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

[orrpeople]

Marek's has been a much smaller "fish in our pond" than I was warned it would be. After all of the dire predictions and warnings after our first outbreak, we have not seen it. Don't get me wrong - I know it lies dormant, sometimes for years. I also still run a pretty tight ship as far as nutrition, cleanliness/antimicrobial use, and stress reduction. But, we had a very stressful summer (major wildfire, evacuations, and more) and they sailed through very well. I really do believe Marek's to be part of every poultry environment, just not in outbreak form.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Marek's has been a much smaller "fish in our pond" than I was warned it would be. After all of the dire predictions and warnings after our first outbreak, we have not seen it. Don't get me wrong - I know it lies dormant, sometimes for years. I also still run a pretty tight ship as far as nutrition, cleanliness/antimicrobial use, and stress reduction. But, we had a very stressful summer (major wildfire, evacuations, and more) and they sailed through very well. I really do believe Marek's to be part of every poultry environment, just not in outbreak form.

 

[AudieWarren]

Hey yall!! So today I had a pullet die. She wasn't laying yet, but I know it would have been soon. I went to the fill feeders and waterers at 7am. Everything was fine. I went out there around lunch and she was layed out unable to walk. I picked her up without a fuss(very unusual bc they don't like being handled.) and removed her from the flock. I had to make her drink. I went to check on her periodically throughout the day. When my husband came home around 4:30pm she was dead. This was sudden. I'm taking her in the morning to get a necropsy. Just wanted to touch base and let yall know what is going on.

 

[Kiki]

Hey yall!! So today I had a pullet die. She wasn't laying yet, but I know it would have been soon. I went to the fill feeders and waterers at 7am. Everything was fine. I went out there around lunch and she was layed out unable to walk. I picked her up without a fuss(very unusual bc they don't like being handled.) and removed her from the flock. I had to make her drink. I went to check on her periodically throughout the day. When my husband came home around 4:30pm she was dead. This was sudden. I'm taking her in the morning to get a necropsy. Just wanted to touch base and let yall know what is going on.

Sorry for your loss.
I look forward to the necropsy report.

 

[WVduckchick]

Hey yall!! So today I had a pullet die. She wasn't laying yet, but I know it would have been soon. I went to the fill feeders and waterers at 7am. Everything was fine. I went out there around lunch and she was layed out unable to walk. I picked her up without a fuss(very unusual bc they don't like being handled.) and removed her from the flock. I had to make her drink. I went to check on her periodically throughout the day. When my husband came home around 4:30pm she was dead. This was sudden. I'm taking her in the morning to get a necropsy. Just wanted to touch base and let yall know what is going on.

So sorry

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hey yall!! So today I had a pullet die. She wasn't laying yet, but I know it would have been soon. I went to the fill feeders and waterers at 7am. Everything was fine. I went out there around lunch and she was layed out unable to walk. I picked her up without a fuss(very unusual bc they don't like being handled.) and removed her from the flock. I had to make her drink. I went to check on her periodically throughout the day. When my husband came home around 4:30pm she was dead. This was sudden. I'm taking her in the morning to get a necropsy. Just wanted to touch base and let yall know what is going on.

I'm sorry for your loss

Please let us know what you find out when you get the report.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

Sorry to read that you are going through this and just lost your pullet. Having a necropsy done is really helpful so that you know your enemy and can devise a strategy. I hope you can get one done reasonably cheaply.... prices vary significantly because some states subsidise their labs more than others. It would be great if you can share the results with us as I helps us all to improve our knowledge.

I'm not sure I have much to add that others have not covered. Virkon S is one of the very few disinfectants to be active against the virus and it would be worth acquiring some of that and giving your coop a top to toe drenching. I just purchased a couple of sachets of it at my local feed store here in the UK for £1.99 each and they dissolve in a bucket of water, so not an expensive option. Shop around because some places just stock bulk quantities at silly prices, but it is marketed in smaller units too if you look hard enough.

Other than that, it is a question of keeping the flock as stress free as possible. Plenty of space, remove any adolescent cockerels from the flock before their hormones kick in and feed your birds well. A probiotic or I prefer fermented feed will help to keep their gut healthy and a vitamin supplement during times of stress like confinement due to bad weather, moult and surge of hormones in spring will help to support their immune system and enable them to resist the virus or secondary infections which often cause death in Marek's flocks.

Hopefully this advice is not necessary and your necropsy comes back as something less sinister, but Marek's is an incredibly common virus and many people have it in their flock and don't even realise it. It is mostly the very aggressive strains which get documented and diagnosed, so most people assume that is the norm and the mild signs they observe in their flock where birds are lame for a few days and perhaps the odd bird dies here and there, months apart often with different symptoms cannot be linked or such a serious disease.

 

[orrpeople]

Hi

Sorry to read that you are going through this and just lost your pullet. Having a necropsy done is really helpful so that you know your enemy and can devise a strategy. I hope you can get one done reasonably cheaply.... prices vary significantly because some states subsidise their labs more than others. It would be great if you can share the results with us as I helps us all to improve our knowledge.

I'm not sure I have much to add that others have not covered. Virkon S is one of the very few disinfectants to be active against the virus and it would be worth acquiring some of that and giving your coop a top to toe drenching. I just purchased a couple of sachets of it at my local feed store here in the UK for £1.99 each and they dissolve in a bucket of water, so not an expensive option. Shop around because some places just stock bulk quantities at silly prices, but it is marketed in smaller units too if you look hard enough.

Other than that, it is a question of keeping the flock as stress free as possible. Plenty of space, remove any adolescent cockerels from the flock before their hormones kick in and feed your birds well. A probiotic or I prefer fermented feed will help to keep their gut healthy and a vitamin supplement during times of stress like confinement due to bad weather, moult and surge of hormones in spring will help to support their immune system and enable them to resist the virus or secondary infections which often cause death in Marek's flocks.

Hopefully this advice is not necessary and your necropsy comes back as something less sinister, but Marek's is an incredibly common virus and many people have it in their flock and don't even realise it. It is mostly the very aggressive strains which get documented and diagnosed, so most people assume that is the norm and the mild signs they observe in their flock where birds are lame for a few days and perhaps the odd bird dies here and there, months apart often with different symptoms cannot be linked or such a serious disease.

Really excellent information here! I hadn't heard of Virkon S - definitely will check it out!

 

[Kiki]

Really excellent information here! I hadn't heard of Virkon S - definitely will check it out!

http://virkon.us/
http://virkon.us/#tab-id-1

 

[microchick]

Hey yall!! So today I had a pullet die. She wasn't laying yet, but I know it would have been soon. I went to the fill feeders and waterers at 7am. Everything was fine. I went out there around lunch and she was layed out unable to walk. I picked her up without a fuss(very unusual bc they don't like being handled.) and removed her from the flock. I had to make her drink. I went to check on her periodically throughout the day. When my husband came home around 4:30pm she was dead. This was sudden. I'm taking her in the morning to get a necropsy. Just wanted to touch base and let yall know what is going on.

'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.