Marek's & My Flock

[tacosta1009]

Hi, all.

I just needed to share my situation with people who will understand. I've been keeping chickens for 1.5 years, not long. The learning curve at times has been steep, and so has the joy!

As we speak, I believe I may have made the mistake of introducing a rooster with Marek's to my flock. I did everything I knew to do, except not bring in a new chicken to my established flock. I quarantined him for 60 days, ran fecals on him, and even took him to the vet before I began to integrate him. Then one week later one of my hens started stumbling around and walking like she was drunk. I isolated her and called the local extension office, who, of course, are suspecting Marek's. Today I noticed another one of my hens has a wing that's slightly drooping, and she had a hard time getting up the stairs into the coop tonight.

Tomorrow a member of the local poultry lab is coming to pick up the originally symptomatic bird. Unfortunately, she will be put down and tested for Marek's.

I'm devastated. I love my flock and have worked so hard to see them thrive, enjoy their little lives, and stay healthy. I am beating myself up for bringing in a rooster that wasn't 100% to begin with (he was swarming with mites and had coccidiosis). I just can't imagine watching one bird at a time go down.

Just needed to share...

So heartbroken.

 

[Pentatonchix]

Oh no Wishing you and your flock all the luck and love in the world!

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry that you are dealing with possible Mareks. The more I have learned about so many chicken diseases, Imwould never again bring in another bird from another flock, even a friend’s. I hope that it turns out not to be Mareks disease. One thing I might add, is that most times a chicken would not show signs of Mareks until a minimum of 3 or more weeks of exposure to the virus carried in the feather dander. But it might be hard to contain that even while in quarantine with how dust and dander can be in the environment.

 

[Sonya9]

Don't panic. There are several different strains of Mareks that range from mild to severe. Course once it gets introduced to a flock one has to assume everyone has it but with milder strains birds can live perfectly normal and healthy lives.

My flock got infected by it 6 years ago and I have not had a bird get sick from it for 4.5 years after I made some flock management changes. It is a herpes virus and like most herpes viruses it can stay dormant for a lifetime, but can also be triggered by stress. Adolescent chicks going through flock integration stress are the most vulnerable as are adults that suffer from another injury or illness and get stressed out.

Initially I lost some adolescent birds to it. Now only introduce chicks using a broody (so they are raised with the flock from the start and do not undergo any integration stress). I also got a script for a human antiherpes med from my vet (Valtrex, it is cheap and generic) and if any of my birds gets sick or injured I dose them with a small amount as a preventative. Once symptoms appear it is very hard to reverse them so prevention is key.

I live in Georgia and the state vet in our area says most all of the flocks around here have it and most people never realize it. For future reference avoid buying birds that have been vaccinated as the Mareks vaccine can create asymptomatic carriers which can introduce very hot/deadly strains to new flocks. The vaccine doesn't give them the virus, but allows them to catch the virus and spread it to other birds.

 

[tacosta1009]

So sorry that you are dealing with possible Mareks. The more I have learned about so many chicken diseases, Imwould never again bring in another bird from another flock, even a friend’s. I hope that it turns out not to be Mareks disease. One thing I might add, is that most times a chicken would not show signs of Mareks until a minimum of 3 or more weeks of exposure to the virus carried in the feather dander. But it might be hard to contain that even while in quarantine with how dust and dander can be in the environment.

You mean it may not have been the rooster? Or that maybe even while quarantined some dander affected the flock?

 

[tacosta1009]

So sorry that you are dealing with possible Mareks. The more I have learned about so many chicken diseases, Imwould never again bring in another bird from another flock, even a friend’s. I hope that it turns out not to be Mareks disease. One thing I might add, is that most times a chicken would not show signs of Mareks until a minimum of 3 or more weeks of exposure to the virus carried in the feather dander. But it might be hard to contain that even while in quarantine with how dust and dander can be in the environment.

Dont I wish hindsight wasn’t always sooo costly!

 

[tacosta1009]

Don't panic. There are several different strains of Mareks that range from mild to severe. Course once it gets introduced to a flock one has to assume everyone has it but with milder strains birds can live perfectly normal and healthy lives.

My flock got infected by it 6 years ago and I have not had a bird get sick from it for 4.5 years after I made some flock management changes. It is a herpes virus and like most herpes viruses it can stay dormant for a lifetime, but can also be triggered by stress. Adolescent chicks going through flock integration stress are the most vulnerable as are adults that suffer from another injury or illness and get stressed out.

Initially I lost some adolescent birds to it. Now only introduce chicks using a broody (so they are raised with the flock from the start and do not undergo any integration stress). I also got a script for a human antiherpes med from my vet (Valtrex, it is cheap and generic) and if any of my birds gets sick or injured I dose them with a small amount as a preventative. Once symptoms appear it is very hard to reverse them so prevention is key.

I live in Georgia and the state vet in our area says most all of the flocks around here have it and most people never realize it. For future reference avoid buying birds that have been vaccinated as the Mareks vaccine can create asymptomatic carriers which can introduce very hot/deadly strains to new flocks. The vaccine doesn't give them the virus, but allows them to catch the virus and spread it to other birds.

I live in Georgia too, and I got the same feedback— lots of Marek’s. I love the idea of the immune booster!

Do I just give up on the symptomatic birds? Is there anything I should be doing?

 

[tacosta1009]

Oh no Wishing you and your flock all the luck and love in the world!

Thank you.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks exposure has to be for at least 3 weeks. Baby chicks never have symptoms until at least 3 weeks of age, but most do not show symptoms until later. I would wait until your necropsy results and testing come back to decide what to do. Hopefully, it is not Mareks. What is your location? Mareks is said to be everywhere in the world. We don’t see it in our area, but it is very prevalent in certain parts of the country.

 

[tacosta1009]

Mareks exposure has to be for at least 3 weeks. Baby chicks never have symptoms until at least 3 weeks of age, but most do not show symptoms until later. I would wait until your necropsy results and testing come back to decide what to do. Hopefully, it is not Mareks. What is your location? Mareks is said to be everywhere in the world. We don’t see it in our area, but it is very prevalent in certain parts of the country.

I live in North Georgia: Lumpkin County.