Marek's

[donlene]

We recently introduced 3 new 11 week old chicks to our flock- one of them was separated the day after they were introduced because we noticed it's tail was down and it looked sick. It has been a week and it seems as if the pullet has Marek's- both her legs are paralyzed and her wings seems to be affected as well. All the chicks we have have been vaccinated but it seems as the vaccination did not work for this chick. We are making sure she has access to food and water at all times. Does anyone have experience with this? How long until she either survives or passes? If she survives what's risks do we face in reintroducing her since the others may have been exposed anyway and they are all vaccinated. It is killing me seeing this poor paralyzed bird :-(

 

[Elite Silkies]

I don't think the Marek's Vaccine prevents them from getting the disease it helps control the symptoms of the disease.

But, you should never introduce any new birds to your current flock. They should be quarantined for about a month before they are put in with existing birds. You risk infecting all of your birds.

You can give her some Poly Vi-sol (NO IRON). Scramble or boil her some eggs that will give her protein.

You may want to do a search on treating Marek's disease.

 

[donlene]

There is no treatment for Marek's so far from everything we have read they either pull through and become immune but will still be able to spread the virus or they pass away. You are correct being vaccinated (if the vaccine works since it only is about 80% affective) will help them from having to deal with the symptoms. Being that all the birds were vaccinated are already have been exposed to the sick chick (for 2 days) I don't think there will be a problem if we reintroduce the chick if it survives?
Our main question is how long does it typically take for the sick bird to either overcome the symptoms or pass away? Will it ever be able to recover from the paralysis- what are the after affects if it survives?

 

[BCbirder]

I have had to deal with Marek's unfortunaley and it can take about three weeks for them to die. In my experience they get steadily worse and can't eat. I only had one die naturallly and she was actually looking like she was getting better. The others my husband killed because they were so pathetic that they were starving to death. I know that people told me that there is a chance that will get better but I didn't see it.
I hatched chicks and the hen I got from another farm must of had it. I didn't know what it was at first so when I segregated the sick chick I had another chick stay with it for company as she got quite stressed being alone. The campanion chick never got it. It was not vacinated, i don't vacinate my chicks and it did'nt get it.
I read that the only way that I could hatch chicks that would survive was to have a rooster that had survived it, carried the resistance to it and then the chicks will not get it. I have not had any trouble for over 5 years now. The first year I lost at least 15 chicks in one summer. It was awful.
I think the other person was right, the others have already been exposed. They only seem to be suscepible to Mareks when they are 10 weeks or so. After that age they don't seem to get it.
Sorry to hear you are going through it. It is a helpless place to be.

 

[BayCityBabe]

We lost 4 birds to Marek's this spring. They do get weaker & weaker. And, the really weird thing: They have little spurts of acting energetic, even at the end. But they are starving to death. I spent alot of time hand feeding and syringe feeding 3 of the birds, hoping they would recover. If I had to do it over again, I would have put them down sooner. By the time they are laying about, they are NOT going to get better. I do not feel that the extra care I gave these birds was the most humane thing.

On a lighter note, I do have one bird that I believe had it & recovered. I saw that she got weak & had a funny cast to her eyes and I thought "Here we go." She didn't go. She was low energy for a few days and that was it. There were 5 other birds in this group - all unvaccinated and exposed - they did fine.

 

[donlene]

Wow I don't know if I have the heart to cull the chick

I think if it stops eating we may have to. So far it is totally paralyzed but has spurts of energy and will attempt to stand. We may give her a few more days and see if she gets worse

 

[BayCityBabe]

Paralyzed is bad. Bad. Bad.
She will get worse. I would urge you to get your cull plan together.

Sorry, friend.

 

[silkiechick05]

what are the signs/symptoms for mareks?

 

[donlene]

It depends what type but mine has the classic symptoms- paralysis. There are other forms that affect the eyes and internal organs I think.

 

[BCbirder]

I saw two different symptoms. It starts with a swelling in the nerves in either the leg or the neck. If it is in the leg they sart to limp, maybe don't sleep on the roost. At first it seems intermittent and you think it's OK.

If it is the nerve in the neck it seems worse. They tend to drag their head and have more difficulty eating. They look drunk, if it's the leg they walk like they are stumbling. that steadlily progresses. I always hand fed them and they always seemed so grateful and became amazingly friendly, but they all died.
It is a horrible disease