Help :( sick silkie. Hopefully not merek"s

[casportpony]

Mareks is curable with Colloidal Silver which acts as an anti-viral.  I've cured two chickens with it.  Here's where I posted their two stories.  
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/566250/more-on-colloidal-silver-and-mareks

It's important to keep Colloidal Silver in your medical kit.  It is an amazing product.

How do you know that they had Marek's?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

I've had a couple that sure looked like Marek's, but recovered with worming, vitamins and tube feeding. The three that couldn't walk we're probably sick with something else.

Remember there are other diseases that can look very much like Marek's and there is no cure for Marek's, period.

-Kathy

 

[WeBeCluckin]

You are very smart to send yours for a necropsy.  Always better to know earlier.  Except for a whole hatch of chicks, my Marek's chickens have died one every few months or sometimes I'll go 6 months with no deaths.  Most of my chickens that have gotten it have wasted away.  In the end it seems they can't aim at the food.  Paralysis is usually in younger birds.  Usually.  Please post the report when you get it.

I hope its not Marek's.

Just got an email that the histology is complete. It reads:
"HISTOLOGY FINDINGS:
Sections of trachea, lung, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, bursa of Fabricius, proventriculus, gizzard, intestine, pancreas, skeletal muscle, peripheral nerve have been examined histologically. Changes are in:
PERIPHERAL NERVE: There is multifocal, moderate infiltration of lymphocytes between the axons.
SPLEEN: Part of the normal architecture has been replace with a sheet of lymphocytes and lymphoblasts.
GIZZARD: There is severe infiltration of lymphocytes in the nerves and around blood vessels on the serosal surface.

HISTOLOGIC DIAGNOSES: Marek’s disease

COMMENTS: Histology confirms the initial suspicion of Mareks disease (primarily involving the nerves)."

So this is certainly a game changer. No more feed store chicks and the double stack brooders that I built into the hen house are useless now. Well, I guess not useless...I can still use the bottom brooder if I need to seperate an injured bird. Wish I had known before building it though. Not sure at this point how I'll go about chicks. How long do you keep your chicks seperate to allow adequate time for them to build resistance from the Marek's vaccination?

 

[seminolewind]

I'm sorry. It still chokes me up when someone discovers Marek's. Because of the innocent animals.
Thanks for posting this. So many learn so much from information like this.

My last batch of chicks were from Murray Mc and were vaccinated. I figured I had Marek dust all over my bathroom and bedroom so I put them in the guest room, washed my hands and put an apron or big shirt on for 3 weeks. Necessary? I don't know. Then I moved them onto a hutch on my patio for another 3 weeks. Then I put them out in a pen.

I know what you mean about brooding. But I have 7 roos right now from broodies, and I can't rehome them with a clear conscience so I also sold my incubator (the one that does everything and plays a song). But I just can't afford any more roos.

You can hatch your own eggs in a bator and vaccinate yourself, but the hatcheries have a much better vaccine than we can get.

We are all in the same boat with Marek's. The best thing to do is love all the ones you have.