I am so sorry anyone has to go through Marek's in their flock
Many know that I too have been fighting this horrible disease in my flock since last June when I suffered the loss of my first bird. Since then I have lost something like 15-16 birds, the youngest 7 weeks, the oldest 25 months. My birds were bought from an NPIP breeder, unvaccinated, they were bred for resistance, but obviously, the strain of Marek's they were bred to resist was different than the one that is in our area. I practice good bio security. The only birds that were added to my flock their first summer came from their original breeder and were isolated. Marek's is everywhere. Please don't blame yourself or feel guilty because this has happened to your flock. Wild birds carry it, flies carry it. We have a wild fox that is dragging kills (poultry/guinea)through our property in order to dine lakeside. None of the birds are ours but even that exposure is all that it takes for you to wake up one morning to either find one of your chickens either mysteriously dead or paralysed.
I agree with Rebrascora and others who have said, don't panic. I agree that you need to get a definite diagnosis in hand. While your hen does look like she has contracted the disease, you will know for sure with a pathology report in your hand.I did not go the necropsy route. I have two hens and a rooster with grey eye. Until they developed the ocular form of Marek's, I was loosing birds regularly to either sudden death or having to put them down due to strange neuro symptoms, seizures, spinning in circles, panics, complete paralysis, etc. I am also blessed to have a wonderful husband who is a retired eye doctor. I asked him if he could look at my bird's with grey eye and tell me if it was ocular Mareks, and he was glad to. He has a portable slit lamp that he used at night and after looking at two birds his diagnosis was a shake of his head and one word. Herpes. Diagnosis confirmed.
I have lost my youngest birds to either sudden decline and death or classic Marek's paralysis. My older birds are appearing to be resistant to the first flare of the disease only to succumb later to wasting, seizures, respiratory distress or sudden death cardiac symptoms. My oldest hens are 29 months. 2 have grey eye. Several are underweight in spite of having food in front of them 24/7 along with healthy veggies and a regimented worming schedule. The disease has devastated my rooster population, and I love my roosters dearly...I have to. God gives me so many of them. But they quickly succumb to breeding stress once they reach sexual maturity. I have a lot of roosters. I imagine this time next year I will have less, but the ones that survive are going to be super birds, literally and in the mean time I know I will be loosing and burying more of my flock.
In the mean time, I'm trying to keep them healthy as possible. I know how you are feeling right now. I was literally sick when I added up all the numbers and came up with a sum that equaled Marek's disease. But if nothing else, please keep telling yourself that not all of your birds are going to die. Those birds are worth their weight in gold. They are resistant. Carriers, yes, but resistant and those are the birds that will help you continue your flock.
Also, close your flock. Many bring in only vaccinated birds. I brought two in myself recently when I had a singe orphaned chick that survived a hen attack when it was hatched. That little chick died last week at the age of 7 weeks. Fine when I locked them up the night before, the next morning I found her almost unconscious and dead within 3 hours. No symptoms. Faith and Hope, the two vaccinated little OEGB chicks are fat and sassy, so maybe there is some merit to brining in only vaccinated birds, but I can't be 100% sure of which strain of Marek's they were vaccinated against. By all appearance, I have all strains of the disease on our property. Isn't that just peachy?
But you will want to breed future birds from your survivors. That is what I am shooting for. And, like
@rebrascora I have hens that just love to churn out chicks for me.
Don't give up. You are not alone. My best advice is to love your little hen every day that she is still with you and when the time comes, remember that the best gift of love you can give her is to let her go with grace and dignity. Don't be afraid to ask questions. We want to help.
) is this: can a flock vaccinated for Mareks, so showing all signs of health, be carriers of the disease? For example, a breeder I work with vaccinated all his birds. Is it possible that they can still be carriers and he would never know? (I'm definitely not looking to blame anyone if my bird comes back positive - I know it can be transported on the wind just as easily!)
