Eh, it's carried by dandruff. If he does have Marek's, then the rest of the flock has already been exposed, and he'll be a carrier for the rest of his life anyway. Isolation tends to kill sick birds faster in any case (in my experience, anyway. Unless they're completely miserable, they're flock animals and they get very stressed away from a flock.)

Well best wishes! The isolation is to protect flock members who may not have already been infected. I would never assume they all are in this case.

 

[duluthralphie]

Hi, Debbie Downer's clone here.

Nothing is known to cure Marak's. If you have a bird with it, the best thing you can do is dispatch it fast and hope it did not shed too many cells with the virus in them.

Marak's is everywhere. If you are lucky they will pick up the turkey herpes virus and become immune. or have so few cells around them they develop an immunity. The state vets tell me the latter is nigh on impossible.

I vaccinate for Marak's. It is a PITA to do, but it saves me spending time and money on a bird only to have them die at 3-4 months of age. Or having to dispatch them at that age.

Sorry to hear about your rooster. You really need to think about the rest of your birds now and write the rooster off.
Good Luck in whatever you do.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would just treat him as you have been, and leave him with his girls. The b complex vitamins are always good with a suspected case of Mareks, just to rule out a vitamin deficiency. The thiamine can also increase his appetite. Since you do not yet have a Mareks diagnosis confirmed by a necropsy, I hope that if you do lose him, that you will get him tested through a necropsy.

Once on a TV vet show, a rooster looked to have Mareks, and after he was treated for an infection in his spleen, they found that the inflammation and swelling was causing his lameness. That is a rare occurance, I realize, but I hope that he doesn’t have it. People have been posting about hypericum or SJW for years, and I think most everyone has given it a try, but as said earlier, it would take a lab study to prove that it works.