Mareks

[chanceosunshine]

I believe so. Only some of my original birds were vaccinated. I bought my first from tsc and a few days later ordered more from meyers which were vaccinated. I’ve lost a couple from each group to things I’m sure was other than Marek’s, but I’ve also lost some from each group that I know were due to Marek’s. It’s hard for me to say 100% if the vaccination in my case has helped or not because majority of my deaths have been in my Belgium breeds which are very susceptible. I’ve heard silkies and cochins are very susceptible too but I have both that are unvaccinated and are doing well. The only vaccinated I have are my lf Brahmas.

I’ll also tag @microchick dhe gave me a lot of good advice and encouragement during my diagnosis. She wrote and article about her experience as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-i-learned-to-deal-with-mareks-disease.76944/

Thank you for sharing your opinion and the article.

 

[ShannaES]

I also have a Marek's flock and the survivors are a Welsummer, an English orpington, a Maran, a Black Australorp, an EE, a Blue Wyandotte and a Barnevelder ( all vaxxed). I lost some that I believe were not vaccinated; a Speckled Sussex (patient zero), a CCL, another Black Australorp, a Welbar and most recently my beloved Dark Brahma(unsure why).

 

[Chikn-Wisperer]

We've been struck hard by Marek's disease. It was mostly the chickens from TSC. All of our 1st chickens have died from the TSC group. We have another one who has Marek's (from 3rd group, also from TSC) and may soon pass from a tumor caused by Marek's. We lost of couple other chickens not from TSC, one was from Marek's. The vaccine isn't 100% perfect, but it's pretty darn good.

Our vet mentioned that when chicks are innoculated against Marek's, they are often sold too soon because they haven't built up immunity sufficiently for Marek's. They need time for the vaccine to build up immunity before being exposed to Marek's disease in the wild.

He recommended getting pullets from a company like this one where they are vaccinated properly:

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

He says, they are more likely to survive. Our hybrid chickens from TSC didn't do well at all (they did really bad), but our non-hybrids are doing well from a different company in Napa.

All of our chickens are very sweet. We love them a lot!

Hope this helps.

 

[Eggcessive]

We've been struck hard by Marek's disease. It was mostly the chickens from TSC. All of our 1st chickens have died from the TSC group. We have another one who has Marek's (from 3rd group, also from TSC) and may soon pass from a tumor caused by Marek's. We lost of couple other chickens not from TSC, one was from Marek's. The vaccine isn't 100% perfect, but it's pretty darn good.

Our vet mentioned that when chicks are innoculated against Marek's, they are often sold too soon because they haven't built up immunity sufficiently for Marek's. They need time for the vaccine to build up immunity before being exposed to Marek's disease in the wild.

He recommended getting pullets from a company like this one where they are vaccinated properly:

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

He says, they are more likely to survive. Our hybrid chickens from TSC didn't do well at all (they did really bad), but our non-hybrids are doing well from a different company in Napa.

All of our chickens are very sweet. We love them a lot!

Hope this helps.

Chicks get exposed to Mareks in your environment. It is everywhere in the works, but it may or may not be close to you in your environment. Getting chicks from McMurray or anywhere else are no more protected than TSC or other feed store. Once day old chicks are vaccinated at a hatchery, they still need 2 weeks to develop immunity. The vaccine is not 100% effective always. Some breeds and birds seem to be more able to fight off the disease.

 

[Chikn-Wisperer]

Chicks get exposed to Mareks in your environment. It is everywhere in the works, but it may or may not be close to you in your environment. Getting chicks from McMurray or anywhere else are no more protected than TSC or other feed store. Once day old chicks are vaccinated at a hatchery, they still need 2 weeks to develop immunity. The vaccine is not 100% effective always. Some breeds and birds seem to be more able to fight off the disease.

Hi Eggcessive, I was told specifically on how to avoid Marek's disease from chickens by getting properly vaccinated pullets. This includes keeping the baby chicks away from older chickens who may carry Marek's and letting the baby chickens grow into pullets in order to build up their immunity. I was specifically told this by our avian expert veterinarian. I will take his word about this, and offer his advice to whoever will listen.

 

[Rickey Lynn]

So I’ve had a handful of sick chickens since about July. They’ve either been culled or died. I’ve had some odd symptoms that I’ve come on here and asked about and I had a few lose the use of their legs. My last to die was my only Roo, Riggs . I took him to the vet and after examining him, listening to what’s been happening with my chickens, he guessed that I have Mareks. He said I could have a necropsy done in Pullman Wa after he died and they could examine him, but he said that he’s pretty certain that it’s mareks. Someone told me about colloidal silver and it didn’t work. If you had to guess, what are the odds I’ll lose the majority of my flock? I doubt any of my present chickens are vaxxed, as I’ve lost chickens from each place I purchased chickens from. TSC, North 40 and a local feed store. I’m buying vaxxed chicks this year from Cackle. There is no way for me to sterilize and fully clean my wooden coop, and eventually the chickens will all be around each other, are the vaxxed chickens fairly resilient to Mareks? I’ve seen some discussions where it’s gotten opinionated and downright mean discussing vaccinated chickens, but I feel it’s the safest choice for my chickens. Looking for information
Thanks!

I hate to say it but when we had Marek's we lost our entire flock. We left the coop empty for about 6 months and then completely scrubbed it with a Bacteroide twice. That was 2 years ago and we have had no problems since. All our chickens since have been vaccinated.

