Marek's and what to do?

[klf73]

Quote:
actually, it is not uncommon. It is spread extremely easily through the air, from a neighboring farm is possible. You can pick it up at a swap meet, at the feed store, or by letting other people that have chickens onto your property.
I had a closed flock for 4 years, got CHICKS this year , ALL from reputable breeders, one batch brought mareks because it was on their property(not near the hatcher). I have culled everything that I wasn't going to keep, it sucks.

to the original poster- don't jump to Mareks too fast. some just have issues or defects, it happens. I would check for injury or anything out of the ordinary. I would only be genuinely concerned if another becomes affected. If your hen doesn't make it, then I would send to the state lab to have them do a necropsy. good luck

 

[eggdd]

Quote:
oh my. treat your chicken for the leg injury she has (per you!). call a vet.

 

[klf73]

most of us don't have vets that see chickens, or be able to take them if we do. If it was Mareks there is no way for them to diagnose it.

main question- the new birds you added, were they all from a hatchery?

also, have you been to any chicken swaps or anyplace you could have picked anything up?

one of my boys was limping but he had a sore on the bottom of his foot, have you thoroughly inspected her foot and between?

 

[seminolewind]

A local vet can not diagnose Marek's. Only by a lab that does poultry necropsies. There is no test , or medicine. The best you can do is separate a sick bird, and clean clean clean.

Marek's used to be a problem only in the big big chicken houses (like for public broilers).It took years for these chicken factories to control Marek's and near eliminate it. They did this by vaccinating, all in and all out practices (no mixing ages), and super disinfecting in between groups.

However, in the meantime, backyarders and small chicken farms have mixed age flocks, buy, and sell allover, and have never needed to vaccinate.

Now the situation is flipped. Large chicken producers have minimal problems with Marek's and it has become an extreme problem for backyarders. The worst parts of it is that we need to vaccinate everyone, it's the only way. If you buy chickens, you will have Marek's at some point. Even if you sell your unvaccinated unexposed chicks, you will be selling them into death because of the many other flocks that have it.

There is alot of mis information. Most is about symptoms. Paralysis is the most recognised. But the most common symptom is wasting away, or just dying one day for no reason. Half of mine had no real symptoms except wasting away. I thought they were being bullied away from the food. Not. Half of mine had paralysis.

The vaccine will NOT give a chick Marek's that it can spread to other chickens. However a vaccinated chick can be exposed to Marek's at some point in life, and carry it, and give it to others. But the vaccinated chick(en) itself will not die from the tumors or nerve damage.

This is not a rare disease. This is a disease that has been controlled by big chicken producers, while it has become epidemic in backyard flocks because we all have been doing the opposite of what we should be doing.

All my info comes from poultry research done at University hospitals, poultry disease research books, and Poultry disease info written by Doctors who specialize in poultry.

 

[eggdd]

Quote:
actually, it is not uncommon. It is spread extremely easily through the air, from a neighboring farm is possible. You can pick it up at a swap meet, at the feed store, or by letting other people that have chickens onto your property.
I had a closed flock for 4 years, got CHICKS this year , ALL from reputable breeders, one batch brought mareks because it was on their property(not near the hatcher). I have culled everything that I wasn't going to keep, it sucks.

to the original poster- don't jump to Mareks too fast. some just have issues or defects, it happens. I would check for injury or anything out of the ordinary. I would only be genuinely concerned if another becomes affected. If your hen doesn't make it, then I would send to the state lab to have them do a necropsy. good luck

dude, because it happened to you doesn't mean it's common. it ISN'T. i can link you to several studies. it is, IN FACT, a rare disease among backyard flocks. it is something large chicken factories/breeders have to worry about, but NOT the common backyard flock. you are one person out of how many people who have chickens? and how do you know you had it? there's a lot of people, like the OP, who "believe" the chick had it, but it probably didn't.

sucks it happened to you. on that note, no need to cull. if they had it, they all have it. and any chicken you bring on your property will have it. period.

never buy chickens. never. you want 'em? you hatch 'em. i would never, never, and then never again, bring a live chicken onto my property from a swap, a feed store, a breeder (i don't care how reputable they are), etc., etc..

the only POSSIBLE exception would be a hatchery. but i haven't done that, and it would take a lot to convince to do it.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
did you send the bird to the state vet to verify? mareks is a serious thing. if your birds have it, you need to close your flock. NEVER allow your birds to leave your property. this is information you should know. i do not think it's okay to "believe". you should know if it's mareks or not. the state vet can tell you.

The plan was to send this one to the state lab. I do not believe I can once it has been culled though. I am going to have to check with them on Monday. My flock was closed the minute the first bird showed signs of illness. Others with birds are already not allowed on the property.

You can put the dead bird in a bag in the fridge. Call the Bronson animal disease lab in Kissimmee at 321-697-1400. They will send you the forms and how to pack the bird. It costs $30.

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
The plan was to send this one to the state lab. I do not believe I can once it has been culled though. I am going to have to check with them on Monday. My flock was closed the minute the first bird showed signs of illness. Others with birds are already not allowed on the property.

You can put the dead bird in a bag in the fridge. Call the Bronson animal disease lab in Kissimmee at 321-697-1400. They will send you the forms and how to pack the bird. It costs $30.

Even if it was euthanized by axe? I just culled about an hour and a half ago.

 

[eggdd]

Now the situation is flipped. Large chicken producers have minimal problems with Marek's and it has become an extreme problem for backyarders. The worst parts of it is that we need to vaccinate everyone, it's the only way. If you buy chickens, you will have Marek's at some point. Even if you sell your unvaccinated unexposed chicks, you will be selling them into death because of the many other flocks that have it.

there are so many things wrong with the above.

it has NOT flipped. large chicken factories ARE STILL the folks with the main issues concerning mareks. sheesh. show me one study saying otherwise? moreover, a lot of people, maybe even most?, get their backyard flock from hatcheries. they are safe.

also, you should NOT be selling OR BUYING chickens. not only for mareks but for several reasons. but, if you do sell a chicken you are not selling them into death. oh my goodness. that is.....wow.

people, you gotta get off the internet. seriously. stop being so paranoid. read the actual research. if it happens to ten backyard flocks, that doesn't make it common. geez.​

 

[eggdd]

mareks can be detected by your state vet office. every state has one. it's very easy. some are free, some charge a small fee.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
actually, it is not uncommon. It is spread extremely easily through the air, from a neighboring farm is possible. You can pick it up at a swap meet, at the feed store, or by letting other people that have chickens onto your property.
I had a closed flock for 4 years, got CHICKS this year , ALL from reputable breeders, one batch brought mareks because it was on their property(not near the hatcher). I have culled everything that I wasn't going to keep, it sucks.

to the original poster- don't jump to Mareks too fast. some just have issues or defects, it happens. I would check for injury or anything out of the ordinary. I would only be genuinely concerned if another becomes affected. If your hen doesn't make it, then I would send to the state lab to have them do a necropsy. good luck

Klf is right on. We have suffered through this together, and in the interum (sp?) , sucked up all VALID information on it.
OP, you would need more than 1 death or 1 chicken symptomatic to start thinking about Marek's.
Did you check your hen for a stuck egg?