Mareks

[aveca]

I am so sorry to see you go throu this. It is heartbreaking.

We lost an entire flock of dominiques many years ago to Mareks. Some breeds are more suseptable than others sadly.

They began acting strangly , everything from limping to looking like one side of them was paralized, to backward walking, to walking into things to just laying on the ground. By the time the vet had arrived it had advanced and fast, only one hen recovered that was in severe state . She was I'll say frozen except her head and neck legs out back of her she had interest in eating and drinking so we halped her. The vet took one look and said Oh no! She did bloodwork but knew by what she was seeing what it was. Boy it was sad. had to destroy entire flock of doms It didnt affect other breeds for some reason, I'll explain below. and we had to clorox everything even thou it was already freshly bedded. I took classes after that offered at Cornell on vaccinating mianly cattle, horses but also Chickens. Some vets will let you drive right to them and they will vaccinate or come to you if you give them a heads up and appointment. I now do my own.

Some breeds have a B factor in thier blood, mainly asian breeds that for reasons I do not altogether understand protects them from Mareks. There is an abstract out there on the subject.

 

[aveca]

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Sebrights, dominiques and several others are very suseptible to Mareks, Wish somone would do a peice on breeds that are not as suseptible, Some. of them are sumatras and jungle fowl. Due to a B factor in blood that doesnt support Mareks disease.

to answer one question, the answer is Yes adult birds ca be vaccinated.
Adult Chickens are usually vaccinated in breast muscle.


We did not eat any birds that had been exposed, Mareks Does NOT transmit into eggs.

Newcastles disease DOES transmit into eggs.

If you read several different opinions on this you might not want to eat exposed , affected birds. One abstract talks about chicken cancer also known as Mareks and tumors from slaughter houses ect... Just not too appealing. It isnt too hard to find on net. If you like raising and eating your own, might want to consider breeds that are non suseptible, If someone could compile a list of those breeds, I have read are asian ancestry and B factor in blood.

eating chickens exposed mareks

 

[tls_ranch]

Does anyone know what other breeds have B factor in their blood? It would be helpful to those who want to breed for resistance to know what breeds are resistant to Mareks.

 

[aveca]

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I am trying to find that out, All I know is they are supposed to be asian in ancestry like sumatra , jungle fowl. I will try and see what I can find, maybe someone who knows already can compile a list for us.

I do know that sebrights and domeniques are very suseptible to this virus. Old time breeders used to raise a white turkey with sebright babies befor vaccinations came along, this was written in the book SEBRIGHTS, By one of the formost breeders of them

 

[19hhbelgian]

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I second this question! That would be excellent information...

 

[aveca]

one abstract said that asian breeds with that blood factor are less suseptible.

Maybe someone in here can pop in with more advise. I think it would be a good thing to raise breeds that are not affected for the future. especially for birds that will be in our food.. For me its a little like franken food who wants to eat a cancer tumor, BLUK! will it affect us? Not sure but I wouldnt take a chance thou we probably do every day we eat it when you read some of these abstracts , one of the abstracts was a warning about animals from slaughterhouses and tumors. BLUK again.

Hopefully someone will do a list for us, till then I will try here is some reading

B Factor in blood of unaffected chickens article
http://poultryone.com/articles/mareksdisease.html

a quote from this article
There are certain 'B factors' contained in the blood of some chickens that make them resistant to Mareks. If you have access to a lab for 'B type' blood testing, 'B factor' birds are desirable for breeding for a 'Mareks-free' flock.

further reading
http://www.poultryscience.org/pba/1952-2003/1967/1967 Cole.pdf

 

[mypicklebird]

I would not eat intentionally anything that died due to unknown causes or is ill on purpose. Marek's is a diagnosis based in microscopic examination of the tissues- unless a real necropsy with histopathology is done- you don't know that it is Marek's. Marek's is a virus that causes tumors (think cancer) in multiple places in the body- including nerves AND organs. I would not recommend anyone eating tumors, though the virus is not supposed to infect people, and though you are probably planning to cook the meat thoroughly- why risk it, and as as previous poster said- it is ICKY.






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[mypicklebird]

I see you are in CA- first thing to do IMO would be to positively identify the problem. Send your next ill pullet here by speedy mail (needs to be deceased)- or just drive it there yourself.
http://cahfs.ucdavis.edu/
This is free, except for the cost of the gas or shipping. Once you have identified the problem as Marek's or not, then you can start a proper plan for vaccination, culling (or not), ect. I am PMing you, as you are nearby to me.





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[TheMatador]

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This is a good point you bring up. As backyard owners, we often assume that the culprit may very well be Marek's based on presentation. Even if it were, beyond the question of a doubt, decided that it was OK to eat a Marek's bird, we don't really know that this is the actual disease present in the bird in question. There are lots of other poultry issues that can present with similar symptoms.

Also, after a little thought, I agree with the ICKY factor. I hate to see a bird go to waste but gross is gross.