 

[Chikn-Wisperer]

Hi Eggcessive, I was told specifically on how to avoid Marek's disease from chickens by getting properly vaccinated pullets. This includes keeping the baby chicks away from older chickens who may carry Marek's and letting the baby chickens grow into pullets in order to build up their immunity. I was specifically told this by our avian expert veterinarian. I will take his word about this, and offer his advice to whoever will listen.

FYI: It looks like McMurray's no longer offers pullets. They say to look at the marketplace on their web site for places that do.

 

[Slicker chicker]

Thanks for the tag, @Bkaye.

@Slicker chicker I'm so sorry. Marek's sux. The end.

But hope is not lost, that is the good news. Your history sounds pretty much a carbon copy of every post anyone has ever made about their experience with the disease. Their birds die, a lot of birds and they aren't knowing what to do or where to turn. And just when you think the worst is over, BAM! A bird ups and dies under mysterious conditions.

At one point in time I too lost approximately 2/3rds of my flock to Marek's when the disease was at it's height as far as losses were concerned.

The good news is that it does get better. @Debbie292d posted a link to my article (BTW, Thank you Debbie, your kind words are much appreciated) and I do invite you to read it.

Concerning my opinion of vaccinating. It's the only safe way for me to bring birds into my flock. I recently read an article on one of the hatchery sites that said if you don't have Marek's on your property not to vaccinate and they gave the impression that if you did it would introduce the disease to your coop as the vaccinated birds can and do spread the virus through their dander even though they are vaccinated.. Hmmmmm. Food for thought but, how do you know if you have the disease if you have never had chickens before? I didn't know but it sure as heck was there and I began losing birds when they were 14 months old to it. Had I known before hand I sure would have vaccinated. But you see my point. Better to vaccinate than not because you never know what is in your area, Marek's wise.

Every bird I've added to my flock is vaccinated. Every future bird I bring in will be vaccinated. After going over 5 years without a death that I could point a finger at and say, Marek's disease, I lost a young cockerel last month under suspicious circumstances. Healthy a month earlier, then suddenly found him knocking on death's door, emaciated, lethargic, feathers fluffed. I tried worming him but no response. When he hadn't moved out of a nesting box for 24 hours, I put him down. No outwards signs of disease, no tumor growth, just failure to thrive and dead.

It hit me hard. The killer in the shadows is still around. My big question at this time is why did this happen? Why this bird? He was from vaccinated stock crossed with resistant Amish barnyard crosses. 4th generation. I had hatched him myself last spring, hand raised him. I have read where the hen passes on immunity to the chick. If the hen is resistant, so will the chicks be. If the hen is vaccinated, the chick will be resistant through the hen once again. My question now is how many generations does this immunity last before it becomes diluted? Genetics are not my strong suit. I'm more of an observer. But this has me curious and I am now watching my 4th generation carefully especially since I lost a few hens this past summer and fall to what I suspect is non Marek's related sudden cardiac death....or is it Marek's related once again? Cardiac involvement is well documented with MD. Has my flocks' resistance reached its limit? Time will tell.

One thing I will stress is don't give up. This year I am adding some White Leghorn pullets to my flock. They will be vaccinated. I'm hoping to cross them with my Egyptian Fayoumi roosters next year and see if they will pick up any genetic immunity from them. My bantam breeding is on hold until I can add some fresh birds to the gene pool, since the birds I lost this past year under suspicious circumstances were bantams and bantam barnyard crosses. Since my barnyard crosses have proven resistance I suspect my weakness is coming from my vaccinated breeding stock which is now 6 years of age and younger. So is the loss of resistance coming from the vaccinated bantams?

Even if so, 5 years is a good long run without any suspicious deaths. So yeah, vaccinated birds rock, IMHO. Vaccinating isn't perfect. You can lose vaccinated birds to the disease but it sure levels the playing field in your favor so you can at least keep and enjoy a backyard flock.

How hardy are the Egyptian fayoumi to cold?( I’m just assuming because of the Egyptian part) I live in north Idaho and we can get cold here. I do have an insulated coop and heat lamps when it’s really cold. But it’s still cold enough to freeze the water in the coop so I have one of them water heater things. I’d be interested because I no longer have a rooster. Thank you!

 

[coach723]

I have Fayoumi's but I'm in Florida, so heat is more a concern for me than cold. Mine do tolerate the hot, humid summers better than many of my other breeds. I found this thread (old thread), someone knew someone that had them in Maine and said they were fine:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/egyptian-fayoumi-will-they-tolerate-cold-winter.230146/
I'm sure that housing and shelter are going to need to be appropriate. Most, if not all, articles say they are not cold hardy. They are smaller bodied, longer legs and necks, and they don't have the under body fluff that more cold hardy birds do. When we get cold it's only as low as the low 20's when it happens, and it's usually for a short period, so I have no reference for how they'd do with day after day of sub freezing temps. So, it probably depends a lot on how they are kept and housed.
**EDIT - I got mine from Meyer Hatchery. You have to plan ahead, they sell out pretty quick, and you have to order early. Right now they show no females available til mid April, and they are few until July/August. The availability changes quickly, if you wait too long, then they are sold out. I ordered months ahead. Males are easier to get, if that's what you want. I ordered 16 (14-F, 2-M) and lost 2 in shipping and one a week later, leaving 13 and only one male (lost the other in shipping).

 

[Slicker chicker]

I hate to say it but when we had Marek's we lost our entire flock. We left the coop empty for about 6 months and then completely scrubbed it with a Bacteroide twice. That was 2 years ago and we have had no problems since. All our chickens since have been vaccinated.

That’s encouraging. Curious tho, how does one go about sanitizing a wood coop? What about the pen with all the dirt and stuff? My chickens are all over my property.