Let's talk about Mareks... Looking for people who deal with in their flock

[annagoodspeed]

The first bird at my place to exhibit Marek’s symptoms was a vaccinated Legbar. Since then all but one bird with Legbar genes have died, a good percentage from Marek’s. Other breeds have been much more resistant here. It makes sense that birds develop resistance to local prevalent viruses, so maybe try other breeds, or birds from breeders in your area that have bred for resistance rather than vaccinating?
I am in Idaho, and brought in a specific breed from sources in Washington and Oklahoma, and they have been fine, but one of those breeders said they tried some birds from Ohio and they all got Marek’s while his own were ok, so maybe something about regional strains of virus or specific lines of susceptible birds.
I found this and felt it explained it well...

http://creamlegbarclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Importing.pdf

 

[AudieWarren]

Thank you all for your comments and condolences. Yes it is very frustrating. I drove almost 2 hrs one way to deliver my pullet. It was faster than mailing her. I wanted my results yesterday. Luckily in Georgia it is free of charge. As soon as I know something, I'll let yall know.

 

[rebrascora]

'Deepest condolences. I know how painful it is and how frustrating. Glad that you are having a necropsy done and like others I look forward to hearing the results.

As for the disinfectant. Please forgive me for playing devil's advocate here but I really wonder about the lasting efficiency of disinfectants given the prevelance of Marek's in the general population of birds and in the wild.

True, keeping coops clean is only logical in good poultry stewardship but in the longrun what is to keep enviromental spread and reinfection of the area you just sanitized with either Virkron or Oxine? Whether it's via insects, dander or wild birds, what is to keep the reinfection other than keeping your birds in an airtight coop and indoor run where you have to cover yourself in an inviromental suit, helmet gloves and booties and change those every time you enter the coop? You would need a postitive pressure airlock and birds that are tested and 100% Marek's free. Then all the spray in the world isn't going to keep that one infected fly from getting into your sanitized coop and run and reinfecting your whole flock.

Yeah, Pretty grim and yes, cynical on my part but I've lost a LOT of birds to this disease, including one two weeks ago that I had to put down when I discovered her crop was swollen to the size of a grape furit, hard and she was skin and bones. More than likely a Marek's tumor.

IMHO, veterinary science/medicine needs to get it's fingers out of it's collecive ears and develop a vaccine that is not open ended and will once and for all stop this disease in it's tracks. It has to be made available in quanities that is practical for back yard flock keepers and unlike the current vaccine, not 'almost' work.

They have done it with the human papilloma virus. It's only a matter of time before they do it with other forms of the herpes virus.

Until then...we who have Marek's in our flocks will keep on practicing good stewardship and caring for our flocks to the best of our abilities and in the mean time, dealing with the occasional dead bird.

I'm not saying that the disinfectant will somehow make your flock clear of the disease but it will reduce the reservoir of infected material which can easily sit in the coop for months or years even and then infect youngsters at some point in the future when they inhale it. Here in the UK the main source of infection I understand is via inhalation of infected dander dust and the place where that is most likely to build up and can survive for long periods is the inside of the coop.

It is all about taking whatever steps you can to reduce the risk of more birds in your flock becoming infected and since the virus is only shed whilst birds are symptomatic it makes sense to me to have a good disinfect after such an event. We all know how dusty the coop gets with dander dust and how it packs into the cracks and crevices and gets caught in cobwebs and how chickens flapping their wings in the coop disturbs it and makes it airborne..... to me that makes the coop a very high risk area for reinfection, so it seems logical to target that area with a disinfectant which will kill it.

 

[microchick]

Oh, I agree @rebrascora! Sometimes I just feel like I'm trying to put out a forest fire with a squirt gun. No matter how clean I keep things around the coop, something I can't control lurks in the shadow, whether it be flies, geese flying over and cutting loose droppings that land in my run, Wild birds flying in the pop door to grab a quick snack out of the feeder. The local Amish farm within a 5 mile radius of our farm having poultry deaths and them tossing the diseased birds in the nearest ravine to spread whatever they died of around.

I whole heartedly agree with @annagoodspeed concerning birds from one area being more resistant to whatever strain of Marek's resides one area than birds that are brought in from another area.

I believe I am dealing with that in my own flock. Birds I brought being bred for 'resistance' were susceptible to whatever strain is in our area. My losses from bantam crosses bred from stock on a nearby Amish farm have been very low. I lost one year old cockerel to sudden death,and one 9 week old from classic paralysis. Those losses out of a flock of about 40 birds while my NPIP breeder Buff Orpington and Welsummer flock went from 38 birds to 13.

I keep apologizing to them. But unfortunately hindsight is wonderful. Always 20/20

 

[orrpeople]

The first bird at my place to exhibit Marek’s symptoms was a vaccinated Legbar. Since then all but one bird with Legbar genes have died, a good percentage from Marek’s. Other breeds have been much more resistant here. It makes sense that birds develop resistance to local prevalent viruses, so maybe try other breeds, or birds from breeders in your area that have bred for resistance rather than vaccinating?
I am in Idaho, and brought in a specific breed from sources in Washington and Oklahoma, and they have been fine, but one of those breeders said they tried some birds from Ohio and they all got Marek’s while his own were ok, so maybe something about regional strains of virus or specific lines of susceptible birds.
I found this and felt it explained it well...

http://creamlegbarclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Importing.pdf

Legbars were our susceptible breed as well.

 

[PouleChick]

Looking forward to the results. So sorry for your losses.

 

[AudieWarren]

I just got my necropsy report. I officially have a Mareks flock. The pullet I sent in also had mycoplasma synoviae infection and infectious Coryza. Now that I know what we got going on I can handle my flock.

 

[Kiki]

I just got my necropsy report. I officially have a Mareks flock. The pullet I sent in also had mycoplasma synoviae infection and infectious Coryza. Now that I know what we got going on I can handle my flock.

I'm glad you got an answer.
Have you decided yet how you are going to proceed?

 

[AudieWarren]

I'm glad you got an answer.
Have you decided yet how you are going to proceed?

Right now I'm reading that mycoplasma synoviae is a reportable disease. I feel like if my necropsy was done by the GA poultry laboratory that they would have reported it, but I don't know. I need to find out more. I literally just opened my letter when I wrote this. I am going to thin my flock out. Only keep my reliable layers and maybe one rooster. Do a series of deep cleaning and sanitizing. I need to figure out how this is going to affect my turkeys as well.

 

[Kiki]

Right now I'm reading that mycoplasma synoviae is a reportable disease. I feel like if my necropsy was done by the GA poultry laboratory that they would have reported it, but I don't know. I need to find out more. I literally just opened my letter when I wrote this. I am going to thin my flock out. Only keep my reliable layers and maybe one rooster. Do a series of deep cleaning and sanitizing. I need to figure out how this is going to affect my turkeys as well.

I am not sure what is reportable in your state, I can look for you though. Each state has different rules so be sure to only look at your state's rules.