Help!! Marek's Disease??

[Haunted55]

It's absolutely amazing that you find more up to date info here on BYC than a lot of vets have. And feed store employees are clueless.

LOL!!! Yup and so very sad.

 

[Haunted55]

Unless I'm reading this wrong, turkeys can get Marek's
From: http://www.veterinertavukculuk.org/uploadimg/dosyalar/2005_istanbul/keynotes/fadly.pdf

Marek’s disease
Marek’s disease (MD), a T-cell lymphoma of primarily chickens is caused by a highly cellassociated
alphaherpesvirus termed MD virus (MDV) (21). The disease is and has been
controlled since early 1970s by use of conventional vaccines. During the last three decades,
research on MD has resulted not only in improved conventional vaccines, but also in improved
methods of vaccination, namely in-ovo vaccination (19). Good biosecurity practices and host
genetic resistance are also recognized as important factors in implementing any strategy for
control of MD. However, despite widespread use of vaccines and development of new methods
of vaccination, economic losses from mortality of layers and breeders and condemnation of
broilers continue to occur (18, 21). In recent years, MD has been diagnosed in commercial turkey
flocks in Germany, France, Israel and Ukraine (2, 3, 10, 11, 18, 21), suggesting that the host
range of MDV has apparently expanded to include turkeys. More studies are needed to
understand factors that lead to MD outbreaks in commercial turkeys.
The fact that MDV continues to mutate to greater virulence, reducing the effectiveness of
many existing vaccines (21) is a major concern to the poultry industry. Obviously, an important
challenge regarding control of MD in the future is developing new strategies to control losses
caused by new emerging MDV pathotypes. Development of vaccines that can interfere with
replication and shedding of MDV, and understanding role of host genes involved in resistant to
MD will undoubtedly improve our ability to implement a better strategy for control of MD in the​

future.

I've seen this Casportpony and what I got out of it is this is a mutation of what they normally have. How it was explained to me, and for the life of me I can't find the documentation on my computer, is turkeys have Turkey Marek's. It doesn't bother them, cause symptoms, it is nothing like the Chicken Marek's. That's why the most available [to us anyways] and used vaccine, that is given during the first 3 days of a chicken's life, is taken from turkeys. Chickens can't get Turkey Marek's but like the small pox vaccination some of us got as kids, it is close enough to give your birds the ability to fight Chicken Marek's off. Cool huh? This new stuff talked about in the above article is something else....from what I've been reading, the European countries do things just a bit different there with the raising of commercial birds. Some of the practises, which are being changed, have led to a whole host of interesting new diseases that so far have not come here. It was going on here as well, but was addressed a lot sooner and for the most part stopped.

 

[Haunted55]

Hi...I've been lurking reading this thread. Thanks for all the good info. I have a question about the turkey thing...I don't have any domestic turkeys; however, I have had (last fall) and probably will this spring have large flocks of wild turkeys all over our property (they strut right past the coop and run like it isn't even there).

I'm not just talking a couple...I'm talking about a flock of 50-60 birds that just mosey across our yard (I live out in the boonies if you hadn't figured that out yet). It's mostly hens with their babies and young turkeys. Occasionally I'll have a half-dozen toms wander through at a time.We usually know when they will come by, so the chickens go back in the run.

So, just out of curiosity...will wild turkeys help with the "natural vaccination" against the Marek's?


Thanks,
Dawn

I too live where the wild turkeys come to visit. Yesterday I had a whole 'herd' of them standing outside the duck and goose pen conversing with them. Lol! Now that was a Kodak moment!

Speaking from my own experiences, after giving up last year on my birds, I let them all run together in my yard. Turkeys, chickens, ducks and geese. Before this they were not housed or allowed to be in the same area. Funny thing happened, the Marek's birds started showing improvement. The stumbling and wing spreading for balance stopped and the birds, who showed these symptoms, were able to walk normal. Except for their smaller size, you wouldn't know they were sick. Now the ones that had both legs involved or were blind, well, if there was improvement, it wasn't enough to save them in the end. Even the deaths stopped after a month of them all being allowed in the same areas.

