Mareks disease what now?

[CluckNorris93]

So I've had chickens for about a year, I've lost 3 to what i believe to be mareks disease. My favorite Roo is loosing eyesight and his wing seems to be drooping. My question is to all the other chicken lovers who have dealt with this is what now? Soon I will have 1 rooster and 6 hens, I've been wanting to add more hens for my second rooster but he wont last long. Will highly vaccinated chicks be ok to get? Should i give up on having chickens? Kind of seems like my chicken keeper days are numbered and I'm pretty disappointed.

 

[wleigh1021]

Try to research mareks in general but plenty of people's experiences here in the forums. If you get vaccinated birds they need to be older before you can bring them to your property in order for the vaccine to work (at least 3 weeks of no exposure). Otherwise, your best bet is to breed for immunity by breeding your survivors. Most believe that marek's is everywhere and flocks that don't have deaths are those with built up immunity to the strain on their property. I think I read that someone here bred for immunity and had fewer deaths every year with no deaths in their 4th. Best of luck no matter what you decide!

 

[Halfpasthen]

Someone will come along with better advice as I have zero experience. However, I've read multiple threads regarding mareks and I see a lot of keepers here are able to successfully keep healthy flocks after outbreaks. If you do a search I'm sure you'll find lots of threads regarding the matter. There are also several breeds that are resistant. The birds that survive your outbreak would also be resistant. So keep them.
Good luck and so sorry for your losses.

 

[duluthralphie]

I went through the Maraks mess. You can try vaccinating all your birds. It may or may not work.

The instructions say to use on day old chicks, but it will work on older birds too...

Next but, if they have Maraks already it may not work..

Maraks is a herpes virus. The vaccine is a herpes virus from Turkeys. It cannot give them Maraks but takes 10 days for the immunity to build up.

Make sure all your chicks are vaccinated that you bring in from now on.

There is no cure. Some may never show symptoms. Some will die. People will tell you to use this or that vitamin. Or get them turkey dander.. they are all old wives tales.

I have an article I will look up for you to skim.

 

[hunthaven]

I lost half of my flock (7 birds total lost) to Marek's beginning in November of last year. Each week, another bird would show symptoms. I took the first one to the vet, and she thought it was some weird thing. When I took the second bird in, she said it was probably Marek's, since it was spreading. The third bird, I euthanized myself and sent the body to my state lab for confirmation. The state vet not only found Marek's, but also mycoplasma, which put me under quarantine for six weeks. (IT was not a bad experience, because I never visit other flocks, anyway.)

ALL of my birds had been vaccinated by the hatchery. I started last May with four birds, and the first to go were those I added to my flock later, then I lost one of the original four.

I did a ton of research on Marek's, I spoke to lots of experts, and here's my experienced opinion:
the vaccine they get at the hatchery or one day old is only a starting point. The vaccine needs a booster, which you can easily give yourself, at 7-10 days after the first vaccination. And it doesn't have to be given on day 1 IF your babies are not exposed to the outdoors. Once you have Marek's in your flock, the ground is contaminated for over a year. The vaccine will not stop other birds from being infected with the virus, but it should prevent the growth of tumors, which is what kills them.

I had been using the deep litter method, and stopped that altogether. Marek's is transmitted through dander, so the other birds breathe it in. All my birds were together at night, in the coop, breathing the same litter, the same dust, the same dander . . . you get the picture.

Now, once a week, I scrape out all the litter, I spray all the surfaces with Odoban (it will kill the Marek's virus), and then put in new litter.

I have kept a careful eye on my remaining birds--so far, so good. I know they've been exposed, but the state vet says that odds are, if they survive for a year, they've survived.

Any new birds you add to your flock need to be mature--at least 5-6 months old, so their resistance is built up. AND make sure they've been vaccinated (before exposure) twice.

I built a separate coop for my younger birds, and I now have two "growing out" coops for birds who aren't old enough to go into my "main coops". I couldn't afford to take my birds to the vet each time they got sick, so I learned how to humanely euthanize them with dry ice (there's a great post on how to do it here on BYC). I learned to spot the symptoms quickly, and after 24 hours, if they didn't improve, I put them down immediately, as not to infect the others. Broke my heart seven times.

Marek's is an awful disease. The symptoms I noticed were all related to neurological things--a bird walking like she's drunk, a bird acting like she's afraid to step forward, a bird falling off the ramp, etc. They will still eat and drink, but they have a hard time getting to the food and water.

I buy the vaccine and split the wafer into four parts, and inoculate every bird that comes into my possession--at hatch, and then again at 7-10 days later. (Directions for this here on BYC).

I read that Marek's often rears its head in the fall--don't know why, but that's when it happened to me. It also tends to reveal itself right before the point of lay--ditto for all my birds. I think that's because it's stressful for their bodies, and Marek's is opportunistic. Marek's also suppresses the immune system, so your hen may evidence vent gleet or some secondary infection.

Not a picnic. But survivable. Just get through it, become a sanitation freak, and practice good biosecurity. (Did I mention I have a trunk with booties at the entrance to each of my walk-in-runs?). If I'm going to be holding a bird in the Marek's coop, I also wear a full-body apron.

I'm sorry you're experiencing this, but once you get through it, you'll be okay. Hugs!

