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I talked to our VDL Poultry Vet at length here in MN, one of the highest populations of poultry in the U.S. He said the primary way a chick contracts the virus is from hen to egg, not laterally (chick to chick). Although laterally, does occur, it is not a reason to destroy all sick/healthy chicks. If it does happen laterally, it is usually when the chick is most vulnerable, during hatching or the first hours of life. Like you, my first concern was OMG, my Marans babies! He said unless they were housed together, it isn't likely, not impossible, but not likely, they will be infected. Most responsible breeders, especially commercial breeders, vaccinate all breeders at 6-8 weeks of age. They become carriers, which is a good thing, because they pass immunity onto their progeny as you said. Having AE on your property isn't an "end-all" according to him. My first thought was I am going to have a heck of a time destroying all these birds and I was, quite frankly, P.O.ed about it. He basically calmed me down, said "Let's make the diagnosis official first and do sustaining therapy in the meantime." That means easy access to water without having to move more than a few inches, easy access to food, including eyedropper feedings, vitamins and electrolytes, etc. I probably have one of the larger and older sets of affected birds (115 in the order, 10 dead, 10 in lab, about 25 more affected) from Feb. 9th and then 52 more from March 1st. Symptoms only exhibit themselves in an obvious way in very young birds. So, if your older chicks are exposed and don't show symptoms, they are now immune and will pass that immunity on, as you stated.
My experience has been that some of the Cuckoos have healed to "almost" normal, none of the Buff Rocks have healed to normal, and none of the EE have healed to normal. As far as the Blue Cochins, well, I thought a few were going to be normal and in the last 2 days, I lost all three that appeared fine including the blue that was in one of the photos I took yesterday. It was literally eating and dropped dead. None of the Partridge Cochins have healed. One is standing and walking around, with nervous system damage in her/his head/neck and a look in it's eye like it is retarded or something. It isn't normal. It chases my hand around like "the village idiot" and will eat and drink fine, it's just not "normal".
So, if we get a few more official diagnosises, we will be positive. At this point, it is just extremely suspicious. The VDL vet also made an interesting point...we have been talking about bad vaccines here regarding Marek's. It is perfectly conceivable that a breeder flock is vaccinated and the vaccine is bad - something I never thought about until he pointed that out.
For now, keep the sick chicks separated, don't mix hatchery chicks with other hatchery or personal chicks, and do the therapy to sustain. It is just a few days until we know a LOT more answers.
Edited to add: I have 10 chicks at the VDL. 3 Buff Rocks, 3 Partridge Cochins, 3 Blue Cochins and 1 EE. I couldn't bring myself to sacrifice a Cuckoo at this point, as they seem the most likely to recover.