Now here's the thing that really makes me believe there is something to this. Where we didn't get snow until late in the season, we were able to let our birds out to roam into December. In January, having had to separate and close them up for the winter,the middle of December, the Marek's birds started to die again. Not immediately and not all of them, but within a couple of weeks of separation. Wasting was the biggest culpirt. No reason for it either, same feed, greens I bought for them, mealworms, building kept above freezing and plenty of air exchange.

 

[ems chicks]

Ok i fed my chickens corn yesterday before i got the tip from haunted 55 and this morning my chickens still have diarrhea, i just want to make sure i am understanding right, its not normal for chickens to get diarrhea from corn? I am new to chickens and i have only bought this 1 55 lb bag of corn and every time after feeding them corn they get diarrhea and i thought it this was just normal.

 

[seminolewind]

No, I don't think corn would give a chicken diarrhea. Why not stop giving it for a week and see if that helps. I don't feed corn because there's lots in the feed. What I feed instead of scratch is horse sweet feed that has the most whole oats in it. Oats are good for chickens and instead of giving them scratch which is like candy, at least sweet feed has vitamins and protein in it.

You could even try giving them some bread or cooked rice to firm them up.

 

[seminolewind]

In my experiences, I have had unvaccinated chicks last from 6 weeks till they got symptoms, up to about 8 months til they got symptoms, and then some sporadic cases from 8 months on up. Most chicks appear to get the paralysis. Up to 8 months old most appear to get the wasting, and up to 2 years old, odd shaped pupil, wasting. This is not a guide but a "most of" the time. The wasting ones I've had was hard to notice until I would find the dreaded bright green poop. The ones with paralysis can go a longer time, but eventually they waste away as well.

Vaccinating day one and keeping those chicks unexposed for 2+ weeks is what you have to do. Sick birds or any exposed bird, even to your flock , vaccinating is a waste.

Vaccinating is a safe exposure that builds an "army" to protect against the "enemy". Once the "enemy" has taken over or invaded (exposed or symptomatic birds) , the enemy, (Marek's), has already won the war, and it's pointless to send your army (vaccine) into a battle that's already been won by the enemy.

That's the way I think about it.

Others here may have different experiences, which would be good to hear.

 

[casportpony]

Ok i fed my chickens corn yesterday before i got the tip from haunted 55 and this morning my chickens still have diarrhea, i just want to make sure i am understanding right, its not normal for chickens to get diarrhea from corn? I am new to chickens and i have only bought this 1 55 lb bag of corn and every time after feeding them corn they get diarrhea and i thought it this was just normal.

I feed rolled corn to peafowl, ducks, chickens, pigeons, geese and guineas and they do not get the runs from it, so no, it's *not* normal.

 

[casportpony]

In my experiences, I have had unvaccinated chicks last from 6 weeks till they got symptoms, up to about 8 months til they got symptoms, and then some sporadic cases from 8 months on up. Most chicks appear to get the paralysis. Up to 8 months old most appear to get the wasting, and up to 2 years old, odd shaped pupil, wasting. This is not a guide but a "most of" the time. The wasting ones I've had was hard to notice until I would find the dreaded bright green poop. The ones with paralysis can go a longer time, but eventually they waste away as well.

Others here may have different experiences, which would be good to hear.

That sounds like my place. I now have names for the different symptoms:

• Curly toe Marek's
• Bicycle peddling Marek's
• Wing flapping Marek's
• On the hocks Marek's
• Drunk Marek's
• Blue eyed Marek's
• Beady-eyed Marek's
• Weird pupil Marek's

 

[Haunted55]

I feed rolled corn to peafowl, ducks, chickens, pigeons, geese and guineas and they do not get the runs from it, so no, it's *not* normal.

X's 2

 

[ems chicks]

Okay thanks for the info.