Help!! Marek's Disease??

[casportpony]

Yes and onions are another good one. Can chickens have onions? I know mine steal them from the garden but that doesn't mean anything. Raw, diced, that way the sulpher isn't cut by cooking. Garlic is another.

Aren't onions toxic to birds? I've seen mine eat them, but then I thought I read somewhere that they shouldn't.

 

[Haunted55]

Marek's in California is one of the most common causes of death that the State Lab sees.

What is that bright shiny thing under your picture Casportpony???? Darned near blinded me! Lol, congratulations my friend!!! Where I am, I hate to say, it's neglect.

 

[Haunted55]

Aren't onions toxic to birds? I've seen mine eat them, but then I thought I read somewhere that they shouldn't.

I know you're not supposed to give them to dogs but....a lot of people give garlic to their birds and it doesn't seem to have any adverse affects.

 

[casportpony]

What is that bright shiny thing under your picture Casportpony???? Darned near blinded me! Lol, congratulations my friend!!! Where I am, I hate to say, it's neglect.

Thanks, surprised the heck out of me! I feel very honored to have it.

 

[Zrcalo]

I live in arizona and I've called countless vets and feed stores, and all kinds of people... NO-ONE /knows/ what mareks even /is/. And I've never seen it here ever. Even people who own chickens say they've never seen or heard of it.

 

[Haunted55]

 

[casportpony]

I live in arizona and I've called countless vets and feed stores, and all kinds of people... NO-ONE /knows/ what mareks even /is/. And I've never seen it here ever. Even people who own chickens say they've never seen or heard of it.

Contact this place and ask to speak with an avian pathologist:
http://cals.arizona.edu/vdl/

 

[Nambroth]

I know you're not supposed to give them to dogs but....a lot of people give garlic to their birds and it doesn't seem to have any adverse affects.

Raw allium species are not supposed to be good for birds. My vet advised me never to feed raw onion, etc, to my parrots. I think chickens have stronger systems and can handle the 'less than ideal' foods better than my parrots. I think that a lot of folks give garlic powder, which is not quite the same as raw, fresh garlic. I generally avoid alliums with my birds just because I don't like to mess with fate.

 

[Haunted55]

I live in arizona and I've called countless vets and feed stores, and all kinds of people... NO-ONE /knows/ what mareks even /is/. And I've never seen it here ever. Even people who own chickens say they've never seen or heard of it.

Marek's is herpes.

 

[Nambroth]

I live in arizona and I've called countless vets and feed stores, and all kinds of people... NO-ONE /knows/ what mareks even /is/. And I've never seen it here ever. Even people who own chickens say they've never seen or heard of it.

I think that it's just really unknown, still, among small-time chicken keepers. People have chickens die now and then, and they say or think "well it happens sometimes" and disregard it. How often do we see "why did my chicken die?" here on the forum and see folks answer with "sometimes it just happens!". While it's true that it is sometimes very hard to determine a cause of death, it's hard for me to see it form such a "dismissive" point of view, even if they are livestock and nothing more.
I totally understand and respect that not everyone can preform or afford necropsies on their birds, and we all come from different backgrounds in how we deal with our chickens both financially and from a husbandry point of view.... but the more I learn about infectious avian disease, the more I realize that it (necropsy or testing) should be part of the long term game plan, especially if you intend to breed and sell or trade birds. The problem then becomes that they may swap birds or sell them and never know if they are spreading disease or not.

I will admit that I am probably biased, but having experienced Marek's I don't wish it on my worst enemy. It is heartbreaking to see a bird go through it. I read somewhere that "they smile till the end", which is a good way of saying that they are usually bright-eyed and seem okay even though they are dying. Very sad.