Help! My chickens can catch mareks disease. please read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ChickensRuleMe]

Help! my chicken died of mareks disease, and my others have a chance of catching it. Is there anything i can do, or should i jsut kiss them goodbye?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Marek's can but does not always kill or seriously effect all your chickens. I want to emphasize, it certainly can. You have to assume that all your chickens have Marek's and are carriers for life, even if they don't show any symptoms. You also have to assume your location will always have Marek's, even if you wipe out your flock, tear down your coop, and start over. This means any chick will have to be vaccinated for Marek's as soon as it is born. And please take biosecurity measures so you don't transmit Marek's to other flocks.

Unfortunately, several people on here have experience living with Marek's. Hopefully one of them will pick up on this thread and give you some advice on what is required. Horsejody is one that I can think of that knows her stuff on this subject. If someone really knowledgable doesn't pick up on this thread, you might try pm'ing her. From what I've seen of her posts, she has always been very helpful.

 

[BayCityBabe]

We lost 3 hens to Mareks this summer. This was 3 out of 12 unvaccinated birds on the property. I went the full route: Worked with the state ag folks & vets. If I had to do it over, I would not have spent all that money (nearly $300) on this outbreak. What I know now is that Mareks can only be prevented by vaccination, that it is highly contagious, that it is "everywhere" because wild birds transmit it. I also know that it will not kill all your birds, only the weakest. What you can do now is keep a clean coop & take very good care of your birds. The bird I had culled and necropsied had secondary conditions - cocci and thrush. I would recommend that you supplement your usual feed with cooked garlic and plain yogurt. Put ACV in the water. Just do what you can to boost the health of your flock.
Hang in there!

 

[ChickensRuleMe]

Thanks alot, guys. I will take the advice. I dont think they have it, because they are very healthy and attacked dad yesterday, so none of them are weak.

I'm glad i joined this website, everyones helping so much.

 

[threehorses]

First, because you had an active case in with the ones you haven't lost (and hopefully never will) you can assume they were all exposed. Marek's spreads easily and is probably in many more flocks than people will ever know without showing itself as often as we'd assume it would.

You can use a disinfectant to clean, but be forewarned - few will touch Marek's virus (which is Herpesvirus, avian). Virkon-S will - it's listed specifically on the effectiveness list. Bleach won't, Oxine won't, listerine won't, etc. And while I still would recommend disinfecting your coops, etc - you still will have marek's on the premises through feather dander, etc> Still it helps reduce the amount of infectiveness of your area.

The best thing you can do is vaccinate all new babies, follow a protocol of keeping birds under four months old away from those over four months old - not on the same ground - until they're at least four months old. Birds need time to develop their immune systems, time without excessive challenges. Vaccinating at day one and boostering if recommended is the way to go. The only way a Marek's vaccine can do its job is if it's given time to 'take hold' without challenge. Since you have had an active case, just make sure and keep the babies apart from your adults from now on - and buy vaccinated.

It's really more easy to vaccinate for Marek's than it is to give a simple antibiotic shot.

Also look for clues to active mareks in your flock: ocular forms including greyed over irises and pupils that either become non-reactive (use a flashlight to test them just like a paramedic does) or that change shape or freeze dilated or contracted. Keep birds' immune systems healthy. Give them lots of sunshine and fresh air, appropriate feed that is completely fortified and age-appropriate, etc.

Here's an article I continue to find immensely helpful. I hope you'll find it to be so, too.
http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/poultry-health/mareks-disease.html

And this one:
http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page9.htm

And another on vaccinating:
http://poultryone.com/articles/mareks.html


On a more personal note, I had a case of ocular Marek's in my flock and had for about 10 years in one bird, a rooster. A few of my birds were vaccinated stock, others were home-hatched. In all my years with the flock and the active case (which I didn't understand at the time was Marek's as I didn't know there was an ocular form and the bird was never one day ill or injured) I never had a case of paralysis. The birds were not all vaccinated. I did however keep them apart until their immune systems were mature. I really feel that had a lot to do with my "luck", of course "luck" taking up the other part of it.

Because that bird died (of old age) this year, his dander can still be here - and the one hen that survived him could still carry it possibly. I will from this point always have vaccinated stock.

It doesn't stop Marek's. But it does help reduce the cases of the problematic Marek's, the ones where there is paralysis and tumors, neoplasias, etc. It's the best we have and a darn good tool.

I've learned not to worry too much about Marek's. It's energy not worth spending on that when instead you can be proactive and work on your flock. It's a hard skill to learn, and I hope that you'll be able to find your own peace with what has happened in your flock. I hope my post might help that. /hugs