Mareks Disease: Need advice

[LuvinChickens]

I'm so sorry about this outbreak!!! I know what it is like, I dealt with it for half a year, and my room became a chicken hospital.

I used the regular poly-vi-sol, mixed in water, that's all I used. You said she wouldn't take it, but a quick way to do it (and actually get it in, I learned) is to put the syringe at the side of their beak and slowly drip water at the sides. Sometimes they'd have their seizures and wouldn't drink, results could be they have tumors if it isn't going down.

One of my roo's went for three days, refusing to eat or drink, and he had the leg out thing and couldn't walk, but one day he was sitting upright and was eating and drinking, so you never know, maybe she'll be one of those miracle survivors.

There is no cure for Marek's, but there is vaccines, I used them on my chicks one time, but some died anyways. I just recommend having 3 or 4 chicks at a time, when we had Marek's out break we had 6-8 chicks or 10-12.

There IS a cure that might work:

Originally Posted by MoodyChicken

This isn't an emergency, just a helpful tidbit of information to help. Despite what you may have heard, there IS a cure for Marek's Disease. It is a homeopathic remedy called "Hypericum." Hypericum is a small creeping herb that, when used hollistically, numbs nerves and dulls pain. When given to a bird suffering from the symptoms of Marek's Disease, it will cure the bird by working on the theory that "like cures like," in other words, by giving the bird the symptoms it will take the symptoms away. I've used this herb with great success to fully cure birds of Marek's Disease. You can fnd Hypericum at health food stores, $8 for 100 tablets. Hypericum must be diluted before it can be used:

- 1 tablespoon of DISTILLED water per tablet Hypericum (must be distilled water, tap water is ionized and will deactivate the Hypericum)
- MUST be mixed in a GLASS or PLASTIC bowl (metal with react with the water and herb)
- drip 5-10 drops (bantam) or 10-15 drops (large fowl) on the afflicted bird's tongue. Be sure the bird rubs its beak together because the Hypericum MUST touch the sinuses (located on the roof of the mouth) in order to work
- treat every 12 hours (morning and night) with a fresh batch
- recovery may be as quick as 1 day or as slow as several months

The treatment works best if you begin treating early. If you delay treatment, the Hypericum may not work or it may be a very slow recovery. IF YOU OVERDOSE YOUR BIRDS ON HYPERICUM, don't worry. The bird will exhibit extreme symptoms, and make a drastic improvment within a 24 hours. Hypericum is also helpful for pain. Only treat birds that are showing symptoms.

HOW CAN I TELL IF MY BIRD HAS MAREK'S DISEASE?

Check your flock history. Marek's Disease affects birds as early as 6 months of age. Symtoms occur most commonly between 6-8 months of age; however, any age bird can become sick, it just becomes less common with age. The incubation period is 2 weeks.

SYMPTOMS INCLUDE: sudden death (fairly common), depression (common), gradual weight loss (fairly common), neck paralysis (not common), paleness (in conjunction with other symtoms), wing paralysis (common), leg paralysis (most common), star-gazing (fairly common), extreme sudden emaciation (rare), mishapen pupil (not common), gray iris (not common), crazy behavior (rare), unresponsive (common), internal tumor growth (not common), tumors on feather follicles (not common), fearful (not common)

Hope this helps someone!!!

I havn't needed to try it yet. Thank you God! I hope my hens never get it....

 

[BetsyB0101]

Thank you Lovinchickens. I am trying to find the hypericum. I think it is worth a shot. There is quite a bit of debate on here whether or not this actually helps, but I am at the point of trying anything. They are going to die anyway so what do I have to lose? The hypericum was in Leadwolf1's post too. Does anyone know if just plain St johns wort is the same? It looks like hypericum is just the scientific name for St johns wort. Any ideas? I don't want to get the wrong stuff.

 

[leadwolf1]

Marek's usually doesn't occur in chickens over a year old, if any of yours survive after a year, you've got a immune chicken.

This is not always the case. If they have been exposed and come under a great deal of stress, birds of all ages can and do still come down with, and die, from Marek's. There are several people on here that have had older birds die from Marek's.

I wish that it were true, that my birds will be fine in a month...but, I know better

 

[leadwolf1]

As far as I know, St John's Wort is not the same. Put a call into GNC..find a store that is a franchise owned and not a store owned...tell them that you want Hypericum 30...it is 1.92 per unit. They will take your information and ship it directly to your house. It takes a few days so do yourself a favor and order more than one. The last time, I ordered 10...

It is by far the easiest and cheapest way to get this...everyone else wants an arm and a leg!!! Make sure that they order the cheaper stuff..it's the same just cheaper.

 

[BetsyB0101]

Thank you! I did that and that said it is $1.99. I have to go by there and pay for it then they will order it and have it shipped to me. That was great advice! I really appreciate it! The health food store wanted $30 per bottle.

 

[leadwolf1]

I know, it's crazy!!! That's why I wanted to let you know what/where to ask for!! You are very welcome. Keep in mind, this does not work as fast as some would lead you to believe. I've been using it since November and my pullet is making slow progress...

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

One thing for sure: Marek's makes us all stressed

 

[seminolewind]

Yea. The ones here who are giving good solid advice have been thru the worst. And are trying to help others with what they know. Backyard chickens are not a priority with hatcheries, so they're not going to have the best information. I will always vaccinate now. I don't ever want to go thru what I did last summer-again.

If the youngest chick was 10 weeks old to get sick, that would lean more towards them having Marek's.

 

[leadwolf1]

Amen!

One thing for sure: Marek's makes us all stressed

Welcome again! Getting the word out that we need to vaccinate has become my goal We need to stop this dreadful disease!

Yea. The ones here who are giving good solid advice have been thru the worst. And are trying to help others with what they know. Backyard chickens are not a priority with hatcheries, so they're not going to have the best information. I will always vaccinate now. I don't ever want to go thru what I did last summer-again.

If the youngest chick was 10 weeks old to get sick, that would lean more towards them having Marek's.

 

[Lacy Blues]

There is a cure for Mareks. If that's what she has, get some Hypericum at a health food store, it's made from St. Johns Wort, and they make it into little tiny pills.

DO NOT touch the pill with your hands. First, put some water into a tablespoon. The lid of the pill container turns to dispense a pill when needed. Make sure the pill drops into the water and then let it dissolve. I think this takes about an hour. Then you take an eyedropper and suck up the fluid in your teaspoon. You'll need help with this so have an extra pair of hands available... You need to drip 5-10 drops of this liquid into the crevice on the roof of your bird's mouth, make sure it goes into the crack. A week of this, twice a day, is all she should need.

I haven't had Mareks in my flock for quite some time but I used this on one male that I had that had recurring leg problems and it really did the job for him.

Let us know how it all works out.

Just a tip for those who want to know... regarding Mareks.

Turkeys get a form of Mareks that chickens can catch. The turkey form is much milder than the chicken form. If you have turkeys available to run with your chickens, you'll probably never have the fatal chicken Mareks. A chicken catches it and it is so mild that you can't even tell they got it but it makes them immune to the chicken form. If you're not comfortable with running turkeys with your chickens (some people are) you can probably get turkey droppings from someone else who has them. Just spread it around in your chicken yard. I know the bio-security people are probably pulling their hair out right now but it works and as long as the turkeys you get this from are healthy, there shouldn't be any issues. I did it and my birds were all fine and guess what else... I haven't had Mareks in my flock for 5 years. I've been raising my birds for 6 years and the first year I lost over half of my babies to Mareks so I'm convinced.