Mareks is wiping me out, I think..???

[cocosandy]

I hadnt heard white turkey....I cant see the difference really. I had heard that any turkey carries the antibodies to turkey mareks which is what the mareks vaccine is made of...I have 2 turkeys and I hope it works for my babies....I think its really for the babies. I dont think you can vaccinate them with a turkey or otherwise after they are babies.
I am hatching 2 turkeys if all goes well, as my pair is laying,,,just 2 eggs so far...but I suggest turkeys as great watchdogs and very nice pets.
You can see pics of mine on my page here: www.meetup.com/chickens1 and go into photos...
They do poop alot and if you live in an area where blackhead is common you may want to reconsider....but really, before the hard cold set in, these two lived on top of the little barn and guarded all night.
the boy is around 40 lbs and the girls is around half his size...very sweet tho the boy can be agressive; its all puff tho because if you stomp at him he takes off in the other direction. He just sometimes would like to ram me, and has! at a quick clip he could knock me down!
I actually got them from a regular poster on these boards who is my friend and a couple of towns away from me....her town made her get rid of them so I went and got them.
I LOVE them! Highly recommended if you have enough room...in the cold they do want to go inside...and he is now trying to mate with my 2 female runner ducks...making for a real turducken!...they seem to think he is their husband because they offer themselves to him in the same way his hen does....its really funny to see him trying to step up on them and falling off!

anyway check out turkeys, any color...but white ones unless they are midget breed are sometimes the meat ones and they dont live long because they are bred to have a huge breast and start to list forward.

 

[FisherMOM]

give them some electrolites in their water. My chick was hobbling around and had a hard time walking.
After some electrolytes, the next day she got stronger.. and continued to improve. It was mind boggling. She is in the coop now with the rest.

hey, it's worth a try!

 

[ultasol]

I recently vaccinated ALL of my chickens for mareks when I had the opportunity to do so. They are all doing fantastic, and I have had no issues whatsoever. Most of those vaccinated were adult birds, and I had access to plenty of free vaccine so I decided to do everyone.

There were no problems whatsoever. NONE.

Just do all your birds in one fell swoop, use 1/4 a wafer, use 1/4 the solution, and save the rest in case you should have any new additions/chicks. The vaccination was easy to give (I pinched up some extra skin behind the neck and put the needle right under the skin, slight pull back on plunger to make sure I wasn't in a vein, and then depressed the plunger).

Really, it's not that scary. While I don't agree with over medicating birds, this is going to protect my flock and I know that there have been cases of Mareks in my area.

One other thing, I had a lady who has been raising poultry her whole life tell me she 'vaccinates' for mareks in her day olds by getting some used turkey litter and placing it in their bedding.

 

[NYREDS]

The Turkey doesn't need to be white, any Turkey will do. As I understand it they carry a nonlethal strain of Marek's & they shed antibodies that innoculate the chickens they are housed with. You could always borrow some Turkey poop if you don't have or want Turkeys.
Also, it's not that some breeds of chickens get Marek's & some don't. Some birds within any breed will be susceptible while others are not. If you breed only from resistant birds that resistance is inherited. For example, I have Dominiques that do not get Marek's so despite what a previous poster said not all Dominiques are susceptible to Marek's

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
It probably works because Marek's is spread with the dander, and exposing chicken to the dander is probably like getting a shot.

Warmblood, huh? Tell me more. Dressage?

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Sorry you are going thru it. I have plenty of crows around here that like the silkie pen (roo was a silkie). And I think he had a naturally lower immune system than the rest because in the spring he was the only one that got cocci. And he was 2 years old which is unusual but not impossible for Marek's. So it could be either one, I guess
You can use the horse vaccine on your chickens at 1/10 the dose, but I can't find an EEE/WEE vaccine that does not have tetanus and Rhino in it, and I'm wondering if that is okay. Maybe an e-mail to "Doc" Brown.