my Chicken Just died, she was paralized and could only move one wing and her head.

[mcintyrelr20]

What are the symtoms of marek's disease?

 

[rebrascora]

Quote: You would not know if she had tumours unless you cut her open and examined all her organs. The fact that she didn't start laying despite being 11 months suggests that there was probably something going on with her reproductive system, which may well have been cancer.

Where did you get the birds that died? Was it a hatchery or privately from someone who said they were vaccinated? Hatcheries charge an additional fee for vaccination, so if it wasn't requested and paid for, it will not have been done. Private breeders are unlikely to vaccinate their chicks for Marek's because the vaccine is expensive and comes as a 2 part kit that needs to be mixed and used within 2.5hrs and treats something like 1000 chicks, so it's not really viable for people hatching 20 or 30 at a time. The chicks also need to be kept clear of any chance of exposure to the virus (strict bio security) for the first 3 weeks of life for the vaccine to work, so there are a lot of opportunities for the vaccine to fail or not even be administered.

 

[rebrascora]

There are many and varied symptoms of Marek's. Initial paralysis of a leg or wing is common which can become progressively worst and extend to other limbs and the neck or may suddenly get better on it's own. Some birds die suddenly with no obvious symptoms at all but usually have internal tumours on their organs. Some have ocular Marek's where their eyes go cloudy or the pupil becomes distorted. Sometimes it just weakens the immune system and makes them vulnerable to secondary infections like respiratory disease or coccidiosis and those actually kill the bird but the Marek's made them unable to fight those problems. It's a bit like AIDs for chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

In addition to the great information that Rebascora has given you, here are some rather lengthy articles about Mareks nd diseases that may look like Mareks:
https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://www.thehappychickencoop.com/mareks-disease/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/#/disease/Marek's_Disease

 

[mcintyrelr20]

We got her from my pet chicken, and we made sure that she was vaccinated. They even sent us a video of there birds getting vaccinated and what they vaccinate for.

 

[Eggcessive]

My PetChicken is not a hatchery, but a company that is basically a middleman for hatcheries. Meyer hatchery in Ohio is one of their sources, and I think they use at least another for certain breeds. I don't know if your chickens could have been missed during vaccination or not, but in The Textbook of Poultry they wrote that in the past birds have been missed or the vaccine may have become diluted. Since it takes 2-3 weeks for full immunity to take place, if they are exposed in transit or in those first weeks, they may become infected. Many people here have received chickens from a major hatchery, but still ended up with Mareks, so I would say that human error could be a problem sometimes.

 

[mcintyrelr20]

Won't mareks kill off a whole flock? will it only kill a few?

 

[rebrascora]

It depends on the strain and the age of the birds in the flock. Some strains of Marek's are very virulent and will wipe out a large percentage of young birds, others are milder and just seem to affect two or three. I'm fortunate (if having Marek's can ever be considered fortunate!) in that I have one of the milder strains in my flock.

Also, if your birds are vaccinated, then those that received the vaccine may be protected or just get a mild case.

 

[mcintyrelr20]

we heard that it could also be Avian Encephilitis, what is that disease and what does it do? Would that kill a bird too?

 

[Eggcessive]

we heard that it could also be Avian Encephilitis, what is that disease and what does it do?  Would that kill a bird too?

You can Google avian encephalomyelitis for several articles by ThePoultrySite, TheMerckVetManual, and others. It is a disease that usually shows up in newly hatched chicks under a month of age. It causes tremors and the chicks may become lame and found laying on their sides. Since this has shown up much later than that, I would probably rule that out.