I think my flock has Mareks

[hinkjc]

crysmom- you have to check with your department of agriculture to identify who your state vet is for your location. Some states will do a necropsy for free or very little cost to identify the cause of illness. These are not typical vets out to make a buck..they are trying to protective the community and their job to identify potential problems.

Personally I don't find all the disease charts very helpful since many diseases depict the same or similar symptoms. You cannot know what you are dealing with unless a necropsy is done..and even then sometimes you still aren't 100% sure. But sometimes they can see the problem right away..it's worth a shot. And if they find the problem and it is treatable, you can get the right meds to help the rest or at least know what your next steps are.

Jody

 

[crysmom]

Thank you for the info I'm in Canada... so I'll have to do a little detective work and find out who to contact, probably someone from the department of agriculture...
Quote:

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
What province? I'd first look up your province's ministry of agriculture website and find some sort of plausible-looking phone numbers to call. If that does not pan out, try calling the nearest vet school(s), they should be able to tell you how it works where you are.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[KKluckers]

Quote:
Its says the incubation is 2 weeks

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Oh I am so sorry to hear this.
2 years ago I had 3 pretty BO's just about 16-18 wks old who had similair symptoms. I did the same as you and reasearched on the internet. I never did find out exactly what those girls had but did suspect Mareks. I did lose all three over a period of a month. It was just devestating. I tried feeding them ect. but they just can't seem to swallow correctly. Mareks seems to attack pullets at around 14-25 wks. Seems if they can get past the 25 wks period they are good to go. This is long, I know but please bare with me.
Last year I had two new EE pullets who at point of lay suddenly got sick. We suspected Mareks due to age etc. One bounced back in just a day or two with very few symptoms the second one, Muffy, barely made it. She started losing control of her head and legs & couldn't stand up in a matter of two days. I brought her in and I tell you I prayed HARD! Probably as hard as I ever have. God never says Not to, even for a chicken.

I also know that you do what you can. My DH and I mixed up some water,sugar, salt solution that we saw once on a docmentary given to kiddo's in third world areas suffering fm diarea and dehydration. (If you don't know anything else to do HYDRATE

)We were able to coax her little mouth open by gently pulling on her beard and were able to get a bit down her throat. Wait a bit and get some more down. We've used this solution on ill cats who are really prone to dehydration when they don't feel well. It works every time. It's something you can try. Get some electrolites down them if at all possible. They have trouble swallowing so you have to be pretty careful. Muffy bounced back quickly after a few doses of hydrating solution. She was on her feet the very next day and close being her old self in a matter of days. The real Glory goes to God though, who granted my heartfelt prayer. Sorry this is so long.
The best to you and your chickens. I will pray for them & you. There is some good advise I've seen on this thread already and I am sure there will be more. It's hard to see your chickens suffering. May He, in his Wisdom hear your hearts prayer.

 

[sammi]

I would check for any exposure to mold or mildew..
check the feed for musty/moldy smell.
check the bedding.

look around for anything toxic they could have got into to.
any rotted food, any spilled feed, compost pile, access to any rat poison, or dead rodents.
any fertilizers, chemicals, motor oils.
check for algae in water.

have they been wormed?
if so, when? and what was used?

I would consider getting a new bag of feed..
it's possible the bag you have is bad mix.

sometimes, certain vitamin deficiencies will show as neurological disorders.
some people have problems with Silkies with odd movements and treat with Vitamin E.

I would make up a mix of feed, cooked oatmeal, plain yogurt, chopped egg yolk.
and give for morning feed..then regular feed the rest of day. see if it helps any after 4-5 days.
I would also give vitamins in drinking water.
wouldn't hurt to try and see if it helps.

if birds get worse..could be something mentioned above, or a viral disease..not necessarily Mereks.

 

[sammi]

you mention their feet being reddened on the bottom..

what do you use for bedding?
some woods used for shavings or saw dust are unsafe for animals.

are you using any chemicals on the floor of the coop?
has the coop been cleaned recently?
any fertilizers, weed killers, etc, used in the area they forage in?

this may be the key.

 

[crysmom]

THank you for all your ideas.

I"ll answer some questions..

The coop was built new in NOvember, the chickens went out there first week of dec, They have a heat lamp because they were young when I put them out (8 weeks? fully feathered) I use Pine shavings

There is no way they have come in contact with any pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals or rodents that have been effected by any of the above I don't use any of those in my yard, and I haven't seen a mouse or rat in at least two years

The coop has been cleaned once, I shoveled the bedding out the beginning of the month... because I have been battling moisture issues in the coop.

Its very damp in there condensation on the windows and the bedding is at times damp. I have tried adding more, using diatemaceous earth (definately food grade) I added another vent, for two days I left the coop door open (when the temps were moderate) which didn't help much. So I cleaned it up and put new shavings in. The only time it hasn't been damp is when it was -15 for the last ten days and all the dampness was frozen

a couple things to add if you have made it this far, this was an issue (with one bird) before I added the DE to the mix. Its very cold here and a lot of snow so even though I open the pop door, the chickens only go out into the run long enough to eat the cracked corn I throw out there to lure them out. other than that they sit in the door and look outside

The coop is 8x8 feet, and there are 10 13 week old standard chickens, and 2 bantams (we are planning on thinning for roosters once they mature)

I am going to get them a new bag of feed

 

[dlhunicorn]

previous postings correct with the vaccinated birds being able to infect non-vaccinated...
As to the nitty gritty of your question as IF it is Mareks and how you should proceed...
I suspect this may be the case...
To figure out how to proceed you need to discuss this with someone with more specialized knowledge of vaccines and they will need to to know the exact name of the vaccine product that was used... you need to dig up that information because I suspect they are going to advise you to vaccinate the rest of your birds.
Peter Brown at featherfanciers.com is the owner of FirstState Vet Supply and sells vaccines and has a great deal of knowledge on them ... (even though technically he is not a veterinarian) and I feel he is the person you need to discuss the details with of how to proceed further...even if he cannot ship anything to you I suspect , he can help you figure out how best to proceed if you can find out exactly the vaccine that was used ... featherfanciers.com is his discussion forum and you can register as a member and post your problem and details there.

 

[patandchickens]

if this *is* Marek's (and even if it isn't), it seems to me that your best chance for avoiding all of the chickens falling sick would be to fix the dampness problem in the coop. Stressed birds (i.e. stressed by a damp and extra-cold-because-extra-damp coop) are going to be a lot more susceptible to disease, both in terms of whether they get sick and in terms of how sick they get.

If you do a search on "dampness" or "damp" in the 'coops' section of this forum you can find more suggestions, but right off the bad I would suggest:

1) DE will do little or nothing to combat dampness. Sweet PDZ or StallDri will do a little, but none of these is really "the" solution, at best just a little extra help.

2) figure out whether some of the moisture is coming from sources other than the chickens themselves -- roof leak, spills from waterer, rain permeating thru walls, coming up thru floor, condensing on floor because of ground temperatures? Do you use a heat lamp (which may make the situation worse in some situations)?

3) for chicken-source humidity, first add more (even more!) ventilation. Cold is not such a bad thing for chickens, what gets 'em is dampness. Ventilation alone will not easily cure serious stored-up dampness, but it will prevent it from setting up in the first place.

4) have you tried a droppings board under the roosts that can be cleaned every morning - this will remove about half the total droppings output, and thus a good whack of the moisture put out by the chickens.

Good luck,

Pat