Thank you for the links. There’s so much information about Mareks one being how they will be fine (with a couple of losses) while other saying that you should cull them all. I love them so much and I don’t want anything bad to happen to them
Thank you, I love them all, thank you for the link
Mine have the ocular symptoms and the paralysis. It’s incredibly scary, I remember the first year of chicken ownership I would read about Mareks, it was such a big fear of mine. Now that’s it’s a real part of my life it’s even scarier.
@microchick, I had not read your article before, it's now on my list to recommend to people. Very well done! I felt like I was reading my own story at times, I have also shed many tears. I'm about 2.5 years into dealing with Marek's, had chickens for about 10 years before it got in my flock. None of mine have presented with the leg paralysis and the forward/backward splits. Still looking for a local source for Egyptian Fayoumi's, hopefully eventually I will get the chance to add some to my flock. Right now my EE's seem to be the most resistant birds in my flock, so am mostly breeding them, but the boys do seem to be less resistant.
@Sandy2003 I know how you feel right now also. Try not to panic, it will be OK. It is not hopeless. It just takes some time to learn about it, process it all, and then figure out how you want to move forward.
I’m so sorry you dealt with that, I have 20 birds most 2 years or older. I’m hoping them being older will make them more resilient. I am attached to all of them and I can’t imagine loosing them allI have read of some people who have fairly small flocks and get a really virulent strain and lose all or nearly all their birds fairly quickly. I think those kind of strains probably cause people to cull their flocks. But many who post on here are just dealing with it, managing the losses, and many trying to breed birds that are more resistant. It also depends on how you look at your birds, livestock, pets, or somewhere in between. My birds have had ocular symptoms and visceral tumors, the ocular being the most prevalent. I love keeping my birds so will continue to try to get more resistant birds and keep on going, at this point in my life I can't imagine not having them. I am always sad when one starts to show symptoms, or suddenly dies, but it has gotten easier with time. I just let them have a quality life as long as they can, and I don't let them suffer when it gets to that point.
My vet mention how he has it but this women had turkeys so I’m nervous this strain is going to be badI have read of some people who have fairly small flocks and get a really virulent strain and lose all or nearly all their birds fairly quickly. I think those kind of strains probably cause people to cull their flocks. But many who post on here are just dealing with it, managing the losses, and many trying to breed birds that are more resistant. It also depends on how you look at your birds, livestock, pets, or somewhere in between. My birds have had ocular symptoms and visceral tumors, the ocular being the most prevalent. I love keeping my birds so will continue to try to get more resistant birds and keep on going, at this point in my life I can't imagine not having them. I am always sad when one starts to show symptoms, or suddenly dies, but it has gotten easier with time. I just let them have a quality life as long as they can, and I don't let them suffer when it gets to that point.
