Is there a disease with symptoms similar to Marek's?

[ChicksLoveOregon]

My ignorance with regards to proper chicken husbandry is going to be ever so obvious in this post.

I have a chicken that I think has Marek's disease... Last night I read the detailed post on Marek's in this forum and it seemed to confirm my fears.

The chicken in question is Hopscotch, mixed breed. Not vaccinated. One of our broody hens hatched her from an egg someone gave us. When she was 4 months old she started limping. We thought that she was injured, so we separated her. The limping progressed to leg paralysis. And then near complete paralysis. Obviously this is when I should have mercy killed her, but I did not. She made a slow, but eventual complete recovery over the next 2 months. And rejoined the flock. And was great for a couple of months. She has been slowly declining ever since, about 8 months. She can walk, but her gait is now stiff and now her neck is slowly contorting around so her default is to look kind of down. She is small and does not lay eggs.

I have 9 other chickens that are about a year older than her. I assumed all of them were vaccinated since they were hatchery chicks I got from a feed store.

We brought home 7 new chicks 3 days ago- mostly banties. The chicks are inside in a brooder.

I always worry about chicks, and last night I started thinking about Marek's disease and what if that's what happened with Hopscotch and how little I knew about it, so I started googling in the evening and got myself so worked up that I couldn't sleep.

Well I thought I better make sure that the chicks are vaccinated. So I contacted the feed store and of course they are not. All of the chicks that they sell are NOT vaccinated. So now- none of my flock is vaccinated. Not even the 2 year old hens in the coop that live with Hopscotch. Of those 2 are silkies, which I read are particularly susceptible.

So my question- sorry it took so long to get here- what do I do with the chicks? Can I still vaccinate them? Half are 2 weeks old and half are about a week old- I estimate. Should I build them a separate coop as far as I can from the original and house them separately for a year and then merge the flocks when they are older? Fog the whole place with oxine?

Could this be something else and not Marek's? Other than Hopscotch- I have not had any ill chickens (knock on wood) nor any deaths. And Hopscotch does not seem near death. I am so confused.

I am going to euthanize Hopscotch this evening. I think the quality of her life is deteriorating, so that is a non issue. I am just worried about everyone else.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Marek's represents in multiple forms including ocular and nerve but depending on form, yes generally there are others that can have similar symptoms. Lymphoid leucosis, blackhead, epidemic tremor, joint infection, pseudo botulism, tick paralysis, Newcastle, TB, riboflavin deficiency, slipped tendon, etc..

 

[ChicksLoveOregon]

Marek's represents in multiple forms including ocular and nerve but depending on form, yes generally there are others that can have similar symptoms. Lymphoid leucosis, blackhead, epidemic tremor, joint infection, pseudo botulism, tick paralysis, Newcastle, TB, riboflavin deficiency, slipped tendon, etc..

Thank you. I will try and research those as well.

 

[Kathy Golla]

You might want to get a necropsy done so you’ll know better which way to go with your current flock.
I believe I read mareks vaccine is only given either in the egg or after hatch no later than 24 hours old.
I’ll tell you there are a lot of folks that live with mareks carriers in their flock and their hens have a good quality of life. @rebrascora is one. If you search for her posts I’ve seen her post about it many times.

 

[ChicksLoveOregon]

Thank you for the tips. I will search for her posts. That might answer most of my underlying questions.

 

[ChicksLoveOregon]

You might want to get a necropsy done so you’ll know better which way to go with your current flock.
I believe I read mareks vaccine is only given either in the egg or after hatch no later than 24 hours old.
I’ll tell you there are a lot of folks that live with mareks carriers in their flock and their hens have a good quality of life. @rebrascora is one. If you search for her posts I’ve seen her post about it many times.

Thanks again. I feel a lot less panicked since I have read several of the posts you suggested. Some of the information that I had previously read said that 40% of an unvaccinated flock would die if they were exposed to Marek's. That's part of what started my confusion and fear- when I realized none of my chicken's were vaccinated.

 

[Kathy Golla]

Yes rebrascora has always been a calming presence about the Mareks situation. Educating to avoid panic.
It might not be Mareks...you should find out.

 

[ChicksLoveOregon]

I will definitely try and find out. I am going to try and contact our local extension office and I am going to talk to a vet and try to get more info. Thanks again.