Marek’s 😞

[silkielover3]

Hi all,
I recently posted about some concerning symptoms our 8-month old silkie hen was experiencing including difficulty standing/walking. We took her to the vet yesterday and there was an avian specialist in the office, luckily. He pretty quickly diagnosed her with presumed Marek’s based on her presentation of one-sided paralysis in her R leg. She still has movement in her L leg, both wings & her neck but he said it tends to progress somewhat quickly. I asked if there could be any potential diagnoses he said it could possibly be nutritional but seemed very confident in the diagnosis being Marek’s. We got our chicks from a hatchery and I don’t believe they were vaccinated though I am going to call today to confirm. I don’t recall there being an option to vaccinate the chicks either or I’m sure I would have given the option. Lesson unfortunately learned I will absolutely make sure any future chicks we get are vaccinated. We have 10 total silkies (including our beloved Pumpkin who’s currently sick), the vet did say assume they all have it. Luckily no one else is acting ill at the moment, it’s just a terrible wait and see now… I’ve been doing loads of research on my local chicken FB pages. And in searching Marek’s so many commenters are insisting it’s nutritional based with various recommendations. The vet did recommend humane euthanasia and relatively soon as it will progress. He said she’s likely not in pain at the moment but it’s a hard way to go if it does progress. I’m just so torn. Right now she can’t move on her own we’re having to have her food/water right in front of her, we have her in the coop with her buddies but in a completely enclosed large dog crate. I just hate feeling like she’s suffering but if there’s a chance she could recover I’d feel terrible for euthanizing her prematurely. I’m just torn. I know you can really only confirm Marek’s post-mortem too. Currently we are giving her cracked corn in addition to her usual layer feed, adding mineral/vitamin supplemental powder to her water and blueberries/watermelon for treats. I was going to pick up nutri-drench as well. Since we noticed her limping last Tuesday it has progressed to when we put her down she just falls to the right side. She is no longer laying. I’m afraid I’m delaying the inevitable or is there hope? Just so torn & heartbroken. If we do euthanize her I also wanted to talk about what others have done in the past. There is an option to have her euthanized and bring her home with us to bury her or have her cremated or not bring any remains. It’s hard to even think about this. What have others done? If I do have her tested for Marek’s will we get her remains back to bury her properly? Just heartbroken. She’s such a sweetheart & doesn’t deserve this. I feel like an awful chicken mama.

Also to note & additional questions I myself am 13 weeks pregnant. Is there any risk to me or baby? We have been holding her & bringing her inside for extra TLC so I’ve surely been exposed but not sure what this means for me. I told the vet this and he wasn’t certain so advised me to contact my OB so I’m waiting for a return call.

And if the whole flock is presumed infected can we continue eating their eggs as normal or does this pose any sort of threat now that there’s presumed Marek’s in the flock?

Thank you all. This forum has been such a helpful place for us navigating this difficult time.

 

[silkielover3]

Here’s sweet Pumpkin

 

[Saveria]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I can only imagine how heavy it feels, and with such terrible timing. Here is an article that really opened my eyes about mareks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-disease-faq.66077/?page=4#ams-comment-523307

One of the points of the article is that the vaccine is not a cure, but just may prevent the symptoms, so you really can't blame yourself for any of this. It is going to be a hard time, but you will someday only be looking back on it.

I don't see any harm in trying to treat for vitamin deficiencies since it sounds like the damage has already been done. That will give you some time to prepare emotionally if you need to cull (if she does not improve). The article talks about other causes of these symptoms as well.

I am 99% sure that mareks is species specific, and could not infect a human or affect an unborn child, or at least that there has never been an instance of it. If you talk to your OB can you confirm it for me? I'm sure other women will need to know in the future.

 

[amarsano]

I agree with Saveria regarding Marek’s being species specific. The chicken vaccine is actually a turkey strain.
that being said, my flock is heavily infected right now. We tried supplements, especially B vitamins as that is the main deficiency that causes similar limping symptoms. It seemed to “help”, but only in the short run. We lost two or our newer flock of 18. Seven others are showing limping symptoms. I also have two of the roosters in my bachelor pen that have the eye version. They are from my second round of chickens and are 3 years now.
I have vaccinated all my birds, including the ones I have hatched in the incubator. I have 5 that hatched under hens and were not vaccinated as they were instantly exposed. Vaccinations are leaky and can cause greater disease variations, including ”hot” variants. This is apparently what I have going through my flock now. I’m in southern NH and am trying to see if others are having outbreaks despite vaccination. I can completely empathize with you.
I let my first two go naturally. They were never in pain. My bantam that we adored was in our house until the end. Dying is a natural process that is typically painless as the body will prepare itself for death. I’m in the minority or holding on, as some see it as humane to euthanize. I feel it is situational. When my dog became sick with brain/spinal cancer this summer we kept her going until she couldn’t move. She never gave up, but we knew she was mentally suffering from her inability to move her body. You could see that she was mentally there, but her body refused to cooperate. My Cloudy never looked as though she was suffering. I know I will be judged for not always euthanizing, but I have also had birds euthanized for other reasons/diseases. I believe if you know your animals that you can decide with them.
i know my two boys aren’t suffering right now, so I’m letting them be. I have another that is going to be put down very soon, as he appears as though he is suffering. I believe it is your call on your bird.
I know that I have digressed a great deal, but I honestly thought I had seen the last symptomatic bird a week ago and I’ve had three more in the last day. It simply is awful.

