Moving Forward- Breeding for Resistance to Marek's Disease

[seminolewind]

Found this misinformation online in an official-looking site re: Marek's vaccine. Unless I'm terribly misinformed, this is completely false.

If this were true, NO one would want to vaccinate their birds, ever.




Quote:

http://www.poultryhub.org/physiology/body-systems/immune-system/

A day old chick is hopefully not exposed before he gets the vaccine. A vaccinated chick will now build resistance against getting the nasty Marek's symptoms. A vaccine does not give the chick Marek's. If the vaccinated chick grows up and is exposed to a bird with Marek's, the chick is now exposed and a carrier and may infect other chickens.

There are studies about if a vaccinated chick grows up and gets exposed, they may shed less virus than an unvaccinated bird, but it's research.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
I do that too. Any time I have one with an illness or death I Virkon everything including the ground (can't hurt) .

 

[speckledhen]

A day old chick is hopefully not exposed before he gets the vaccine. A vaccinated chick will now build resistance against getting the nasty Marek's symptoms. A vaccine does not give the chick Marek's. If the vaccinated chick grows up and is exposed to a bird with Marek's, the chick is now exposed and a carrier and may infect other chickens.

There are studies about if a vaccinated chick grows up and gets exposed, they may shed less virus than an unvaccinated bird, but it's research.

The wording on that article seemed to be saying the bird vaccinated at hatch, which is when you'd assume they meant, but it's a little vague, isn't it?

I do that too. Any time I have one with an illness or death I Virkon everything including the ground (can't hurt) .

I ordered Virkon S tablets yesterday. I've always used Oxine and it's great, but I'm going to Virkon everywhere I can think of, including the "sickie cages", aka Zane's cage and the broody cage in the old bantam pen storage area.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
I like Virkon. It covers a lot more and even wood.

I guess what I meant was a vaccinated chick can't get and shed the virus from the vaccine. A vaccinated chick can be exposed to another chicken with the virus, and become a carrier and shed virus.

 

[speckledhen]

I like Virkon. It covers a lot more and even wood. The only thing you cannot do with it is put it in the waterers like you can Oxine, but I found out that you can fog with chickens still inside the coop with Virkon, which I did not know.

I guess what I meant was a vaccinated chick can't get and shed the virus from the vaccine. A vaccinated chick can be exposed to another chicken with the virus, and become a carrier and shed virus. Yep, gotcha.

 

[seminolewind]

I have been reading a lot of posts about wild
birds carrying Marek's . Me-I feel that there is most likely and least likely about how Marek's gets to a flock. I think the most common way for Marek's to get into a flock is by a Marek's exposed chicken.

I feel that the wild bird route is possible but is a least likely .

The important thing is flock history. Prior to the first bird getting symptoms, did you bring home any chicks or chickens in the last 4-12 weeks?

If you have only hatched every single chick or bought day olds straight from a hatchery, and your flock gets Marek's, it's more or most likely that the virus came in on wild birds, shoes, etc.

A wild bird I believe is least likely to infect your flock. Unless your neighbor has chickens, or chickens nearby and the wild bird is a frequent visitor.

How often do flocks get tested for NPIP? Do you need that to show? Maybe they should add Marek's to the testing.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:

Yup!

 

[seminolewind]

I feel like doing nothing is one of the biggest sins. You need a Coggins test yearly to take your horse anywhere. Dogs need their vaccines as well. While breeding for resistance is the best way to go, people should be vaccinating their chickens. If your a hobby owner like me, I just do not want my chickens to die, and they carry Marek's, and I won't give them to anyone. I don't want me being responsible for someone else having to deal with this awful disease.

 

[BantamLover21]

How often do flocks get tested for NPIP? Do you need that to show? Maybe they should add Marek's to the testing.

I am not an NPIP expert, but this is what I understand:

The breeder birds in NPIP flocks get tested once each year in order to remain with the program. The main disease that the NPIP is concerned with is Pullorum disease, though of course, they also test for other diseases like Mycoplasma, Fowl Typhoid, and Avian Influenza.

You have to be NPIP certified, or have equivalent testing (state program or individual bird tests) in order to show, sell birds, and ship across state lines.

Marek's testing would certainly be helpful, since it would allow people to confirm (not just guess) that their flocks have Marek's. Then, they could warn people that their flocks contained the disease, and not risk infecting innocent flocks quite as much. I'm not sure if NPIP officials would think that Marek's is a serious enough disease to bar Marek's birds from the showroom, however. The NPIP is mostly a large-scale program that focuses on the commercial poultry industry--which has no problems with Marek's since every commercial bird is vaccinated.

 

[slfarms]

Hi all. I've read a few posts so far and would like to continue to learn from your posts.

I'll make sure to start from the beginning of the post so that I don't als already answered questions.