Hen might have Marek's disease? Worried about baby chicks I already bought before I knew.

[Jessie Marie]

I have had chickens for several years now. My first three were gifted to me by my mother in law. Two have since died - one kept getting sick, hand an impacted crop and then finally couldn't walk anymore and I put her down. The other had HUGE tumors in her abdomen and we put her down as well. The third (a brahma) never showed any signs of being sick in the 5 years that I have had her.

When the other two died, I got 2 new bantam hens. They did great for several months but then one of them got really sick. I brought her into the vet too, and they never mentioned Marek's but now I wonder if that is what got all 3 of my hens that died.

A couple weeks ago I noticed that my brahma was acting a little off. Nothing major, but I saw her standing around and sitting more often and her tail seemed a little droopy. I called the avian vet near me right away as they never have appointments available. A few days later she stopped laying eggs. I brought her in last week and they did an x-ray, exam and blood work. Her blood work and x-ray were normal but they said they noticed some spots on her eye that made them think she had maybe gotten marek's disease at some point. Since they couldn't find anything else wrong they think its chronic marek's.

Since I had no idea about this, I bought three new baby chicks at the end of May. They are living in a brooder still inside my house, but after doing some research I am really worried about my coop. If Foghorn has Mareks, that means my other bantan hen Loofa probably has it too, right? and then when i introduce the new chicks they will probably all be exposed to it too? Is there no way to sanitize my coop and run? They are all over my yard all the time so I really have no idea how I could get it all ‘out’…

Once my yard has the virus am I doomed??

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks is spread through the dust and feather dander of carrier chickens. Unfortunately it can be in the environment for months to years after the carrier chickens are gone. Here is a good article on Mareks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[Jessie Marie]

My vet told me that since the new chicks are vaccinated there is a very low chance of their being affected by it. From the articles I read online (including the link above) that seems to be a grey area at best, but at this point I don't really have a choice. I will just hope for the best with my new birds, and hope that my Brahma is ok