Marek’s? (Eye Pics)

[Florida Bullfrog]

Looks like Marek’s to me. What say you?

 

[Rose the Legbar]

It does look like Mareks

 

[Wyorp Rock]

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Looks like Marek’s to me. What say you?

I would lean towards "Yes" that it's Ocular form of Marek's. If you lose her, then testing through your State Lab would give you confirmation.

@coach723 has had some birds with Ocular Marek's, here's a link to one of her posts with photos. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ocular-mareks-with-pics.1587096/post-26970258

@microchick I believe has also dealt with Marek's, this is her article, you may find it helpful since you are breed quite a bit and are developing flocks/lines.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-i-learned-to-deal-with-mareks-disease.76944/

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

This may be the “free range sickness” that I’ve been dealing with in my threads that the birds only get once they go free range when under a year old. I have some old factory layer hens running around that may have been vaxed for Mareks. The reason only the free rangers get it may be because the new free rangers become exposed to the layers once on free range.

I went ahead and culled this bird tonight and my two oldest factory layers. I have two more younger factory layers I will cull this week. That will eliminate any birds off the farm that may have been vaxed for Marek’s.

 

[nuthatched]

This may be the “free range sickness” that I’ve been dealing with in my threads that the birds only get once they go free range when under a year old. I have some old factory layer hens running around that may have been vaxed for Mareks. The reason only the free rangers get it may be because the new free rangers become exposed to the layers once on free range.

I went ahead and culled this bird tonight and my two oldest factory layers. I have two more younger factory layers I will cull this week. That will eliminate any birds off the farm that may have been vaxed for Marek’s.

I don't think culling the supposed vaxed birds is going to help if it is mareks, if they're free ranging wild birds could easily spread it.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I don't think culling the supposed vaxed birds is going to help if it is mareks, if they're free ranging wild birds could easily spread it.

I suspect much of the conventional wisdom about Marek’s to be incorrect. I am convinced chickens can be bred to resist and defeat it, and chickens were likely in that state a century ago.

Vaxed chickens carry and spread it for years. Non-vaxed chickens seem to die quickly. At least if its the “free range sickness” that infects new chicks and sub adults when turned out to free range for the first time. A percentage of my naturally brooded birds seem to never get this. So I believe if I only breed those birds that never seem to get it and cull any birds that may be long term carriers, natural selection will beat Marek’s, if indeed that’s what this is.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This may be the “free range sickness” that I’ve been dealing with in my threads that the birds only get once they go free range when under a year old. I have some old factory layer hens running around that may have been vaxed for Mareks. The reason only the free rangers get it may be because the new free rangers become exposed to the layers once on free range.

I went ahead and culled this bird tonight and my two oldest factory layers. I have two more younger factory layers I will cull this week. That will eliminate any birds off the farm that may have been vaxed for Marek’s.

I suspect much of the conventional wisdom about Marek’s to be incorrect. I am convinced chickens can be bred to resist and defeat it, and chickens were likely in that state a century ago.

Vaxed chickens carry and spread it for years. Non-vaxed chickens seem to die quickly. At least if its the “free range sickness” that infects new chicks and sub adults when turned out to free range for the first time. A percentage of my naturally brooded birds seem to never get this. So I believe if I only breed those birds that never seem to get it and cull any birds that may be long term carriers, natural selection will beat Marek’s, if indeed that’s what this is.

I think in old poultry books what they called "Range Paralysis" or Free Range Paralysis is what is now called Marek's.

I tend to agree, that you may be able to build resistance in your flock.

Marek's is a disease I have not researched as heavily as others, it's complicated - let's put it that way.
However, I have done a small amount that you may have seen or not, but I do agree, the vaccine does not seem to be the solution that most think it is.

Some info I've copied from another post I made a while back. To me, it seems your on the right track/thought process with breeding forward and culling symptomatic birds.


The vaccine can help control the formation of tumors, but it does not prevent infection from the virus. The vaccine may suppress clinical symptoms. It does not prevent shedding.
There's been a LOT of threads over the years with folks having sick vaccinated birds, necropsy revealed a main cause of decline was Marek's. And to be fair, unvaccinated birds have become sick and died as well.

However, if one already has Marek's within their flock, then vaccinating chicks might be beneficial, but it is crucial that vaccinated chicks not be exposed (need to be completely quarantined) for a minimum of 2wks. This would be hard to do in a backyard setting.


The best thing that anyone can do is research on their own and decide for themselves whether vaccination is the right choice for their flock(s). There are a lot of studies published and available, it just takes a lot of time to wade through them.

Dust or dander from infected chickens is particularly effective in transmission. Once the virus is introduced into a chicken flock, regardless of vaccination status, infection spreads quickly from bird to bird. Infected chickens continue to be carriers for long periods and act as sources of infectious virus. Shedding of infectious virus can be reduced, but not prevented, by prior vaccination. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/neoplasms/marek-s-disease-in-poultry

All MDV vaccines only prevent clinical symptoms, but do not prevent virus replication and shedding in the vaccinated host. While reduced shedding from vaccinated birds has been reported [87,88], these ‘imperfect’ vaccines still allow virus spread and evolution in the field, and are associated with the emergence of field strains with increased virulence https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7139298/


These results show that currently available Rispens CVI988 vaccine virus is shed in significant quantities from vaccinated chickens and transmits effectively between chickens. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23901761/


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17622613/

 

[microchick]

I agree with everyone. That suspiciously looks like Ocular Marek's disease to me also. I dealt with that in 4 birds in my flock, the first being a Buff Orpington hen named Sassy.

It's a form of ocular herpes virus, one of the forms of Marek's disease.

My birds lasted about two years with it. All progressed with bulging affected eyes, neurological symptoms but mostly stroke. They acted like healthy birds through their entire progress. I did have trouble keeping weight on them and they tended to want to stay inside out of the bright sun.

This is painful as it is iritis.

@Florida Bullfrog I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with this. My best advice is enjoy your girls, give them lots of good food and healthy treats and let them have fun being chickens. You aren't alone when it comes to dealing with this horrible disease.

@Wyorp Rock, thank you for the tags.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Wyorp Rock, do I understand you to be saying that it is best, if a person does NOT have Marek's in their flock, for them NOT to have chicks vaccinated that they purchase from a hatchery? Are you saying that if I have my chicks vaccinated, I may actually be introducing Marek's onto my property, because the vaccinated chicks may shed live virus? Thank you in advance for helping me understand if this is the case.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock, do I understand you to be saying that it is best, if a person does NOT have Marek's in their flock, for them NOT to have chicks vaccinated that they purchase from a hatchery? Are you saying that if I have my chicks vaccinated, I may actually be introducing Marek's onto my property, because the vaccinated chicks may shed live virus? Thank you in advance for helping me understand if this is the case.

The best thing that anyone can do is research on their own and decide for themselves whether vaccination is the right choice for their flock(s). There are a lot of studies published and available, it just takes a lot of time to wade through them.

For me personally, I will not vaccinate nor bring in vaccinated birds.