I have some questions about Marek's disease and Laryngotracheitis and their vaccines.

[ChicknsRock]

There actually is a cure for Marek's without vaccinating your chickens.It's hypericum ( St. John's Wort).I have a chicken with Marek's,and about five or six days ago I started giving her hypericum. Now she can actually stand on one leg. The St. John's Wort comes in capsules at health food stores,and I break them in two and pour out just a pinch in hemp oil. Cold pressed virgin olive oil is also helpful as parasites do not like it in our body (and chickens' bodies).

 

[ozexpat]

There actually is a cure for Marek's without vaccinating your chickens.It's hypericum ( St. John's Wort).I have a chicken with Marek's,and about five or six days ago I started giving her hypericum. Now she can actually stand on one leg. The St. John's Wort comes in capsules at health food stores,and I break them in two and pour out just a pinch in hemp oil. Cold pressed virgin olive oil is also helpful as parasites do not like it in our body (and chickens' bodies).

I am not sure about the long term "cure" with this herb

 

[ChicknsRock]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/135247/st-johns-wort

Here's the thread.

 

[ten chicks]

There actually is a cure for Marek's without vaccinating your chickens.It's hypericum ( St. John's Wort).I have a chicken with Marek's,and about five or six days ago I started giving her hypericum. Now she can actually stand on one leg. The St. John's Wort comes in capsules at health food stores,and I break them in two and pour out just a pinch in hemp oil. Cold pressed virgin olive oil is also helpful as parasites do not like it in our body (and chickens' bodies).

I have found no evidence to support claim,while hypericum may help with symptoms(reduces anxiety,pain reliever,helps mild depression)i have found nothing to convince me it cures Marek's. It has been used to help cats with FIV(feline immunodeficiency virus)which is also part of the herpes virus,but it helps not cures. There are side effects,some are fatigue(long term use),increased blood pressure,stomach upset,increased sensitivity to sunlight- all confirmed in humans. Increased sensitivity to sunlight has been confirmed in animals,some have become ill,reports of some deaths. Be cautious on long term use of hypericum as none or little has been done its effects on birds. Should also not be used together with other medications.

 

[cochins1088]

Quote:
That's a good idea.

I will most likely buy them and quarantine them along with 1 or 2 birds from my current flock.

 

[seminolewind]

So even if the birds that I want to buy are carriers of Marek's disease, it most likely won't affect my flock, correct?

It just makes me nervous... I've never had any unexplained deaths so I had always assumed that I didn't have Marek's in my current flock. Would it hurt anything to vaccinate the older birds anyways?

Your flock is at risk for Marek's if you introduce chickens to it. Vaccinating will mask . If a breeder had Marek's and now has all vaccinated birds, the birds will most likely carry the virus anyway. If so, you may lose birds to Marek's if you bring them home.

The vaccine does not prevent Marek's virus. If exposed, a chicken carries it. The vaccine protects against tumors forming.

If I had a Marek's free flock, the only ways I'd get more is hatch eggs, or get vaccinated chicks from a hatchery.

 

[seminolewind]

I cannot help you with the Laryngotracheitis question, but I can tell you based on what I have learned about Marek's disease, I would never purchase birds or bring them in from a flock that has had confirmed Marek's within the last decade.

As someone that has had a bird die from this disease, and now my entire flock are 'carriers', I would not wish Marek's on an enemy! There is no cure and it is truly sad to see a bird go through it. Even if I were to breed and vaccinate for resistance in my flock, I would never with a clear conscience sell my birds, even many years from now.

Marek's is a virulent herpesvirus and can live in an environment for years. If this fellow truly had Marek's disease on his property, in his flock, before... he still has it. The only way I can think of that he'd be rid of it is if he culled the flock that had it, completely sanitized every square inch of coop(s), and waited many years before bringing chickens in again. It is shed in the dander of infected birds (even if they do not become symptomatic). It is entirely likely that his birds are still carriers, and never show symptoms because they are vaccinated. They may also have, over the years, built up some natural immunity as well.

You can buy the vaccine and vaccinate your current birds. This may help them, but please be aware that the vaccine is only at its most effective when administered to day-old chicks, so that they can build resistance as they mature. Vaccinating your adult birds now, as an analogy, is NOT the same as vaccinating an adult dog for something like rabies. The vaccine does not cause immunity-- rather, it works with the chick's natural immune system and builds a resistance. This is about 90% effective when HVT (Turkey Marek's) vaccine is administered to day-old chicks, against Marek's. However, there are now mutations of the Marek's virus out there, and so there are a lot more variables at play. HVT is proving somewhat ineffective against some of the other Marek's strains.

In a nutshell:
-The birds from a past Maerk's positive flock are possibly carriers still.
-If you bring in carriers, they will still shed small amounts of live Marek's herpesvirus and it is very contagious.
-Marek's is very virulent and can be 80% or higher lethality in chickens that do not have resistance/immunity.
-You can vaccinate your adult birds and it will not HARM them but it may not help them against Marek's. It is a big risk.

I would personally seek my bantam cochins elsewhere, however the choice is yours! You may not have a single problem, or it could be a nightmare. If you are very set on getting the birds, you might ask some of his past customers and see if they have had any illness or unexplained deaths in their flocks.

I'm not trying to scare you-- I'd just hate for you to knowingly bring this disease home! Once you have it, you are married to it, so to speak.

X2

 

[seminolewind]

Marek's was discovered around 1910. It was called range paralysis. In the 80's, 2/3 of all chickens produced for food died of Marek's. They were vaccinated! That's when chicken producers learned from the Amish that you need to vaccinate, practice all in-all out, not mixing ages, and super disinfecting between batches of growers. This brought the death toll down to around 5%.

It's surprising how so little has been discovered since then.

 

[cochins1088]

I emailed Donna Carver (DVM, PhD, ACPV) who is an extension poultry veterinarian and associate professor.

She replied that chickens vaccinated with the tissue culture origin laryngotracheitis vaccine can become carriers of laryngotracheitis.

This is the first piece of information that I truly find credible. She wrote on article on laryngotracheitis which is why I chose to contact her. As much as I want these birds, I think I'm going to have to pass and search for yet another breeder.

 

[cochins1088]

Quote:

So do you recommend that I vaccinate my flock before bringing new birds in? Both young and old?