Mareks: Long-term prognosis

[ChicKat]

My affected rooster is gitting stronger by the day. Voice is now normal. He is able to stand with all weight on either foot. He now runs to me when I enter the quarantine room. He still trembles perceptibly. He is capable of limited flight but wings do not fold back up properly, at least not at first.

Key points to consider is that if he were kept free range, he would not have survived; and from the interest of economics he would have been dispatched since the feeding and containment are prohibitively expensive, especially when considering that for long-term containment a second cockyard will have to be established some distance from first and outside area of free-ranging flocks.

On whole I have invested in him like we do consistently in humans and sometimes other more valued pets and livestock.

That is really fabulous news. I hope that he makes a complete recovery.

Today marks the end of the 12th week (Mareks' incubation period 4-12 weeks according to I think Merk vet manual) since I saw symptoms of Marek's, and NONE of my others are showing any symptoms. My conclusion is that these are resistant. I did try to feed my survivors well over the weeks, and I did feed pomegranets, some cranberries etc. in hopes that they could get an immunity boost.

Resistant chickens how ever it is achieved is the way to go.

Hope your success continues!

 

[centrarchid]

Speach still on upswing. He is getting more coordinated. When you see how tame he is and his trustworthiness with kids it is easy to see why extra effort was invested in him.

 

[seminolewind]

He's beautiful, I'm glad he's recovering.

 

[cgmccary]

All the talk about a bird being a carrier really has no bearing because the Marek's virus is long-lived (lives for many decades on a premises so if ever there, it will remain there whether you kill all the "carriers" or not), is on dander and dust and Marek's is world-wide-- i.e. it is everywhere & carried by wild birds. I call Marek's the "polio of the chicken world." Also, Marek's cannot be killed by sanitization methods (impossible because of its nature of being on dust & dander in the air -- can even be on your clothes, etc.)

Every year, I have a bird or two that succumbs, and I wait until they can no longer walk, stand or move around and then I end it mercifully. Invariably, it always seemed to be the cockerel I had picked as tops and to keep (the best one). I confirmed Marek's by lab testing (although I suspected because of symptoms and the randomness of affliction). Every year, I toy with the idea of vaccinating all my chicks (and swear I will when one goes down). I suspect that sudden deaths that sometimes occur are probably Marek's too -- just the tumors in a different part of the body than the nervous system.

This past Spring (2011), I had classic Marek's strike a cockerel and pullet about the same time, the pullet was hit at point of lay and the cockerel at 6 months old. Both went down the usual way, paralysis of legs, wings. On the day I was going to put down the pullet because she could no longer make it to food or water, low and behold, I look out there and she is standing up. I decided to let her live another day. Slowly, day by day, she steadily improved until now you wouldn't know she ever had Marek's. Same with the cockerel. I have them both and you would never know they went all the way down to their bellies, pretty much totally paralyzed. The cockerel is a beauty and tops 9.5 lbs. Both are 10 months old. The pullet is now laying also. This was the first time I EVER had one to survive (and kind of amazing that both did). I hope this is the begginning of me not seeing any more Marek's. I have been breeding all from older hens to hopefully reach some resistance in the flock.

Glad your bird is recovering. Mine steadily improved to where they walked with limps and now, they are normal.

 

[Lobzi]

Does anyone know if squirrel can be effected by Mareks? I found a squirrel in the yard the other day...appearing to be disoriented and having trouble with its back legs. I got him out the yard as the chickens were having a fit over his presence. He was acting very unusual, coming toward rather than running from me, not in a vicious fashion, but weird and disoriented fashion. They usually run from me. He was scurrying around but not in any particular direction. I think it was a ground squirrel who had been coming into the yard via tunnels from the park behind my house.
Does anyone have any information on this?

 

[seminolewind]

I think Marek's is breed specific, that's why we can use Turkey Marek's to vaccinate chickens. I seem to have been going the same route, losing a bird now and then. Then I had 10 chicks at 8 weeks all get paralysis and deteriorate.

I'm kind of at a loss about some recovering. A few of mine wasted away, but it took months interspersed with periods of eating and acting normal. I think I may have 3 right now that "could" have that . I've never really thought about some recovering. I'm so glad your two seem to have recovered.

From all I've read and researched, if one gets Marek's, it is by far most likely that it got it from another chicken. A bird or the wind as a carrier, well that I can see if there's Marek's within about a 300 foot radius or so, maybe more depending how big the bird's territory is. And I've always thought that a chicken or chickens have to be exposed to a certain amount to get it, and at a certain concentration.

There are other members here that have correct information as well. I'm sure they can have more to say.

 

[leadwolf1]

Squirrels cannot get Marek's as it does not cross from birds to mammals. I would be worried about rabies though and dispatch it as quickly as possible. You could then call the game warden and they could test for possible rabies. Rabies does not have to be vicious...there is a 'dumb' rabies where animals exhibit the symptoms you are describing.

Does anyone know if squirrel can be effected by Mareks? I found a squirrel in the yard the other day...appearing to be disoriented and having trouble with its back legs. I got him out the yard as the chickens were having a fit over his presence. He was acting very unusual, coming toward rather than running from me, not in a vicious fashion, but weird and disoriented fashion. They usually run from me. He was scurrying around but not in any particular direction. I think it was a ground squirrel who had been coming into the yard via tunnels from the park behind my house.
Does anyone have any information on this?

 

[leadwolf1]

I really think Marek's can be spread much further than that by wind...it can carry feathers and dander far and wide. I worry about any neighbors with chickens downwind of me There is not much I can do about it though.

I've been told that it doesn't take much to infect a bird...especially when stressed by something. I just wish that there was something more that I could do to stop the progression. I'm tired of losing birds

....

I think Marek's is breed specific, that's why we can use Turkey Marek's to vaccinate chickens. I seem to have been going the same route, losing a bird now and then. Then I had 10 chicks at 8 weeks all get paralysis and deteriorate.

I'm kind of at a loss about some recovering. A few of mine wasted away, but it took months interspersed with periods of eating and acting normal. I think I may have 3 right now that "could" have that . I've never really thought about some recovering. I'm so glad your two seem to have recovered.

From all I've read and researched, if one gets Marek's, it is by far most likely that it got it from another chicken. A bird or the wind as a carrier, well that I can see if there's Marek's within about a 300 foot radius or so, maybe more depending how big the bird's territory is. And I've always thought that a chicken or chickens have to be exposed to a certain amount to get it, and at a certain concentration.

There are other members here that have correct information as well. I'm sure they can have more to say.

 

[seminolewind]

Leadwolf1, I just wonder if a wild bird can pick up and carry enough of a concentration of virus to infect a chicken.

There's just so little written on scientific experiment with on Marek's. I think we find more reading about people's experiences here.

 

[centrarchid]

Leadwolf1, I just wonder if a wild bird can pick up and carry enough of a concentration of virus to infect a chicken.

There's just so little written on scientific experiment with on Marek's. I think we find more reading about people's experiences here.

The research I have seen is more directed to larger poultry producers that can and do limit interactions between their flocks and wildlife. As such, the abiotic (non-living) production environment and birds themselves are concerns for how Marek's is spread.

As indicated earlier in thread I find migratory songbirds that are dying from something. Most of those birds are young-of-year and coming into contact with my chickens and sometimes the chickens consume those little birds. That would be a very concentrated exposure.