Most disease resistant breeds

[Folly's place]

Marek's disease virus lasts a long time in the environment, as in maybe years. Mycoplasma, on the other hand, may last under three weeks, after all birds are gone. A very big difference!
It's why killing all chickens in a Marek's infected flock is so often not done. Having healthy poultry may mean changing to ducks, geese, or turkeys, rather than chickens in the case of Marek's disease.
mary

 

[Pollito Pelon]

'Breeding for resistance' means having chickens dying of this disease, where buying vaccinated chicks is a more humane choice, IMO.
It's just a sad situation for the OP, and I'm sorry for them.
Mary

You can buy chickens from someone that has disease resistant backyard chickens.
Once they are resistant no need to buy vaccines.
I've had birds with pox go blind and those that it was just a black spot in their comb and nothing else

 

[Banana01]

Can you clarify that you had the viral blood test for mareks and it came back positive? Or did a necropsy report say it looks like mareks.

A blood test for mareks is $20. I hope you would pull blood and test every bird you plan to cull. A necropsy report is not a mareks test.

You may even consider doing isolation groups and blood testing. Through selective culling it could be eliminated.

 

[The WinterWolf]

We clearly have Marek's in our flock and probably something else (did not practice biosecurity when building flock). Out of 27 birds we have lost 9 to disease in the last year. It has been hard on the kids. They seem to go about one every month or so and all are slightly different. We want to replenish our flock in the spring so are planning to get chicks from a hatchery that uses the 3 type vaccine for best results.

The big question is what bread(s) should we get. Biggest factor is disease resistance if such a thing exists between breeds. Second factor is that we live in Phoenix and need breeds that can tolerate heat.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Our 2020 x-mas card front and back
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*GASP* you have a mary poopins tooooooooooooo?

 

[McChooky]

Here is a thread (started on BYC in January)on Marek's disease, flocks and management. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mdv-marek’s-disease-discussion.1442338/

 

[MysteryChicken]

Egyptian Fayoumis are supposed to be a Disease resistant breed.

 

[Tervuren]

You can buy chickens from someone that has disease resistant backyard chickens.
Once they are resistant no need to buy vaccines.
I've had birds with pox go blind and those that it was just a black spot in their comb and nothing else

Make sure to buy from someone locally if you’re going this route. There are a lot of strains of Mareks. Buying from someone who breeds for resistance the next state over doesn’t guarantee you’ll have chickens that are resistant to your local strain. If you’re buying from a hatchery it’s safest for those birds to be vaccinated. They can still get Mareks, but highly highly unlikely they’d develop tumors. But once they get it they’re carriers, but you won’t know because they were never symptomatic. Tough decision for sure.

 

[myluckychucks]

Hi there: Having chickens is a great hobby...'til one gets sick. As everyone says the proper thing to do is cull all birds, and try to properly disinfect everything, BUT WAIT. Mereks disease is pretty worldwide in its spread and can occur in wild birds ( which are then carriers) as I understand. For years I kept a closed coop ( meaning no new birds) but eventually when you hatch your own chicks you need new genetic diversity. Got some nice birds from a breeder and got mereks also. Eventually all those came down with it and died. A few of my birds died of it in the following years but like you I would not cull all my birds. I hatched chicks the following year and one got the classic symptoms @ 11weeks and I culled her. But that was only one. That was three years ago and and no one else has died and 2 years of hatched chicks have all done well. As with any disease those susceptible will die, some will be resistant. Just be sure you NEVER give a bird to anyone else to spread mereks to them as your birds will always be carriers. Good luck!

 

[McChooky]

Hi there: Having chickens is a great hobby...'til one gets sick. As everyone says the proper thing to do is cull all birds, and try to properly disinfect everything, BUT WAIT. Mereks disease is pretty worldwide in its spread and can occur in wild birds ( which are then carriers) as I understand. For years I kept a closed coop ( meaning no new birds) but eventually when you hatch your own chicks you need new genetic diversity. Got some nice birds from a breeder and got mereks also. Eventually all those came down with it and died. A few of my birds died of it in the following years but like you I would not cull all my birds. I hatched chicks the following year and one got the classic symptoms @ 11weeks and I culled her. But that was only one. That was three years ago and and no one else has died and 2 years of hatched chicks have all done well. As with any disease those susceptible will die, some will be resistant. Just be sure you NEVER give a bird to anyone else to spread mereks to them as your birds will always be carriers. Good luck!

I can't say what I'd do if I was in someone elses shoes but I know I wouldn't cull a bird of mine that wasn't sick. I have 6 chickens that were vaccinated as chicks and haven't decided where I'll buy my next chicks. I wouldn't buy a chick that wasn't vaccinated or introduce a healthy bird to my flock if I had a flock Marek's.

 

[myluckychucks]

Lots of people buy from backyard breeders. There are not always hatcheries that sell the breed you want, not near where I live anyway. I love hatching my own so I only need a new rooster every 10 years or so since I now have a few roosters with very different lineage. Some of my birds are mixed breed but appear purebred, and some are purebred. I'm keeping them as pets so I don't breed to the standard of perfection, only happy healthy birds.