Mareks😔

[Silkiesaz]

Was curious how many others on here have dealt with(or are dealing with)Mareks in their flocks. I just lost another chicken a couple hours ago. This is now 13 chickens in total. Did you guys lose ur whole flock? Im so terrified. I dont even get a second to at least try to deal or come to terms with one loss before Im losing another. My heart is so broken I dont even want to have chickens anymore after this.

I lost 4 of my chicken babies to Mareks, I thought they got vaccinated but they didn't. I am terrified for my new chicks that just hatched. One of them hatched from an egg that could have been layed by a sick hen. I am so sorry for your losses. Mareks is a horrible disease.

 

[Saaniya]

Was curious how many others on here have dealt with(or are dealing with)Mareks in their flocks. I just lost another chicken a couple hours ago. This is now 13 chickens in total. Did you guys lose ur whole flock? Im so terrified. I dont even get a second to at least try to deal or come to terms with one loss before Im losing another. My heart is so broken I dont even want to have chickens anymore after this.

I'm so sorry dear!
Can u share what are the symptoms in your chickens
Still many times mareks is rare sometimes it's something else

 

[Egg Blues]

I did. And before the diagnosis I wasnt sleeping I was up all hours of the night researching and caring for them trying to figure out what I was doing wrong because I never lost any birds before this! I had one i lost my first time ever owning chickens to hawk attack years ago and that was it! I feel like I caused it because I purchased new birds last spring and summer and then started to lose them starting that summer. I got a batch from a backyard breeder and Im wondering(even Dr.Jagne from Cornell said It does seem that way with timing) if they are who infected everyone.

I bought three birds, two pullets and a grown rooster--all Ameraucana, a rarity in these parts--from a dealer five hours' drive away. They were to be the start of my flock. Before the pullets had lain a single egg, they passed, and the rooster died of blindness on a hot day when he could not find the water. The symptoms for all three were consistent with Marek's, but I never got a confirmed diagnosis.

From that day to this, I have not wanted to buy birds. Only the eggs--and incubate them myself. Lesson learned.

I have incubated eggs and still have a few chickens in the coop--young ones. The ones I have are now about four months old, and no sign (yet) of Marek's in them. But I don't expect to be out of the woods yet, based on what everyone says about Marek's. So I have some new chicks kept inside the house, waiting to be transferred in a week or two to a new property which has not had chickens yet, and I'm doing everything I reasonably can do to keep them isolated from those outdoors which have been exposed. I've bleached the floors, feeding pans, light fixture, etc. in the brooder and have no intention of allowing any contact with the chickens outside.

Who knows? Maybe the chickens that I think have been exposed will be fine. So far, they have shown no symptoms. Just the same, I no longer wish to buy birds. I'd rather buy the eggs, incubate them myself, and never have a bird of my flock that has contacted chickens outside my flock--since, as I understand, Marek's and many other diseases are not transmitted via the egg.

Furthermore, having researched the vaccine issue (Marek's vaccine is called a "leaky vaccine" because it does not confer immunity, and it only prevents the bird from dying of the symptoms while allowing it to spread the virus to others en masse), I will NOT vaccinate any of my flock. The best is simply to keep them from contacting possibly infected individuals.

 

[B_Chickle01]

My friend ended up with Mareks after purchasing birds from a breeder. So frustrating that the breeder is still in business

Thats upsetting. This girl is still in business too which is incredibly irresponsible and careless of her in my opinion. But what leads me to believe it was her too was she doesnt vaccinate for it AND she told me this other girl she sold silkies too the same time as me lost one too around time I started losing mine!

 

[B_Chickle01]

I'm so sorry dear!
Can u share what are the symptoms in your chickens
Still many times mareks is rare sometimes it's something else

Mareks is actually turning up in backyard flocks a lot more lately. Its def Mareks I had a necropsy done with Cornell. But they all for most part started with favoring one foot. Like pulling it up in air as if it hurt. Then limping then not walking at all. Then became lethargic eventually and died. Some we culled that were in rough shape. But I had only one bird who showed symptoms of ocular. She would go to peck for her waterer when I would show it to her or her food and would miss. It was almost like she couldnt quite get to it even though I had it right up to her beak cause she was immobile.

 

[Egg Blues]

Thats upsetting. This girl is still in business too which is incredibly irresponsible and careless of her in my opinion. But what leads me to believe it was her too was she doesnt vaccinate for it AND she told me this other girl she sold silkies too the same time as me lost one too around time I started losing mine!

The fact is, vaccination is irresponsible. It doesn't confer immunity--it only keeps the chickens alive with Marek's, allowing them to spread their contagious dander to other birds without effecting their death. Essentially, so much to survival of the fittest--it becomes survival of the vacciniest; and each of the vaccinees becomes the spreader of the disease. Experts now say that the Marek's vaccination program has been the cause of the spread of the disease worldwide. Everyone everywhere now has to deal with it because of the vaccine that has spread it. If everyone stopped vaccinating, it is possible that those infected would die, and the disease would eventually be eradicated. But the big commercial interests cannot afford to lose most or all of their flocks, so they keep up with the vaccination charade.

