How fast will marek's spread?

[notley04]

I started a backyard flock six weeks ago. I got 15 chicks all about from different breeders and places. They are all now between six and ten weeks old. I have one that started becoming lame yesterday. After researching, I am suspecting Marek's. I separated the sick chick last night but now the other 14 chicks have the risk of being infected, if it is Marek's. My question is, how long will it take for Marek's to start showing up in the healthy chicks?
Sick chicken still wants to eat and drink. It is a 10 week old polish and looses it balance when it flaps its wings. Its toes are curling up and if I put it on its back, it just stays there. It can still walk around at this point.

 

[azygous]

Collecting a variety of chicks from private sources certainly does increase the chances of importing Marek's into your new flock. I unwittingly imported a similar virus into my flock when I adopted two adult chickens from a friend who had died when I started my flock. It has very similar symptoms to Marek'sand is also very contagious.

All of your chicks have been exposed to this possible virus when you brought them home and put them all together. However, there is no guarantee all of them will eventually develop symptoms. Some chickens develop resistance and never become symptomatic.

If yours have been exposed to Marek's, they can begin showing signs any time now. Some things you can do to treat the symptomatic chick is to give it B-complex to strengthen its nerve connections and if you can get a prescription for acyclovir (Valtrex) a med that treats cold sores, it can help blunt the symptoms and extend the quality of life for this chick. But in the end, if it is Marek's, it likely will become much more paralyzed and may even die. If that occurs, you would be wise to get it necropsied so you know what exactly you are dealing with.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get a video of the chick's actions?
What are you feeding including treats?
What's the poop like?
Photos of housing/where they are kept.
It would be hard to know if the issue is Marek's disease unless you lose the chick and have formal testing done through your state lab.

Losing balance, toes curling - I would give 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a treat of eggs.

Make sure there is no infection/mites/debris inside the ears and check the rest of the bird really well for mites/lice too. Depending on crest and fluff around the face, it may already need trimming.

How fast does Marek's spread? It can be hit/miss - imho, there's not a really good answer to this question. IF Marek's is the problem, you may not see symptoms in any other birds whatsoever or you may see symptoms in a few. Probably not what you want to hear, but that just seems to be the way it is.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[notley04]

Collecting a variety of chicks from private sources certainly does increase the chances of importing Marek's into your new flock. I unwittingly imported a similar virus into my flock when I adopted two adult chickens from a friend who had died when I started my flock. It has very similar symptoms to Marek'sand is also very contagious.

All of your chicks have been exposed to this possible virus when you brought them home and put them all together. However, there is no guarantee all of them will eventually develop symptoms. Some chickens develop resistance and never become symptomatic.

If yours have been exposed to Marek's, they can begin showing signs any time now. Some things you can do to treat the symptomatic chick is to give it B-complex to strengthen its nerve connections and if you can get a prescription for acyclovir (Valtrex) a med that treats cold sores, it can help blunt the symptoms and extend the quality of life for this chick. But in the end, if it is Marek's, it likely will become much more paralyzed and may even die. If that occurs, you would be wise to get it necropsied so you know what exactly you are dealing with.

Thanks for the response. Is it useless to separate the chick at this point? Would this chick have been contagious before showing signs? How would I go about getting it necropsied?

 

[azygous]

Look up your state lab on this list. https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm Call them for further information.

As far as I understand Marek's and the leucosis viruses, it can be shed without symptoms being present. But now that this chick has presented with symptoms, if the others weren't infected, they are now. Yes, it is that contagious and it spreads on feather dander and feces.

The last chick I took to my state lab just a few months ago to be necropsied for just this reason, was four months old and still alive. I knew she was going to die soon, but I decided to drive her to my state lab which was around 80 miles from where I live. The advantage of bringing a live "specimen" to the lab is that a very fresh specimen will have no decomposition bacteria to compete with the tests for pathogens. And the other advantage is that they will humanely euthanize your chick so you won't have to endure that unpleasant task.

Knowing what disease you are dealing with is important going forward as it will let you know how best to manage your flock to maximize the health of your other chickens. Having an avian disease in your flock is not a death sentence for your chickens. Many of them will be able to live long, normal lives. I've had lymphoid leucosis in my flock for fourteen years, and I've had chickens live to be eight, nine, ten, eleven years, and currently the oldest are twelve and thirteen and doing very well.

 

[Kiki]

Thanks for the response. Is it useless to separate the chick at this point? Would this chick have been contagious before showing signs? How would I go about getting it necropsied?

Yeah...useless on the separating.

What state are you in?

 

[notley04]

Can you get a video of the chick's actions?
What are you feeding including treats?
What's the poop like?
Photos of housing/where they are kept.
It would be hard to know if the issue is Marek's disease unless you lose the chick and have formal testing done through your state lab.

Losing balance, toes curling - I would give 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a treat of eggs.

Make sure there is no infection/mites/debris inside the ears and check the rest of the bird really well for mites/lice too. Depending on crest and fluff around the face, it may already need trimming.

How fast does Marek's spread? It can be hit/miss - imho, there's not a really good answer to this question. IF Marek's is the problem, you may not see symptoms in any other birds whatsoever or you may see symptoms in a few. Probably not what you want to hear, but that just seems to be the way it is.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

I tried to upload a minute video I took but I can't. I'm guessing the file is too large.
They are free range chickens and get meal worms as treats occasionally. Poop looks normal. Solid and brown.
They go into a brooder in the garage in the evening. I was actually going to switch them to a fenced in yard with a newly built coop but I think I will hold off to see if it's Mareks and try to keep this area uncontaminated.

 

[KaseySnow]

If you haven't already, I always suggest reading this article on Mareks to people encountering it for the first time. It really helped me when I first encountered the disease, answers a lot of questions and talks about biosecurity: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[Kiki]

I tried to upload a minute video I took but I can't. I'm guessing the file is too large.
They are free range chickens and get meal worms as treats occasionally. Poop looks normal. Solid and brown.
They go into a brooder in the garage in the evening. I was actually going to switch them to a fenced in yard with a newly built coop but I think I will hold off to see if it's Mareks and try to keep this area uncontaminated.

You have to upload the video to YouTube first and then copy and paste a link to it here.

 

[Kiki]

I tried to upload a minute video I took but I can't. I'm guessing the file is too large.
They are free range chickens and get meal worms as treats occasionally. Poop looks normal. Solid and brown.
They go into a brooder in the garage in the evening. I was actually going to switch them to a fenced in yard with a newly built coop but I think I will hold off to see if it's Mareks and try to keep this area uncontaminated.

What feed are you feeding them?

And do you feed any other treats besides the mealworms?