Marek's is taking over my flock and I'm not sure what to do

[pugspigchicks]

Out of curiosity, the ones that are vaccinated are they vaccinated properly and then kept in quarantine? A&M told me 5 days of quarantine per field studies, but another guideline I read showed efficacy increased each week and finally achieved 95%+ at week 3. If the chicks aren’t in complete quarantine then they can be exposed before immunity is strong. I’m also trying to learn as much as possible.

 

[Landis]

I’m dealing with the same thing. I confirmed Marek’s in October through a Texas A&M necropsy. To date I have lost 8 chickens. 3 SL Wyandotte’s, 1 cream legbar, 4 Easter eggers. 5 of the 8 were vaxed. I still have 2 unvaxed barred rocks a year old that are well and the other 7 are all vaxed. I only have had to cull 2 that were holding on too long and suffering. The rest died on their own within a few days. Part of me feels like I should let this flock of 9 die out on its own without adding any new chicks, wait a few years or move and start over. The other part of me wants to try and breed for resistance but I don’t know how much more of this I can take. It’s extremely frustrating. I’m sorry you’re dealing with it too. I swear we need a support group for Marek’s flock owners

Yes, I wish there was someone we could actually call instead of typing. I feel there are so many questions. I’ve only had Chickens for less than a year and have had a death of some sort or sickness which I medicated and they’ve survived, every month or so. After my last hen passed after trying to keep her going for almost 3 weeks, my pullet girl died suddenly within 24 hours after I realized she was off. That one I took to get a necropsy to figure out what was going on. So I’m guessing this disease is on my property now and has gone through my flock. I have had another pullet after being paralyzed sick for almost 2 weeks, my husband had to put down and I have another pullet that is just starting leg weakness and being off balance. I know they say to separate them, but if it’s already through my flock how important is it to separate? I don’t have a lot of space my (4 left of 6) four month olds and my 3 adults have crossed paths free ranging so I’m guessing everyone is exposed? When they start to get paralyzed and they still want to eat and drink I keep thinking I should wait till they’re bad to take care of the issue if you know what I mean. How quickly do I need to remove them or at this point what the most confused about is if it’s already on the property does it really matter just separate them or just let them live as long as they can with their flock. My three original hens who have lived through lash egg which I treated with antibiotics, coccidiosis treated with Corid, they still seem to be troopers. Thought it would be fun to get eggs off our property! Not so fun at this point.

 

[Bawkbok]

I'm right there with you Landis. I'm very new to this chicken thing - we lost our first three EEs to Mareks (unvaccinated) and now just today another pullet died unexpectedly - she was only here two months but she was vaccinated. I'm hopeful our remaining pullet will stay healthy, but she's the only one now - lonely for sure. I'm reluctant to bring in more birds. A vet that euthanized one of our hens told me many diseases are air borne and can travel many miles on the wind so if there are other chickens within a mile, we're hosed.

We've treated bumble foot, egg binding, vent gleet, sour crop, impacted crop, coccidiosis (which lives on your property for two years per the vet), respiratory illness and of course Marek's. So emotionally exhausting and financially disappointing at this point. We used to joke about eating our $5,000 eggs waiting for the start up cost ratio to work itself out. This chicken thing was supposed to be a fun adventure with yummy eggs. I think we've eaten maybe a dozen fresh eggs since February.

I wasn't prepared for all the heartache and didn't realize I had to be my own vet. I'm so grateful I stumbled upon this site. Honestly, had I seen all this information prior to getting chickens, I don't think I would have. But since I decided to jump in head first and learn on the fly, here we are.

I can't really answer your questions with any authority. Do what you think is right. If it were me, I would leave them interacting together because as you said, at this point, everyone is exposed.

Hugs of empathy.

 

[Landis]

I'm right there with you Landis. I'm very new to this chicken thing - we lost our first three EEs to Mareks (unvaccinated) and now just today another pullet died unexpectedly - she was only here two months but she was vaccinated. I'm hopeful our remaining pullet will stay healthy, but she's the only one now - lonely for sure. I'm reluctant to bring in more birds. A vet that euthanized one of our hens told me many diseases are air borne and can travel many miles on the wind so if there are other chickens within a mile, we're hosed.

We've treated bumble foot, egg binding, vent gleet, sour crop, impacted crop, coccidiosis (which lives on your property for two years per the vet), respiratory illness and of course Marek's. So emotionally exhausting and financially disappointing at this point. We used to joke about eating our $5,000 eggs waiting for the start up cost ratio to work itself out. This chicken thing was supposed to be a fun adventure with yummy eggs. I think we've eaten maybe a dozen fresh eggs since February.

I wasn't prepared for all the heartache and didn't realize I had to be my own vet. I'm so grateful I stumbled upon this site. Honestly, had I seen all this information prior to getting chickens, I don't think I would have. But since I decided to jump in head first and learn on the fly, here we are.

I can't really answer your questions with any authority. Do what you think is right. If it were me, I would leave them interacting together because as you said, at this point, everyone is exposed.

Hugs of empathy.

I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. I am so envious of friends of mine that have chickens and have had no problems whatsoever. We to give them the best life and then we have to deal with this horrific situation for months on end. And yes, eggs are quite expensive these days!

 

[Bawkbok]

Frustrating isn't it? I have a sister in law who treats chickens like commodities. When she learned I took one to the vet she chastised and belittled me and said "it's just a chicken". She throws food at hers and maybe gives them fresh water once a day if they're lucky. Doesn't clean the coop. If one gets sick, it goes to the freezer, she doesn't attempt to heal. Has an abundance of fresh eggs. I don't get it. My husband said maybe I'm over doing and over thinking things and hovering too much. I don't know any other way. I clean the coop daily, pick up poop several times a day, fresh food daily, clean water multiple times a day in this heat, I dote over them. Maybe he's right. Here's hoping for better days (and eggs). We pay $6 / dozen for factory eggs. The more I learn the less I know.