 

[B_Chickle01]

I bought three birds, two pullets and a grown rooster--all Ameraucana, a rarity in these parts--from a dealer five hours' drive away. They were to be the start of my flock. Before the pullets had lain a single egg, they passed, and the rooster died of blindness on a hot day when he could not find the water. The symptoms for all three were consistent with Marek's, but I never got a confirmed diagnosis.

From that day to this, I have not wanted to buy birds. Only the eggs--and incubate them myself. Lesson learned.

I have incubated eggs and still have a few chickens in the coop--young ones. The ones I have are now about four months old, and no sign (yet) of Marek's in them. But I don't expect to be out of the woods yet, based on what everyone says about Marek's. So I have some new chicks kept inside the house, waiting to be transferred in a week or two to a new property which has not had chickens yet, and I'm doing everything I reasonably can do to keep them isolated from those outdoors which have been exposed. I've bleached the floors, feeding pans, light fixture, etc. in the brooder and have no intention of allowing any contact with the chickens outside.

Who knows? Maybe the chickens that I think have been exposed will be fine. So far, they have shown no symptoms. Just the same, I no longer wish to buy birds. I'd rather buy the eggs, incubate them myself, and never have a bird of my flock that has contacted chickens outside my flock--since, as I understand, Marek's and many other diseases are not transmitted via the egg.

Furthermore, having researched the vaccine issue (Marek's vaccine is called a "leaky vaccine" because it does not confer immunity, and it only prevents the bird from dying of the symptoms while allowing it to spread the virus to others en masse), I will NOT vaccinate any of my flock. The best is simply to keep them from contacting possibly infected individuals.

Yea my first birds to go were birds from my original flock that were years old. With the exception of my one that was hatched out by a broody(who later died and was sent for necropsy that was given the Marek’s Diagnosis) my newer birds that I got last summer didnt get sick and pass from it until they were like 8-9 months old. I have none of those younger birds left out of the 10 we acquired last summer and spring. I understand its a personal preference but Marek’s can live on ur land for up to 7yrs. It can be transmitted to other areas around ur home or land just off of you and ur clothing shoes hair even etc. from dander of infected birds. I was considering vaccinating if I do decide on getting more just for the simple reason that its less likely to have as fatal results with new birds that contract it.. although it can still happen.

 

[B_Chickle01]

The fact is, vaccination is irresponsible. It doesn't confer immunity--it only keeps the chickens alive with Marek's, allowing them to spread their contagious dander to other birds without effecting their death. Essentially, so much to survival of the fittest--it becomes survival of the vacciniest; and each of the vaccinees becomes the spreader of the disease. Experts now say that the Marek's vaccination program has been the cause of the spread of the disease worldwide. Everyone everywhere now has to deal with it because of the vaccine that has spread it. If everyone stopped vaccinating, it is possible that those infected would die, and the disease would eventually be eradicated. But the big commercial interests cannot afford to lose most or all of their flocks, so they keep up with the vaccination charade.

I did not realize they’re saying the vaccine is the cause of this! I JUST started to really read into the vaccine. But that makes sense. This is making me lean towards NOT getting more birds and just vaccinating them even more then I already was to begin with.

 

[Egg Blues]

Yea my first birds to go were birds from my original flock that were years old. With the exception of my one that was hatched out by a broody(who later died and was sent for necropsy that was given the Marek’s Diagnosis) my newer birds that I got last summer didnt get sick and pass from it until they were like 8-9 months old. I have none of those younger birds left out of the 10 we acquired last summer and spring. I understand its a personal preference but Marek’s can live on ur land for up to 7yrs. It can be transmitted to other areas around ur home or land just off of you and ur clothing shoes hair even etc. from dander of infected birds. I was considering vaccinating if I do decide on getting more just for the simple reason that its less likely to have as fatal results with new birds that contract it.. although it can still happen.

Whichever birds died of the Marek's had likely not been vaccinated. The vaccine, which contains nothing more than a strain of Marek's virus that kills turkeys but not chickens, will help to keep the chickens from dying of the disease, even though they are active carriers of it. So if the rest of your flock is sick, then it was not likely vaccinated either. After having done the research on this, I believe the best is to not vaccinate, because the vaccination only hides the problem, allowing it to grow worse. Essentially, the vaccine benefits one group of people--the vaccine makers. They are ensuring themselves a continued income as more and more people are "forced" to vaccinate--well I won't be forced.

 

[B_Chickle01]

I lost 4 of my chicken babies to Mareks, I thought they got vaccinated but they didn't. I am terrified for my new chicks that just hatched. One of them hatched from an egg that could have been layed by a sick hen. I am so sorry for your losses. Mareks is a horrible disease.

Im sorry. Ya know, what’s crazy is I remember reading on Marek’s and thinking what a nightmare! I hope my birds or my family never have to go through this..and then it became our reality. Its so upsetting to me. Its upsetting even more just the thought of me not owning chickens. I love them. I never realized truly how much until I was going through bad depression and being around them and stuff just helped tremendously! I know it probably sounds crazy but honestly. My kids are devastated too. I feel like we all almost became kind of numb to it(almost) since our chicken cemetery started to grow.