Mareks...what now?

[sebright guy]

I now some birds are more likely to get mareck's. I have heard that Sebrights and silkies are much worse and can get it quite a bit. I believe they can get it as chick and you wont see it till later on in life. but once they are older then 6 or so months then they have probably passed the stage that they will get it. Now, I have never had an adult chicken get mareks. Any other sickness we may have we normally catch right away and remove from the flock.

To prevent spreading to my other birds I keep my sebrights seperate. I raise them in there own small brooder made out of a plastic tub and clean it out often and give them fresh water.
This seems to work a little bit i havnt been raising sebrights for long. If you look up how suseptible your bird(breed) is to marecks then you can try to work with that breed.

I am still struggling with my sebright marecks. but if i see Marecks I cull it Right away to prevent it from spreading. I am still hoping for some turkeys i may be able to get rid of my Marecks problem a little more.

I am happy to sell my sebrights as long as they are fully mature and show not sign of Marecks. If there is Marecks I would never sell.

 

[cocosandy]

OK, but if you give the vaccine to your entire flock (including turkeys and ducks?) do you risk giving them the active part of the disease?
I am culling any animals that are sick so that they are not in discomfort, but understand that once you have a sick bird, your entire flock has it...and chances are your flock has it dormant anyway.
From what Ive seen of hatcheries I cant imagine that there is such biosecurity between where the vaccinated and unvaccinated chicks are that there isnt some cross contamination.
The more I research this, the more it seems that they all have it...its just a matter of who develops the tumors and sickness.
the babies will be immune to it....and I do notice that the birds Ive lost are all from one particular hatch and all of delicate breeds that are pretty hybrid (sizzles, frizzles, showgirls)

This is a big learning experience ...and though its hard for chicken keepers to come to terms with, its not particularly a stigma, and I dont believe that you can erradicate it by culling the birds. Chances are the new birds would come with it anyway...maybe a different strain....and I havent done enough research on the strains to know about them and how different they are.


I do want to know for sure about the vaccine because if I can vaccinate all of my birds at once and prevent the tumors, Ill do it....I just dont want to cause tumors...
also do I do turkeys and ducks or are they totally separate from this disease?

 

[sebright guy]

The one thing I didnt message is that I personally do not buy from hatcheries. since I raise them for show and I try to build a true breed.
However we did buy our Rohde Island reds from a hatchery. They were very poor quality. the red was not the right red color. the toes were crooked. They were smaller then the RIR you see in pictures.
Marecks was not a Problem in our RIR.
BUT if you did get your birds from a hatchery mabye they were weaker. I always find Hatcheries to Breed as many birds as possible and they dont look at how good they all are.
I buy my bird from personal breeders that also breed for show and quality. I believe it is the safest way to go. but that is only what I think personally. I do it and have little Marecks.
Im not sure were you get your birds and im also no vetrinarian. I just hope I can give you some helpfull tips.

And im not sure if u ment by the vaccine that you would do it. would you do it to the flock right now?
Mareks vaccine in my area comes freeze dried and is good for a few hours. You need to vaccinate them as chicks at 1 day old.

 

[cocosandy]

well, some people seem to be saying that vaccinating adult birds is not a problem and may actually stop tumors from forming if they get mareks. This is not what the vaccine says on it, and not what Ive heard previously, but some people seem to think its OK for adult birds. If that was true then why do you have to isolate newly vaccinated babies from the adults?
Im concerned about trying, and Im assuming that my other birds are already immune and have had it already.
I buy very few birds from hatcheries, but I have, and my initial flock came from mypetchicken.com
I have also bought adult birds on eggbid and eggs there and on ebay. I also hatch my own quite a bit because I love to breed showgirls and frizzles.
as I said, its those delicat birds that have gotten the active mareks, and actually, my original birds are very hardy and pretty old now. I had one turken from mypetchicken that got fatty liver disease, and Ive lost a few in different ways, but it wasnt neurological...except one who actually had the flip over thing and recovered!...she later got bumblefoot and a horrible infection followed and she passed away....she made it very long tho and had a great quality of life. After recovering from the flip over disease she would walk backwards and in circles sometimes.

If Im running my flock with turkeys and I have some immune birds, it seems to me that I wouldnt have to vaccinate day old birds...right?
Unless I can vaccinate the entire flock Im unlikely to vaccinate...also, the only day old babies I have are ones that hatch from broodys or some eggs in the incubator.
Ive read that you can break the wafer part of the vaccine up and take some fluid with a needle and mix it in batches...but it seems like its easy to make a mistake with it.
I also think that I have it in my flock already, so it would be a matter of stopping tumors and there is no official proof that it does stop tumors.

what do you think?

 

[AHappychick]

you can do 2 things, those that live will breed stronger more resistant chicks. It seems that the big problem is the SG/Silkies so I would consider isolating any and all chicks for the first 10 days and vaccinating them, after the 10 day isolation period is up they can be mixed with the rest. A room in your home would work well for those 10 days. Now if you don't plan on bringing new chicks in then I would say just breed the strong survivors and don't stress it, but if you are gona bring in chicks from new lines then vaccinate since it really stinks loosing birds at 4-6 months of age after all that time is put into them. I vaccinate now knowing I have a pretty deadly strain of Mareks in my area. Havent lost one in a long time though, almost a year now.

