Is there anything similar to Marek's?

[RoostersAreAwesome]

In the moment there's 2 roosters, 11 hens and pullets, and 10 cockerels, some about to be culled and others still quite young.(which are kept separately but they're all in the same area)
We'll probably be hatching some more in the spring so that would be quite a good time for it to show up.

Ah, a bigger flock! I hope your birds don’t have Marek’s, good luck with them.

 

[Sussex19]

Ah, a bigger flock! I hope your birds don’t have Marek’s, good luck with them.

Yeah, I wasn't really sure what was considered a big or small flock!

 

[InterestingChickens]

Thanks for all the help!
I think we'll just think about it a bit longer, and keep researching it for now.
It's a good idea to keep one of the cockerels, and see what happens there and then we can always get it tested later.
Do you think there's a time frame where one can be confident that it isn't, (as in a couple of years or something) or does one really need to get the flock tested before selling birds again?

It seems that birds that contract Marek's can be a carrier for life according to these sources:

https://nre.tas.gov.au/biosecurity-...mal-health/poultry-and-pigeons/mareks-disease
'Infected chickens carry the virus for life whether they develop the disease or not, and continue to shed the virus for long periods.'

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/ind...lfare/pests-diseases-disorders/mareks-disease
'Once infected, the disease will remain in the bird for life and it will continue to be infectious.'

Some conflicting information there, but we can safely assume that birds will carry the ability to spread Marek's disease for a long time. Hopefully you do not have Marek's on your hands, but a easily fixed problem, or better yet, no more troubles at all. If you are looking to sell your birds, I would suggest getting a test done, your vet may be able to organise this for you. Good luck.

 

[Sussex19]

seems that birds that contract Marek's can be a carrier for life according to these sources:

Yes, I had read that in a few different places, if it does turn out to Marek's we'll never sell them and just keep them.

https://nre.tas.gov.au/biosecurity-...mal-health/poultry-and-pigeons/mareks-disease
'Infected chickens carry the virus for life whether they develop the disease or not, and continue to shed the virus for long periods.'

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/ind...lfare/pests-diseases-disorders/mareks-disease
'Once infected, the disease will remain in the bird for life and it will continue to be infectious.'

An interesting read!
Something it said,

• organs – greyish-white tumours appear in the ovaries, liver, spleen, kidney, heart and other organs. Birds may show signs of depression, paralysis, appetite loss, weight loss, anaemia (pale combs), dehydration (shrunken combs) and sometimes diarrhoea. Some birds die without any signs being noticed.

When we harvest one of the cockerels that had been affected by what ever it was, everything seemed healthy and normal inside, would one have expected it to be obvious, if there was something wrong?

Hopefully you do not have Marek's on your hands, but a easily fixed problem, or better yet, no more troubles at all. If you are looking to sell your birds, I would suggest getting a test done, your vet may be able to organise this for you. Good luck

I hope so to!
Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[InterestingChickens]

When we harvest one of the cockerels that had been affected by what ever it was, everything seemed healthy and normal inside, would one have expected it to be obvious, if there was something wrong?

According to the other link I posted previously, there are different forms of Marek's. Two of which the nervous form and the visceral from. As the name suggests, the nervous form being the one to effect the nerves, and the visceral from, causing the tumours. The link you quoted suggests that they are both the same strains of Marek's and that the tumours can become apparent after a few weeks from when the nerve symptoms appear.

There is another disease (lymphoid leucosis) that only causes tumours (not paralysis) and is more common in birds over 16 weeks. Nervous Marek's is more often than not, seen in younger birds.

In this source of information it seems to imply that the tumours appear in later stages of Marek's after paralysis symptoms (contains graphic pictures of infected birds).

While this article is telling us there are quite a few different types of Marek's (as well as visceral and nervous from) as well.

This link contains a graphic picture of what the tumours look like in a chickens liver, if you are interested.

It seems as the nervous from is the classical variant of Marek's disease and is more common than the visceral from. There is the ocular form of Marek's which appears on the eyes, causing loss of sight, and the cutaneous strain. The cutaneous strain effects skin and feathers. Hope this helps.

 

[Sussex19]

thanks!
All very interesting.
There certainty wasn't any tumours like that, which I suppose is a good thing.
I think at this point the only thing to do is to talk to our vet about it, and see what happens.
But at least in the moment all the chickens seem very happy, which is the main thing!

 

[Poultry mum]

@Poultry mum, did you experience any of these symptoms in your flock before?

That’s exactly what I experience… recently had a few do the same thing new birds.. and old birds they pick up and look ok and then they just die… it’s not mearks it’s more like rickets or something… I suspect there is a new strain of an old disease and no one knows how or what it is…

 

[Poultry mum]

The point is, all the chickens we've got in the moment are perfectly healthy; so I can't see much point in culling them when they can live very happy lives.
But what I'm trying to work out is are they carriers or not.

You won’t know until someone gets sick…

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

That’s exactly what I experience… recently had a few do the same thing new birds.. and old birds they pick up and look ok and then they just die… it’s not mearks it’s more like rickets or something… I suspect there is a new strain of an old disease and no one knows how or what it is…

I wouldn’t rule out Marek’s if you’re experiencing a lot of “unknown” deaths.

 

[Sussex19]

That’s exactly what I experience… recently had a few do the same thing new birds.. and old birds they pick up and look ok and then they just die… it’s not mearks it’s more like rickets or something… I suspect there is a new strain of an old disease and no one knows how or what it is…

Interesting, if it is a new strain, would it come up if one got them tested?

You won’t know until someone gets sick…

If it is Mareks, I guess it will show up again eventually?