 

[duluthralphie]

Sorry it was not an article, but a lengthy post.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ricum-for-mareks.1285380/page-4#post-20786778

 

[duluthralphie]

I lost half of my flock (7 birds total lost) to Marek's beginning in November of last year. Each week, another bird would show symptoms. I took the first one to the vet, and she thought it was some weird thing. When I took the second bird in, she said it was probably Marek's, since it was spreading. The third bird, I euthanized myself and sent the body to my state lab for confirmation. The state vet not only found Marek's, but also mycoplasma, which put me under quarantine for six weeks. (IT was not a bad experience, because I never visit other flocks, anyway.)

ALL of my birds had been vaccinated by the hatchery. I started last May with four birds, and the first to go were those I added to my flock later, then I lost one of the original four.

I did a ton of research on Marek's, I spoke to lots of experts, and here's my experienced opinion:
the vaccine they get at the hatchery or one day old is only a starting point. The vaccine needs a booster, which you can easily give yourself, at 7-10 days after the first vaccination. And it doesn't have to be given on day 1 IF your babies are not exposed to the outdoors. Once you have Marek's in your flock, the ground is contaminated for over a year. The vaccine will not stop other birds from being infected with the virus, but it should prevent the growth of tumors, which is what kills them.

I had been using the deep litter method, and stopped that altogether. Marek's is transmitted through dander, so the other birds breathe it in. All my birds were together at night, in the coop, breathing the same litter, the same dust, the same dander . . . you get the picture.

Now, once a week, I scrape out all the litter, I spray all the surfaces with Odoban (it will kill the Marek's virus), and then put in new litter.

I have kept a careful eye on my remaining birds--so far, so good. I know they've been exposed, but the state vet says that odds are, if they survive for a year, they've survived.

Any new birds you add to your flock need to be mature--at least 5-6 months old, so their resistance is built up. AND make sure they've been vaccinated (before exposure) twice.

I built a separate coop for my younger birds, and I now have two "growing out" coops for birds who aren't old enough to go into my "main coops". I couldn't afford to take my birds to the vet each time they got sick, so I learned how to humanely euthanize them with dry ice (there's a great post on how to do it here on BYC). I learned to spot the symptoms quickly, and after 24 hours, if they didn't improve, I put them down immediately, as not to infect the others. Broke my heart seven times.

Marek's is an awful disease. The symptoms I noticed were all related to neurological things--a bird walking like she's drunk, a bird acting like she's afraid to step forward, a bird falling off the ramp, etc. They will still eat and drink, but they have a hard time getting to the food and water.

I buy the vaccine and split the wafer into four parts, and inoculate every bird that comes into my possession--at hatch, and then again at 7-10 days later. (Directions for this here on BYC).

I read that Marek's often rears its head in the fall--don't know why, but that's when it happened to me. It also tends to reveal itself right before the point of lay--ditto for all my birds. I think that's because it's stressful for their bodies, and Marek's is opportunistic. Marek's also suppresses the immune system, so your hen may evidence vent gleet or some secondary infection.

Not a picnic. But survivable. Just get through it, become a sanitation freak, and practice good biosecurity. (Did I mention I have a trunk with booties at the entrance to each of my walk-in-runs?). If I'm going to be holding a bird in the Marek's coop, I also wear a full-body apron.

I'm sorry you're experiencing this, but once you get through it, you'll be okay. Hugs!

Our experiences are somewhat the same..

I have not done second vaccinations and have not had a problem. I bring in new chicks all the time. I just keep them isolated for 10 days for the vaccine to work.

Whatever a person finds to work, do it. Maraks is everywhere, just because a flock shows no symptoms does not mean it is not there..

Good luck

 

[CluckNorris93]

Thank you guys so much for the advice and support. I REALLY appreciate it (google was turning me crazy). My sick Roo has lost his eyesight today and is sleeping on my back porch in the warmth tonight for maybe his last night. I didn't realize chicken keeping would be so hard when I started. Although it has definitely been rewarding.

It was hard with some of the hens passing but this big giant Rooster being so helpless and only wanting to be with me is really hard. I think we will put him down tomorrow with the dry ice method. Not sure if I'm ready but I know he probably is, I just keep telling myself at least he spent his days free ranging.

I did have some questions about breeding for immunity. What happens if i hatch 10 eggs and they are all roosters? Are they safe to sell?

 

[hunthaven]

From what I understand, Merrick‘s disease is not transmissible through the egg. You should be safe selling eggs for hatching eggs.

 

[hunthaven]

Thank you guys so much for the advice and support. I REALLY appreciate it (google was turning me crazy). My sick Roo has lost his eyesight today and is sleeping on my back porch in the warmth tonight for maybe his last night. I didn't realize chicken keeping would be so hard when I started. Although it has definitely been rewarding.

It was hard with some of the hens passing but this big giant Rooster being so helpless and only wanting to be with me is really hard. I think we will put him down tomorrow with the dry ice method. Not sure if I'm ready but I know he probably is, I just keep telling myself at least he spent his days free ranging.

I did have some questions about breeding for immunity. What happens if i hatch 10 eggs and they are all roosters? Are they safe to sell?

The tricky part will be when you are raising those roosters to the point where you know if they are roosters or pullets. You will have to keep them away from the area where your marek’s birds have their coop or they could be exposed to the virus. (of course they could be exposed anywhere, but the odds are higher in your coop—and mine.)