Good Luck, Mareks is tough to deal with.

 

[AHappychick]

Quote:
dont bother vaccinating the older birds as they have been exposed already and if they are not infected with it then they are resistent already. There is no point in vacinating any chicks hatched from broodies for the same reason, exposure. But any chicks bought or hatched in bator can be vaccinated and isolated for 10 days with good results.

I would not break up the wafer as it is too easy to mess up. I buy 4-6 vaccines at a time so I dont pay shipping for each one and try to time my hatches accordingly. I also sometimes will isolate a few day olds and have them wait a few days while another batch hatches and then vaccinate them all at once. Seems to be working so far. But as far as any birds you have now there is little you can do except wait it out hopefully all that are going to be infected have been already and you wont have any more losses. As for the one getting around you could make a splint or sling and help it heal a bit faster as it sounds like this one will recover.

 

[chickenzoo]

I had talked with Fort Dodge, the makers of the vaccine before. The reason they say chicks is because you want to get them before they are exposed to Mareks. And since Mareks is in the environment, the sooner the better. Most aged birds have experience it at sometime, but not always. I have had older birds come down with it, mostly Silkies. Fort Dodge said although vaccinating older birds may do them no good(since some already have been exposed) it would not hurt them. You do not have to vaccinate older birds, but if it was a breed that you have problems with, it wouldn't hurt to try it.
Anytime you have Questions about a med or vaccine try to call the company, they are very helpful most times.

 

[cocosandy]

Happychick the good news for your flock is that raising turkeys with them seems to vaccinate them...Im raising my young birds here with two of your turkeys...but not the white ones;-)...I dont know why they would suggest white ones. I adore Tommy and Lil even if Tommy does try to ram me from time to time!
anyway, Im thinking that the turkeys and the carriers will give them immunity.
seem to me that this is something that is everywhere...if you have a bad strain around there, Im sure I have it up here too...as, we are not too far from eachother.
what of the ducks....can ducks get mareks?
the 2 hen ducks are offering themselves to the tom turkey....he tries to step on the and balances but he is too far away to do much.
my son wants to make a turduck and then cross breed with a chicken to make a turducken.....we could make a zillion dollars!!

I may get some vaccine but the way you are supposed to keep them separate is like, change clothes and shoes if going near them. I cant imagine that the dust wont get out there....and if the adults are immune then why quarantine the babies...if some people are suggesting vaccinating the adults, why would we have to keep the babies separate?
with so much misinformation out there, no wonder this thing is everywhere!

Hope all is well down in your town...Ive been busy as hell....hatched one button quail the other day and its so tiny....I probably have to get more eggs. These were tiny blue things from ebay and the incubator was off for a long time during a power outtage. I thought they were goners but a few are alive.
The ones I got from you didnt hatch. who knows why...?
Ive got 2 turkey eggs in the incubator and one under a broody hen. We'll see what I get, if anything.

Chickenoo, the problem with what the vets and hatcheries say is that they skip the part where every bird has or will be infected...it doesnt develop in every bird but its impossible to keep a perfectly clean flock. Also your birds can be carriers and never have symptoms,
many people dont get necropsies and so there are many many flocks that never know why they lost a bird or two. Its impossible to have a completely clean flock even with all vaccinated chicks. 5% of vaccines dont work do maybe those chicks lost weight and died...? who knows....the vaccine only prevents the tumors that cause the neuro problems.
The truth is that its everywhere, and we are living with it all the time.
Seems best to be realistic and take the stigma off of it so we can work towards a way that our birds can survive it and pass immunity on the all others in the area.
Turkeys! thats my advice...maybe Ill look into a couple of midget whites...
and again...what of ducks?

 

[seminolewind]

Cocosandy, I would not cull the flock. Chickenzoo is right, it's everywhere. Usually I think that the chickens with weak immune systems may get it. Others may not. Sorry you lost 2. I have read elsewhere that you can vaccinate all your chickens. Hopefully you won't lose any more

 

[Eagle2026]

VIRAL DISEASES
Viral diseases are the most common cause of losses, not only in large commercial flocks, but also in
backyard chickens. They mostly do not respond to drug therapy and treatment relies on supportive
measures. Prevention and control relies on vaccination where this is effective or by limiting exposure to
infected birds. If secondary bacterial infection is also present antibiotics may reduce the severity of an
outbreak.
(a) *Marek's Disease (MD)
This usually affects birds two to five months old and causes lymphoid tumours. Symptoms vary according to
the position of the tumours. Usually the nerves are affected and spastic paralysis occurs either in the legs,
wings or neck. The virus of MD can remain infective for many months in litter or dry feathers. MD is
prevented very effectively by vaccination of day-old chickens and only vaccinated chickens should be
purchased.