Marek's: The death of my chicken dreams?

[Poultrybonkers]

You are lucky to have access to good hatcheries.

I stopped buying peoples chickens when someone sold me old hens as spring pullets and mg infected birds that I culled the same day,people don't sell young heathy birds they are mostly old and sick is why they toss them out for newbs to buy them because they don't know any better and now this year everyone bought chickens never seen every hatchery sold out until this year and those birds are just a faze to most of them

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is a bummer. I really feel for you. When something like that happens you feel so deflated. A helpless feeling even though it is not your fault.

I'm sure you have read a lot on Marek's. Trust those articles from veterinarians and extension sites more than you do from a stranger over the internet like me.

I've never had Marek's in my flock. My father kept free-ranging chickens on a farm for over 60 years and never had Marek's. The disease is easily spread but it is not inevitable. Has anyone let that seller know they are spreading Marek's? I'd hope so. I don't know if somebody in county government the would be interested. If you are sure or even pretty sure You might call the county extension office and chat with them about your suspicions. They should know if anyone in government is interested.

Some general Marek's information. There are different strains of Marek's, different strains affect different body parts. Some are more deadly than others. Most of the time Marek's does not wipe out the entire flock, usually less than half show symptoms. But once it is in your flock every chicken in that flock is a carrier. Before I wiped out my entire flock and started over I'd talk to an expert about how well that works. Your county extension office should be able to help you with that at no cost to you. I don't think getting rid of it is that easy.

Flocks can develop a resistance to Marek's. That's different from immunity. If you carefully only breed birds that are not affected you will see a decline in how many come down with it. You will have to put down any that show symptoms, that can be rough. I don't think you will ever get a flock where none ever show symptoms but that number can be reduced, often dramatically after a few generations.

Obviously the part of rehoming chickens cannot happen but most of the other parts of your dream can still work. Marek's is not transmitted by hatching eggs. If you hatch chicks in an incubator and keep them isolated from your flock for weeks you can vaccinate them. They will still be carriers after they meet the rest of your flock but won't develop symptoms. If you let a broody hen hatch eggs the chicks will be infected as soon as they hatch so no use to vaccinate them. Some will make it but some probably won't. That's how you would develop flock resistance, exposing unvaccinated chicks to the disease.

There are different ways you can carry forward and salvage most of your plans but yes, life got harder for you.

 

[Chickstarrs]

I'm no Chicken expert, I'm new to back yard chickens. I can understand the sadness you feel. I'm 75 and retired 5 years ago. I had an experience some years ago, I raised and sold Brangus heifers, and in one pasture a few got sick and started dieing the vet could not figure out what was wrong. but it was obvious that it looked like all were going to get it. We had 40 heifers in the pasture I made the decision to put them all down. to make a long story short if I were you I would put them all down and start with new chicks from a good hatchery. I bought my chicks from Ideal poultry. They ship the day they hatch and I got them the next day. Please do not take this the wrong way. What happened was not your fault. All your Chicks were exposed.

Sorry to hear about your cows. That was a lot of animals to put down and must have been hard.
According to my research, culling my birds and starting over will likely not make a difference. Apparently the Marek's virus can stay in the soil for several years. So even if I got rid of my current birds and sterilized my coop and cleaned out my run (which would mean removing the soil), the virus would still be on the property and possibly infect any new birds. If I knew that I could definitely be rid of the virus by doing all that, then I would do that. But my birds free-range, so it is everywhere they have been.

 

[lilmillefleur]

Losing chickens absolutely sucks. I've lost at least 3 birds to Marek's alone. Such a horrible illness, I'm just glad we humans can't catch it. Wishing the best for your flock

 

[Henwig]

I'm so sorry to hear about this. The same thing happened to me the first year I got chickens--I went to a local guy selling interesting breeds from his house. I lost 2 to mareks that first summer and was similarly worried about all of my future chickens. The same summer I also had 5 hens that I got as chicks unvaccinated from Agway, and two of them are still with me 4 years later (the rest were taken by a fox). I do have access to hatcheries (I use cackle hatchery) which has allowed me to purchase vaccinated chicks in a variety of breeds which now make up the majority of my flock. I have also taken in unvaccinated chicks from people who needed to re-home, and none of them have become sick with Mareks. So there is definitely hope for your flock, but it is true that it can live in the soil for years which would limit your ability to sell your chicks without vaccinating.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I stopped buying peoples chickens when someone sold me old hens as spring pullets and mg infected birds that I culled the same day,people don't sell young heathy birds they are mostly old and sick is why they toss them out for newbs to buy them because they don't know any better and now this year everyone bought chickens never seen every hatchery sold out until this year and those birds are just a faze to most of them

I beg to differ, not everyone sells old tired out birds. A lot of people around my area sell young pullets, or at least try to, because of minimum requirements for hatcheries to ship.

 

[Crzy Chi Lady]

this is why I will not buy peoples chickens I only order from hatcheries never has a problem with hatcheries

Lately I have been having some trouble with Mareks. I have a chicken right now that has it. She is my favorite. When I let her out she runs to me, like me to hold her and cuddle. I don’t usually see them as pets. This one changed my mind. She has a bent beak and needs some extra help to eat. She was laying. I’m tired of loosing birds. Of the set I bought I lost all of them except one. 2 for Mareks and one because she got snacked by a dog.
I am looking for a hatchery that is vaccinating for Mareks. I was wondering if anyone knows if Tractor Supply is doing it?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Lately I have been having some trouble with Mareks. I have a chicken right now that has it. She is my favorite. When I let her out she runs to me, like me to hold her and cuddle. I don’t usually see them as pets. This one changed my mind. She has a bent beak and needs some extra help to eat. She was laying. I’m tired of loosing birds. Of the set I bought I lost all of them except one. 2 for Mareks and one because she got snacked by a dog.
I am looking for a hatchery that is vaccinating for Mareks. I was wondering if anyone knows if Tractor Supply is doing it?

Tractor supply doesn't. Too expensive for them