 

[amarsano]

Hi all,
I recently posted about some concerning symptoms our 8-month old silkie hen was experiencing including difficulty standing/walking. We took her to the vet yesterday and there was an avian specialist in the office, luckily. He pretty quickly diagnosed her with presumed Marek’s based on her presentation of one-sided paralysis in her R leg. She still has movement in her L leg, both wings & her neck but he said it tends to progress somewhat quickly. I asked if there could be any potential diagnoses he said it could possibly be nutritional but seemed very confident in the diagnosis being Marek’s. We got our chicks from a hatchery and I don’t believe they were vaccinated though I am going to call today to confirm. I don’t recall there being an option to vaccinate the chicks either or I’m sure I would have given the option. Lesson unfortunately learned I will absolutely make sure any future chicks we get are vaccinated. We have 10 total silkies (including our beloved Pumpkin who’s currently sick), the vet did say assume they all have it. Luckily no one else is acting ill at the moment, it’s just a terrible wait and see now… I’ve been doing loads of research on my local chicken FB pages. And in searching Marek’s so many commenters are insisting it’s nutritional based with various recommendations. The vet did recommend humane euthanasia and relatively soon as it will progress. He said she’s likely not in pain at the moment but it’s a hard way to go if it does progress. I’m just so torn. Right now she can’t move on her own we’re having to have her food/water right in front of her, we have her in the coop with her buddies but in a completely enclosed large dog crate. I just hate feeling like she’s suffering but if there’s a chance she could recover I’d feel terrible for euthanizing her prematurely. I’m just torn. I know you can really only confirm Marek’s post-mortem too. Currently we are giving her cracked corn in addition to her usual layer feed, adding mineral/vitamin supplemental powder to her water and blueberries/watermelon for treats. I was going to pick up nutri-drench as well. Since we noticed her limping last Tuesday it has progressed to when we put her down she just falls to the right side. She is no longer laying. I’m afraid I’m delaying the inevitable or is there hope? Just so torn & heartbroken. If we do euthanize her I also wanted to talk about what others have done in the past. There is an option to have her euthanized and bring her home with us to bury her or have her cremated or not bring any remains. It’s hard to even think about this. What have others done? If I do have her tested for Marek’s will we get her remains back to bury her properly? Just heartbroken. She’s such a sweetheart & doesn’t deserve this. I feel like an awful chicken mama.

Also to note & additional questions I myself am 13 weeks pregnant. Is there any risk to me or baby? We have been holding her & bringing her inside for extra TLC so I’ve surely been exposed but not sure what this means for me. I told the vet this and he wasn’t certain so advised me to contact my OB so I’m waiting for a return call.

And if the whole flock is presumed infected can we continue eating their eggs as normal or does this pose any sort of threat now that there’s presumed Marek’s in the flock?

Thank you all. This forum has been such a helpful place for us navigating this difficult time.

Just out of curiosity where are you and what food are you feeding?

 

[Gardengreener]

I agree with Saveria regarding Marek’s being species specific. The chicken vaccine is actually a turkey strain.
that being said, my flock is heavily infected right now. We tried supplements, especially B vitamins as that is the main deficiency that causes similar limping symptoms. It seemed to “help”, but only in the short run. We lost two or our newer flock of 18. Seven others are showing limping symptoms. I also have two of the roosters in my bachelor pen that have the eye version. They are from my second round of chickens and are 3 years now.
I have vaccinated all my birds, including the ones I have hatched in the incubator. I have 5 that hatched under hens and were not vaccinated as they were instantly exposed. Vaccinations are leaky and can cause greater disease variations, including ”hot” variants. This is apparently what I have going through my flock now. I’m in southern NH and am trying to see if others are having outbreaks despite vaccination. I can completely empathize with you.
I let my first two go naturally. They were never in pain. My bantam that we adored was in our house until the end. Dying is a natural process that is typically painless as the body will prepare itself for death. I’m in the minority or holding on, as some see it as humane to euthanize. I feel it is situational. When my dog became sick with brain/spinal cancer this summer we kept her going until she couldn’t move. She never gave up, but we knew she was mentally suffering from her inability to move her body. You could see that she was mentally there, but her body refused to cooperate. My Cloudy never looked as though she was suffering. I know I will be judged for not always euthanizing, but I have also had birds euthanized for other reasons/diseases. I believe if you know your animals that you can decide with them.
i know my two boys aren’t suffering right now, so I’m letting them be. I have another that is going to be put down very soon, as he appears as though he is suffering. I believe it is your call on your bird.
I know that I have digressed a great deal, but I honestly thought I had seen the last symptomatic bird a week ago and I’ve had three more in the last day. It simply is awful.

So sorry you’re going through this, I currently have it going through my flock as well and have lost half of them. It’s terrible to watch- good luck